Key Highlights
- Perpetual futures trading is now available in Telegram’s integrated wallet through a partnership with decentralized exchange Lighter
- Traders can access leverage up to 50x on more than 50 assets spanning bitcoin, ether, commodities like gold and oil, plus equities and ETFs
- The rollout aims to serve Telegram’s massive user base of over 150 million registered wallet holders, with emphasis on emerging economies
- Launch excludes residents of the United States and United Kingdom
- Lighter, with a $1.5 billion valuation, operates fee-free and will collaborate with Wallet in Telegram on shared loyalty initiatives
Telegram’s native cryptocurrency wallet now supports perpetual futures trading, enabling users to execute leveraged trades directly within the messaging platform. This capability became operational on April 2, 2026.
⚡️TELEGRAM WALLET ADDS PERPS TRADING FOR 150M USERS
Telegram’s Wallet has launched perpetual futures trading via an integration with Ethereum-based DEX Lighter.
This enables leveraged trading on 50+ assets including BTC, ETH, oil, gold, equities, and ETFs inside the app. pic.twitter.com/6J14vi4uVZ
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) April 2, 2026
The functionality stems from a collaboration with Lighter, an Ethereum-powered decentralized exchange carrying a $1.5 billion valuation after securing $68 million in funding. Among decentralized perpetual trading platforms, Lighter holds the fourth position by volume metrics.
Traders gain access to over 50 different instruments with leverage extending to 50x. The available markets encompass bitcoin, ether, commodities such as oil and gold, alongside equities and exchange-traded funds. All transactions flow through a custodial wallet embedded within Telegram itself.
The Open Platform, responsible for developing Wallet in Telegram, constructed this trading capability. According to CEO Andrew Rogozov, the mission centers on democratizing trading complexity.
“Even my mother can start using this wallet,” Rogozov stated.
Wallet in Telegram counts more than 150 million registered accounts. A substantial portion joined during 2024’s tap-to-earn application surge. The Open Platform now anticipates converting a segment of this user pool into regular traders.
Perpetual futures represent derivative contracts allowing speculation on asset price direction without expiration dates. These instruments dominate cryptocurrency trading activity. Decentralized perpetual trading volume approached $8 trillion throughout 2025, with monthly figures surpassing $1 trillion during the year’s closing quarter.
The Selection Process: Why Lighter Won Out
The Open Platform examined three potential partners before selecting Lighter: Hyperliquid, Lighter, and Aster. The choice hinged on fee structures, incentive alignment, and target demographic compatibility.
Lighter operates without trading fees. While Hyperliquid does impose fees and provides superior liquidity depth, Rogozov noted the liquidity gap proves negligible for typical retail transaction sizes on popular trading pairs.
Hyperliquid leads the market with over 200,000 active participants. However, Lighter seeks to capture a distinct, less sophisticated user segment via this Telegram channel.
The partnership encompasses collaborative loyalty initiatives. Lighter will fund trading incentive campaigns rewarding top-volume users with its native LIT token. Lighter’s backing includes prominent investors like Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, and Robinhood.
Users in the United States and United Kingdom cannot access this feature at launch. The Open Platform prioritizes emerging and frontier markets where conventional brokerage infrastructure remains underdeveloped.
Future Development Roadmap
The Open Platform intends to roll out referral systems, social profit-loss broadcasting within Telegram conversations, and copy trading capabilities. Additionally, AI-powered trading agents that interface with wallets via Telegram bots are under development.
Cryptocurrency trading bots operating on Solana generated $700 million in fee revenue during 2024. TOP seeks to channel similar engagement into Telegram using perpetual futures instead of meme token speculation.
In parallel developments, Bitget Wallet recently integrated Hyperliquid-powered markets enabling continuous trading in commodities, stocks, and tokenized real-world assets.
Lighter has simultaneously diversified beyond derivatives recently, incorporating spot trading functionality and equity perpetuals available 24 hours daily, five days weekly.
