TL;DR
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In case you missed it, Telegram’s new in-app crypto wallet is custodial. Meaning Telegram controls users’ wallets, but lets them access their funds when/how they want.
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Telegram ain’t the place to store the bulk of your crypto funds (that’s a job for Ledger and Trezor wallets). Instead, it might be a place where you keep a couple hundred bucks (max!) to make small in-app payments with.
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Custodial wallets have their place in the world (and this is one of them).
Full Story
Telegram is that pair of jeans you haven’t worn in about a year.
(That sentence shouldn’t make sense right now, but let us cook…)
In case you missed it, Telegram’s new in-app crypto wallet is custodial. Meaning Telegram controls users’ wallets, but lets them access their funds when/how they want.
(Much like a bank holding your fiat cash).
The risk is: if Telegram gets hacked/goes bankrupt/decides to rob its users – your crypto goes with it (similar to user funds on FTX).
Here’s why that risk more than ok, in our minds:
Telegram is that pair of jeans you haven’t worn in about a year.
Sure, there might be a $20 bill hiding in the back left pocket…but it’s not like you’re going to store your life savings there!
That’s all to say: Telegram ain’t the place to store the bulk of your crypto funds (that’s a job for Ledger and Trezor wallets). Instead, it might be a place where you keep a couple hundred bucks (max!) to make small in-app payments with.
Using the high level, Fort Knox-like security of a self-custodial wallet for a use-case like that is like bringing a bazooka to a pillow fight.
It’s pure over kill, plus: the complexities of self custodial security are likely to scare users off.
Custodial wallets have their place in the world (and this is one of them).
