The CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov has revealed plans to venture into building crypto wallets and decentralized exchanges.  A few weeks ago, Telegram rolled out the sales of customized and unique names via Fragment, an auction platform built on the TON, which generated a sum of $50m. 

The success story of its latest activity has pushed the Telegram boss to explore more utilities of the previously abandoned platform- Durov refrained from developing the TON blockchain in 2020 because of regulatory measures against cryptocurrency. According to the Telegram boss, TON’s decentralized exchange and non-custodial wallets will be open to millions of users. Telegram has gained a reputation in crypto projects as one of the most used messaging apps ahead of Discord, Reddit and Twitter; considering Telegram's user base, the messaging app will easily thrive in its new adventure. 

Telegram Returns to Previously Abandoned Project

Durov’s announcement is the first public address regarding the integration of the messaging app to the TON blockchain. The current Telegram blockchain is one of the two projects created by the community of supporters of Telegram. When Telegram abandoned the TON project in 2022, some developers continued with the project while some pulled out to create another project under the same name. Currently, there are three variants of the native token: TON crystals, TON coin and the NEW coin. However, Telegram recognises only the TON coin. 

In a channel statement by Pavel Durov, he compared Telegram’s plight to the “excessive centralization” of the bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX. He said: 

“Cryptocurrency users should switch to trustless transactions and self-hosted wallets that don't rely on any single third party.”