Key Highlights
- Telegram’s integrated wallet now supports perpetual futures trading through a strategic partnership with Lighter, a decentralized exchange platform
- Traders can access leverage of up to 50x across more than 50 different assets, including cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, plus traditional assets such as gold, oil, stocks, and exchange-traded funds
- The rollout aims to serve Telegram’s massive user base of over 150 million registered accounts, with emphasis on developing market regions
- United States and United Kingdom residents cannot access this functionality during the initial launch phase
- Lighter, carrying a $1.5 billion valuation, operates with zero trading fees and will collaborate with Wallet in Telegram on shared reward initiatives
Telegram’s native cryptocurrency wallet now supports perpetual futures trading, enabling users to execute leveraged trades directly within the messaging platform. This functionality became available on April 2, 2026.
The new capability runs on Lighter, a decentralized exchange built on Ethereum that achieved a $1.5 billion valuation after securing $68 million in funding. Lighter currently holds the fourth position among decentralized perpetual trading platforms measured by transaction volume.
Traders can access over 50 different assets with leverage options reaching 50x. The available instruments span cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ether, commodities like oil and gold, as well as equity markets and ETF products. All transactions process through a custodial wallet embedded within Telegram’s interface.
The Open Platform, responsible for developing Wallet in Telegram, created this trading feature. According to CEO Andrew Rogozov, the primary objective centers on simplifying trading to message-level ease.
“Even my mother can start using this wallet,” Rogozov stated.
Wallet in Telegram counts more than 150 million registered accounts. A significant portion joined during 2024’s tap-to-earn mini-application surge. The Open Platform anticipates converting some of these users into active traders.
Perpetual futures represent derivative contracts allowing traders to speculate on asset prices without expiration dates. These instruments dominate cryptocurrency trading activity. Decentralized perpetual contract volume reached approximately $8 trillion throughout 2025, with monthly figures exceeding $1 trillion during the year’s final quarter.
The Selection Process Behind Lighter
The Open Platform assessed three contenders before selecting Lighter: Hyperliquid, Lighter, and Aster. The final choice hinged on fee structures, reward mechanisms, and target demographic alignment.
Lighter operates without trading fees. While Hyperliquid does impose fees and provides greater liquidity depth, Rogozov noted the liquidity variance remains minimal for typical retail transaction sizes on popular trading pairs.
Hyperliquid dominates the sector with more than 200,000 active participants. Lighter seeks a distinct demographic—less experienced traders—through this Telegram collaboration.
The partnership encompasses a collaborative rewards initiative. Lighter will fund trading incentive periods where high-activity users receive LIT tokens. Lighter’s backing comes from notable investors including Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, and Robinhood.
United States and United Kingdom markets remain off-limits at launch. The Open Platform prioritizes emerging and frontier economies where conventional brokerage infrastructure remains scarce.
Future Development Plans
The Open Platform intends to implement referral systems, social profit-and-loss tracking within Telegram conversations, and copy trading functionality. Additionally, plans include deploying AI-powered trading agents that interface with wallets via Telegram bot technology.
Cryptocurrency trading bots on Solana generated $700 million in fee revenue during 2024. TOP aims to channel similar activity into Telegram using perpetual futures instead of meme token trading.
Meanwhile, Bitget Wallet recently incorporated Hyperliquid-based markets enabling continuous trading in commodities, equities, and tokenized real-world assets.
Lighter has simultaneously broadened its service offerings beyond derivatives trading, incorporating spot markets and perpetual contracts for equities operating 24 hours daily, five days weekly.
