In the new stable Telegram for Android v12.10.5 (7105), a new «Show experimental settings» option has been added to the debug menu. It opens a new «Round Video» menu. This menu is designed to configure the recording quality of round video messages.

Previously mentioned:
[View 1]

*To open the debug menu, go to Settings and tap the version number twice.

@telelakel

#client #desktop

v1.2.10 (TDesktop v7.2.9)

No changelog :)

Wallet bot renamed as Walt — and disappears from the app menu as Telegram prepares its own replacement

On September 28, 2026, users noticed that Telegram had stopped promoting Wallet. The bot itself had been renamed Walt and given a new logo that no longer made it look like an official Telegram service.

In 2023, Telegram and the TON Foundation publicly announced a partnership, and the Wallet bot was closely integrated into the messaging app. In particular, Telegram began displaying the wallet in the app’s menu, promoting it to all its users.

The Wallet bot was launched in 2022 by a company associated with the TON Foundation. At the time, the @tginfo editors expressed the view that Wallet was being developed in close cooperation with Telegram. Today, the company that owns the Wallet bot is known as TOP (The Open Platform).

The @tginfo editors link these changes to the Telegram team’s preparations to launch its own Gram Wallet, which will become the primary wallet for Telegram users.


The history of Telegram Open Network (TON) and Gram

In the view of the @tginfo editors, the TON Foundation and the Wallet bot, now known as Walt, are the result of a hybrid strategy Telegram pursued because of the SEC’s 2020 ban on developing TON.

Telegram is now replacing the bot with the fully integrated Gram wallet, in line with the original 2019 vision. Telegram may have decided to take back direct control of the blockchain thanks to the significant deregulation of cryptocurrencies in the US in recent years.

Preparations for launch and investment

The first rumors about the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain and its cryptocurrency, Gram, both developed by the Telegram team, surfaced in 2017.

In 2018, Telegram held a private ICO and raised about $2 billion. At the time, some believed that Telegram was developing TON in part to hold an ICO and raise funds to keep the company going, while avoiding the obligations associated with issuing securities and the need to introduce advertising and paid subscriptions in the app.

By early 2019, it had become clear that the cryptocurrency was being prepared for launch and integration with Telegram in the coming months, in line with previously leaked plans. That same year, an experimental built-in Gram wallet appeared in the app.

The SEC lawsuit and the freeze

In October 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Telegram, alleging that Telegram was selling securities, not virtual currency, through its ICO. In 2020, Telegram signed a settlement that forced it to refund investors and officially discontinue work on TON. Telegram froze development and removed most mentions of TON and Gram from the app.

After losing the investments raised through the ICO, Telegram began financing itself through Eurobonds and other types of bonds. Telegram did not repay its first debt tranche, issued in 2021, until 2026.

After Durov’s team left, the developer community split into two parallel branches:

• Free TON: An independent group led by TON Labs, a validator, launched a separate network with the TON Crystal token.
• NewTON (TON Community): Another group of independent developers continued supporting the original testnet2 network created by Durov’s team and focused on preserving TON’s original architecture and concept.

The birth of the TON Foundation and the hybrid era

In August 2021, Telegram officially chose the NewTON team, handing over the official ton.org domain and the project’s GitHub repository to it. The NewTON team then renamed itself The Open Network (TON Foundation), and the native token was named Toncoin.

Although Telegram and the TON Foundation were independent, the @tginfo team believes there was an informal connection between them that allowed Telegram to continue working on TON. By maintaining formal independence, Telegram may have been trying to avoid scrutiny from the SEC and other regulators.

In 2022, former VKontakte executive Andrey Rogozov, who had worked with Durov for a long time, and other developers joined the TON Foundation. In 2023, Rogozov also became head of The Open Platform (TOP). A press release states that TOP was formed by merging First Stage Labs with the Wallet team inside Telegram.

Before 2024, the makeup of the TON Foundation team changed quietly, and it appears that at some point Rogozov stopped actively participating in the foundation and focused on The Open Platform. Meanwhile, Telegram maintained closer ties with TOP than with the TON Foundation.

Telegram began a cautious integration: it launched TON-based auctions on the Fragment platform, introduced payouts in TON, enabled gifts to be registered as NFTs, added support for TON Sites to the app, and required Mini Apps to use TON.

It was in this context that Wallet appeared. In the view of the @tginfo editors, it may have been one of the main drivers behind the emergence of the Web Bots / Mini Apps platform in 2022. In 2023, it began appearing for all Telegram users as the default wallet app. Legally, however, it was operated not by Telegram but by the TON Foundation and, later, Rogozov’s TOP.

MTONGA

In spring 2026, Pavel Durov announced the launch of the Make TON Great Again (MTONGA) initiative — a sweeping seven-step program intended to bring TON back to Telegram, transforming it once again from a standalone cryptocurrency project into Telegram’s native blockchain.

Telegram regained control of the blockchain and its status as lead validator, upgraded the blockchain, restored the cryptocurrency’s original name, Gram, and announced plans to integrate a native wallet into Telegram apps. However, it appears that Rogozov’s team’s Walt wallet is not part of the MTONGA plans.

TOP and its Walt wallet will continue to operate independently. In early 2026, TOP planned to buy the popular non-custodial wallet Tonkeeper from its founders. The full acquisition of its shares did not go through, but in August 2026 TOP took over Tonkeeper’s operations. Tonkeeper also owns the Tonviewer blockchain explorer, which was used in official Telegram apps to inspect blockchain transactions.

In 2026, this blockchain explorer, which was under the control of Rogozov’s company, began displaying casino ads, so Telegram replaced it with Tonscan. Telegram chose not to return to Tonviewer even after it removed the ads.

It’s worth noting that Telegram’s new wallet is not being built from scratch: Gram Wallet is being developed in collaboration with the My Wallet team (formerly MyTonWallet). The project includes native integration directly into Telegram apps, as well as a standalone iOS/Android app and a web version. Telegram’s wallet is fully non-custodial.

#TON

In Telegram Beta for Android v12.10.6 (7110), the appearance of headers in Settings and Statistics is being experimentally changed.

The header now has a light blur, centered text, and a style that looks similar to iOS.

@telelakel | #new_tgbeta

A new «wallet_available» key has been added to the test and production AppConfig.

This may mean that after a future stable update, users won't immediately get access to the built-in wallet, and it may initially be unavailable.

@telelakel

A separate mechanism for funds from the old third-party Wallet (@wallet) has appeared in the new built-in Gram Wallet.

The code already includes a dedicated server-side method to check whether a user still has funds in the old Wallet. If a balance is found, the new built-in Gram Wallet shows a separate block:

You also have funds in Walt

It displays the available amount and its current fiat equivalent.

A separate block for earnings has also been added:

You have (amount) Grams in Gram Earnings

It shows accumulated funds from the earnings system.

Tapping these blocks starts separate flows for the corresponding balances — migrating funds from the old Wallet and receiving earnings.

Previously mentioned:
[View 1], [View 2], [View 3], [View 4], [View 5], [View 6], [View 7], [View 8], [View 9], [View 10], [View 11], [View 12]

@telelakel

The third-party Wallet (@wallet) is no longer displayed in the user interface.

This is related to the upcoming (though still not anytime soon) launch of Telegram’s built-in Gram Wallet.

@telelakel

Participants of the Digital Freedom contest must sign an agreement to receive their prize.

They are provided with the agreement file, which must be signed and sent back for review. After the verification, the winner will receive their prize.

The agreement states:

— The prize is paid in US dollars, but Telegram may pay it in USDT at a rate of 1 USDT = 1 USD.
— The winner confirms that they did not use fraud or cheating during the contest. If the agreement is violated, the prize may have to be returned.
— Telegram receives an exclusive, perpetual and unrestricted right to use the contest submission for any purpose and to transfer these rights to other parties.
— Telegram can modify or adapt the submission without additional permission from the author.
— Receiving the prize does not give the author any rights to Telegram's code or other parts of Telegram.
— Telegram is not required to actually use the submission after obtaining the rights to it.
— All taxes related to receiving the prize are paid by the winner.
— The winner releases Telegram and its related companies and individuals from claims arising in connection with the contest.
— The agreement is governed by English law, and unresolved disputes are subject to the courts of England.

@telelakel

The built-in Telegram game «Emoji Stake» was disabled on the production server on September 22. However, it is still working on the test server for now.

@telelakel