Telegram’s TON Wallet goes live in US with eye on 87m users

Telegram’s built-in crypto wallet has officially launched in the U.S., making self-custody and crypto transactions available to one of the app’s largest national audiences.

According to a CNBC report on July 22, Telegram users in the United States can now access TON Wallet, marking the first time a self-custodial crypto wallet has been natively embedded into a central messaging platform in the U.S. market.

The wallet, developed by The Open Platform and integrated directly into Telegram’s interface, enables users to send stablecoins, swap tokens, and manage digital assets without needing separate apps, downloads, or logins.

The launch follows a delay attributed to regulatory uncertainty, which TOP’s CEO Andrew Rogozov said has eased over the past year. The U.S. rollout follows more than 100 million global wallet activations in 2024.

A new market, a new bet on crypto usability

For years, Telegram treated the U.S. market as a regulatory minefield until something changed. According to CEO Andrew Rogozov, improvements in the regulatory climate over the past year, paired with Telegram’s surging U.S. user base, made the timing right.

While the company did not point to a single regulatory event, the crypto industry has seen SEC recently narrowing its enforcement targets and abandoning some court cases, contributing to a slightly more predictable operating environment for infrastructure providers. In parallel, Telegram’s U.S. footprint has grown significantly, now encompassing more than 87 million users, many of whom, Rogozov said, already engage with crypto.

Rogozov framed the U.S. rollout as a chance to showcase a frictionless crypto experience that aligns with how Americans already communicate. “Our goal,” he said, “is to remove as much friction as possible.” The wallet’s design reflects that philosophy: no browser extensions, no downloads, and no seed phrases.

Instead, onboarding occurs within the Telegram app via a split-key backup system that ties one half of the recovery credentials to the user’s account and the other to their email address. The interface blurs the line between messaging and financial utility, with stablecoin transfers sent as easily as a text message.

Partnering with MoonPay, TON Wallet enables zero-fee crypto purchases, debit card on-ramps, and token swaps, all while avoiding direct regulation by outsourcing compliance-sensitive functions.