Update 11:06 am PST: Added details clarifying that Wallet in Telegram is not an official Telegram product and is operated by a separate entity.

Wallet in Telegram will be temporarily restricted for users in the United Kingdom — due to a restructuring that saw Wallet in Telegram join the Open Platform— and will be available after the entity registers as a corporate asset provider, according to a Sept. 25 announcement from the wallet provider.

The popular third-party said it decided to register as a crypto asset provider under the current Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations and will disable the in-app wallet features for UK residents until Wallet, the firm behind the app, has obtained the proper regulatory licenses.

Source: Wallet in Telegram

Additionally, Wallet in Telegram users in the UK can withdraw funds to external wallets without fees during this time and will be provided updates regarding accounts.

Wallet in Telegram is not operated by Telegram. Its FCA application is a separate decision from a separate organization, and unrelated to the case involving Pavel Durov and other policy changes from Telegram.

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Sweeping changes to Telegram’s policies and features

As part of the policy changes following the arrest of Pavel Durov , Telegram recently announced it would begin sharing user data with law enforcement in the event of a “valid legal request” made by authorities.

This user data includes telephone numbers and IP addresses, which has raised concerns among privacy and anti-censorship advocates due to potential misuse by state actors.

At the time the policy change was announced, Durov defended the decision, arguing that it would protect users of the platform from criminal activity. In a message to the Telegram community, Durov wrote:

“These measures should discourage criminals. Telegram Search is meant for finding friends and discovering news, not for promoting illegal goods. We won’t let bad actors jeopardize the integrity of our platform for almost a billion users.”

In September 2024, Durov also announced Telegram would disable the personal geolocation feature in the application and replace it with a “Businesses Nearby” option.

Telegram simultaneously dropped support for the platform’s “Telegraph” blogging tool — citing the abuse by a small minority of malicious actors using the platform to spread illicit material. Durov made it clear that the overwhelming majority of Telegram users never used the blogging feature to post harmful content. 

However, the Telegram founder said the “0.001%” of individuals using the platform to spread illicit materials posed an outsized risk to the broader law-abiding community.

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