Launching Thursday, perpetual futures are available to Telegram users through an integrated custodial solution, Crypto Wallet, the platform said in an announcement seen by Cointelegraph.
The integration allows users to open long and short positions with up to 50× leverage across more than 50 assets, including crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Toncoin (TON), as well as tokenized commodities and stocks.
“Perpetual trading has traditionally been intimidating for retail users,” said Andrew Rogozov, CEO of The Open Platform, which develops Telegram-based protocols and apps on The Open Network (TON).
The launch pushes leveraged derivatives into one of crypto’s largest consumer distribution channels, extending a trend in which perpetual futures are moving from specialist exchanges into everyday app environments, even as the products remain complex and high risk.
Lighter brings leverage inside chat
Wallet in Telegram rolled out access to tokenized stocks via xStocks partnership with the US crypto exchange Kraken in October 2025.
Lighter founder and CEO Vladimir Novakovski said the integration enables near-instant perpetual trading within the app:
“By integrating perpetual trading into Wallet, users can move from chat to market in seconds, making taking a position as simple as sending a message.”
Perpetual futures, or perps, are derivatives contracts that allow traders to speculate on price movements without owning the underlying asset.
Retail derivatives push accelerates further
Lighter’s perpetual futures rollout on Telegram comes amid massive growth in the sector, with perps almost tripling volume in 2025. According to CryptoQuant, perps accounted for up to 90% of derivatives volumes on major crypto exchanges in 2025.
Related: Coinbase launches 24/7 stock perps for non-US traders
Wallet in Telegram’s integration with Lighter is not the first time perps have reached Telegram.
In October 2025, a similar feature was launched by Blum, a hybrid crypto exchange designed as a Telegram Mini App. As part of the offering, Blum initially enabled traders to go long or short on 20 assets with up to 100x leverage.