GRAM climbed 9% to $1.56 after Telegram widened availability of Money, its non-custodial wallet for token transfers and in-app purchases, beyond the limited group of users who previously had access. The move pushed the token’s market capitalization to about $4.12 billion, while 24-hour trading volume reached roughly $132.4 million.
Money appears inside Telegram after a user receives a transfer. According to the product description, recipients can add GRAM from their Walt account in a few taps, with transfers positioned as instant and free of network fees.
Wallet access expands inside Telegram
Telegram’s Money wallet is designed to let users hold and send GRAM, the TON blockchain’s native token following its June rename, without leaving the messaging app. It also supports purchases of Telegram gifts and collectible usernames, tying wallet use directly to digital items sold within the platform.
The latest expansion follows an earlier limited rollout. Access began for selected accounts by Aug. 31, with broader availability expected to come in stages. The wider release now appears to have coincided with renewed market activity in GRAM.
A plan outlined months earlier
Telegram founder Pavel Durov had set out the concept for a native wallet in July. At the time, he proposed self-custody inside Telegram alongside instant, fee-free transfers across the app, framing the wallet as a built-in crypto tool rather than a separate external service.
That roadmap has been implemented through Walt, the company rebranded from Wallet in Telegram. Walt describes Money as Telegram’s non-custodial wallet, while its standalone app separately offers broader trading and investing functions.
How Walt fits into the rollout
Walt says users can top up Money through its platform, which supports more than 300 digital assets. The company also says its services cover holding, depositing, and withdrawing assets across four blockchains, with thousands of tokens available for trading and staking products for several assets.
Chief executive Andrew Rogozov has described the product as having grown from a basic purchasing feature into a broader crypto platform within Telegram. He also pointed to future plans that include crypto cards and conversational trading tools, though those remain plans rather than currently described features of Money itself.
Walt also distinguishes between assets that can be deposited or withdrawn externally and those available only for in-app trading, an important separation as Telegram deepens wallet functions inside its ecosystem.
Token rename and what remains unchanged
The recent product push comes after Toncoin was renamed Gram on June 15. The underlying TON network was not changed by that move, and user balances and wallets were carried over automatically.
That means the price reaction tied to Money’s expanded access reflects a distribution and product update around the same network asset, rather than a change to the blockchain itself.
What comes next
The next confirmed step is continued gradual expansion of access beyond the initial selected accounts that received Money first. Telegram and Walt have already tied the wallet to transfers and purchases of digital collectibles inside the app, and Walt has separately outlined additional crypto features it wants to introduce over time.
For now, the clearest confirmed development is that more Telegram users can access a self-custody wallet embedded in the app, while GRAM’s market response has lifted both its valuation and daily trading activity.
Source: crypto.news