Telegram will create DEX and non-custodial wallet

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Key points: 

• Pavel Durov announced Telegram will develop DEX and a non-custodial wallet. 
• He advises users to switch to self-hosted wallets and trustless transactions so they are not dependent on a single entity.
• TON network recently announced a $126 million “relief fund” to compensate crypto projects that suffered losses due to the FTX crash.

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Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that the company will launch a series of decentralized cryptocurrency products, including a decentralized exchange (DEX) and a non-custodial wallet.

Amid the ongoing crisis following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the CEO made the announcement via his Telegram channel on Wednesday.

“The blockchain industry was built on the promise of decentralization, but ended up being concentrated in the hands of a few who began to abuse their power, ” Pavel said.

The founder of Telegram believes that blockchain-based projects need to return to their roots - decentralization. He advises users to switch to self-hosted wallets and trustless transactions so they are not dependent on a single entity.

“We, developers, should steer the blockchain industry away from centralization by building fast and easy-to-use decentralized applications for the masses. Such projects are finally feasible today.”

Cryptocurrencies and Telegram have been friends for years

In addition to being a popular messaging app for cryptocurrency traders, Telegram also allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies over the Open Network (TON).

Additionally, Durov talked about bootstrapping Fragment, the cryptographic infrastructure built on top of TON, which he abandoned in 2020 under regulatory pressure but has since revived with community support.

“It took only 5 weeks and 5 people, including myself, to put together Fragment – a fully decentralized auction platform,” Pavel Durov said. “We were able to do this because Fragment is based on The Open Network, or TON – a blockchain platform that is fast and efficient enough to host popular applications.”

According to Durov, the Fragment platform has been a success, selling $50 million worth of usernames in less than a month.

Following in Binance’s footsteps, the TON network recently announced a $126 million “relief fund” to compensate crypto projects that suffered losses due to the FTX crash.