Key Takeaways
- Telegram’s integrated wallet now offers perpetual futures trading through a collaboration with Lighter, a decentralized exchange
- Traders can access up to 50x leverage on over 50 assets spanning bitcoin, ethereum, precious metals, energy, stocks, and ETFs
- The service is designed for Telegram’s 150 million+ registered user base, with emphasis on developing markets
- Launch excludes users in the United States and United Kingdom
- Lighter, currently valued at $1.5 billion, operates without trading fees and will collaborate with Wallet in Telegram on reward initiatives
Telegram’s native cryptocurrency wallet has introduced perpetual futures trading capabilities, enabling users to execute leveraged trades directly within the messaging platform. This functionality became available on April 2, 2026.
The functionality is facilitated through Lighter, an Ethereum-based decentralized exchange with a $1.5 billion valuation following its $68 million capital raise. Among decentralized perpetual exchanges, Lighter currently holds the fourth position by trading volume.
Traders can access more than 50 different assets with leverage options reaching 50x. The available assets encompass bitcoin, ethereum, crude oil, gold, equity securities, and exchange-traded funds. All transactions occur through a custodial wallet embedded within Telegram’s infrastructure.
The Open Platform, responsible for developing Wallet in Telegram, created this feature. According to CEO Andrew Rogozov, the objective is making trading accessibility comparable to messaging.
“Even my mother can start using this wallet,” Rogozov stated.
Wallet in Telegram boasts over 150 million registered accounts. A significant portion of these registrations occurred during 2024’s tap-to-earn mini-application surge. The Open Platform anticipates converting some of these users into regular traders.
Perpetual futures represent derivatives contracts allowing traders to speculate on price fluctuations without expiration dates. These instruments have emerged as crypto’s most actively traded products. Decentralized perpetual volumes approached $8 trillion throughout 2025, with monthly activity surpassing $1 trillion during the year’s final third.
Selection Criteria: Why Lighter Was Chosen
The Open Platform assessed three potential platforms before selecting Lighter: Hyperliquid, Lighter, and Aster. The final choice hinged on fee structures, incentive programs, and target demographic alignment.
Lighter operates with zero trading fees. While Hyperliquid does impose fees and provides superior liquidity, Rogozov noted this advantage diminishes for retail-scale transactions on popular trading pairs.
Hyperliquid, the sector’s dominant platform, maintains over 200,000 active traders. Lighter aims to capture a distinct, less sophisticated demographic through this Telegram collaboration.
The partnership includes a collaborative loyalty initiative. Lighter will fund trading incentive campaigns where top-performing users receive its LIT token. Lighter’s backing includes Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, and Robinhood.
United States and United Kingdom markets are excluded from initial availability. The Open Platform is concentrating on emerging and frontier economies where conventional brokerage access remains limited.
Future Development Roadmap
The Open Platform intends to introduce referral systems, social profit-and-loss tracking within Telegram conversations, and copy trading functionality. Additionally, plans include implementing AI-powered trading agents accessible through Telegram bot interfaces.
Cryptocurrency trading bots on Solana generated $700 million in fees throughout 2024. TOP seeks to replicate this engagement within Telegram using perpetual futures instead of meme tokens.
Meanwhile, Bitget Wallet has incorporated Hyperliquid-enabled markets providing continuous trading in commodities, equities, and tokenized real-world assets.
Lighter has simultaneously diversified beyond derivatives recently, incorporating spot trading and 24/5 equity perpetual contracts into its offerings.
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