On Nov. 11, Durov said more than 1 million self-custodial wallets were activated on Telegram over the previous 48 hours. Two days earlier he reported 714,844 new wallets in a 48-hour window, with 329,952 registrations in a single day. Lookonchain cited the 1 million figure as well. These are overlapping windows, so don’t add them together.
Plain English: a self-custodial wallet means the user, not Telegram or an exchange, controls the keys. Telegram generates them inside the app.
Why Did GRAM Rise?
The token, which was renamed from Toncoin in June, rose about 10% on Nov. 11 and broke a falling channel that had dragged it from $1.726 in late September to a low of $0.990 earlier this month. Market cap is about $3.55B. Daily volume on the move was the highest since at least August, per that analysis. The 50-day average near $1.27 is the next hurdle.
What Does “1 Million Wallets” Actually Mean?
Less than it sounds. Durov says wallets activate when someone receives Gram, and on TON an address can exist before it appears on-chain. A transfer to a new contact can turn a dormant address into an active one. Per the same analysis, the explorer counts a wallet as active only after an on-chain transaction. So the figure shows distribution, not retention.
There is a bull case. Telegram reports over 1 billion monthly users, and TON added about 2.73M wallets in October, its strongest month since October 2024, with about 4.06M daily transactions.
What Is Missing From the Picture?
Money hasn’t followed the sign-ups. TON’s DeFi liquidity has fallen, and the network logged about 117,600 daily active addresses in July, a base that would need to climb for the story to hold. On Nov. 10, Durov called Gram “ridiculously undervalued” and said it belongs among the three largest cryptocurrencies. At a $3.55B market cap, that would take a multiple many times higher, so treat it as ambition, not analysis.
History matters too. Telegram dropped its original Gram token in 2020 after an SEC lawsuit, returned about $1.2B to investors and paid $18.5M, before Durov brought the ecosystem back this year.
Are There Rules for European Users?
Yes. Under the EU’s Transfer of Funds Regulation, a regulated provider must verify that a user owns a self-hosted wallet before accepting transfers above €1,000, which adds a step for European users moving Gram onto exchanges.
What Happens Next?
- Daily active addresses and stablecoin balances on TON
- Whether GRAM closes above $1.27
- Whether Telegram explains how it covers fee-free transfers
FAQ
What is the Telegram Gram wallet? A self-custodial wallet built into Telegram. Users hold their own keys, and it supports GRAM transfers and in-app payments.
Is GRAM the same as Toncoin? Yes. Toncoin was renamed Gram in June after a community vote.
Does 1 million wallets mean 1 million users? No. Wallets can activate just by receiving tokens.
Why did GRAM go up? It rose about 10% after the wallet milestone and broke a downtrend, while the rest of the market fell.
This article is not financial advice. Do your own research.
Sources: PANews · Crypto News Flash · Cryptonews · Cryptonews.net · CoinMarketCap Academy
