A crypto wallet that lives inside Telegram.
CryptoApp
- Role
- Product & UI Designer
- Client
- CryptoApp · Telegram Wallet mini-app
- Year
- 2023
Design
- Figma
CryptoApp is a crypto wallet that lives inside Telegram, built as a detailed iOS prototype in 2023. Balance, coins and history up front. I designed the full deposit and withdraw flows: pick a coin and network, copy the address or scan a branded QR, and every state that comes with moving money, down to the not-enough-coins maths and the success receipt. Colour does the talking: blue for go, green for done, red for stop. I went deep on iOS instead of half-building three platforms, and gave every control a hover and a press state, so the desktop version was already half-drawn.
A wallet that lives inside Telegram
Most crypto wallets are a separate app, one more thing to install and trust. CryptoApp lives inside Telegram: same login, same chat, nothing to download. The main screen is the wallet, balance on top, coins under it, history below. An iOS prototype from 2023, pushed far enough to feel like the real thing.
What makes people trust a wallet
A wallet has seconds to feel safe before anyone funds it. I looked at where trust breaks in existing crypto apps, and on the worst-case screens.
living inside Telegram removes the install-and-trust hurdle entirely.
errors, empty balances and wrong-network states are where trust is won or lost.
dark fully built; light pulled from it without breaking contrast.
The system
A near-black base, so the glassy cards and the electric-blue accent carry the screen. Green and red are saved for state. Quiet enough that the balance stays the loudest thing in the room.
Colour tokens
Deposit, step by step
Three steps: pick the coin, pick the network, get the address. It shows up as copyable text and as a QR with the brand mark in the middle, plus a blunt warning to send the right coin on the right network. Get that wrong and the money is gone.
Withdraw, same rhythm
Withdraw is the deposit flow in reverse, so there is nothing new to learn. Coin, network, amount, address, then a confirmation that spells out the fee and total before anything leaves. Same shapes, opposite direction.
Three colours carry every state
A money app is judged on its bad days, so the whole screen speaks in colour. Blue is calm, in progress. Green means it went through. Red means stop, like trying to withdraw more than you hold. You know the outcome before you read a single word.
Built for hover and press
The plan covered web, Android and iOS. I went deep on iOS first, betting the rest is easy to adapt from a finished system. To leave that door open, every control already has a hover and a press state, so the desktop build starts with its cursor states done. It is a working Figma prototype, not a pile of static screens.
A light theme, derived from the dark
I designed dark-first, then pulled a light theme out of it instead of starting over. Same structure, brighter key. I did not finish every light screen to the standard of the dark set, so this is honest work in progress.
It didn't feel like a crypto app. It felt like a part of the chat I already trust.
Designing for trust on a small screen
Live inside Telegram
Same login, same chat, nothing to install. The wallet is one tap from where people already are.
Trade-off: Bound by Telegram's surface and constraints; less control than a standalone app.
Bad-day screens first
Errors, empty balances and wrong-network states were drawn before the happy path.
Trade-off: More time on states most users rarely see, but those are the ones that decide trust.
Dark-first, light after
A complete dark system shipped fast, with light pulled from the same tokens.
Trade-off: Showed me what a second theme really costs; next time I'd budget the light pass up front.
One accent for actions
A single accent marks every actionable control, so the eye always has one place to land.
Trade-off: Limits colour elsewhere; secondary actions lean on weight, not hue.
dark fully built, light pulled from it
every control ready for desktop too
success, errors and empty balances, all designed
What I learned
- 01
Going deep on one platform beat spreading across three. A finished iOS system is far easier to adapt than three half-built ones.
- 02
The bad-day screens, errors, empty balances, wrong networks, are where a money app earns trust. I drew them first, not last.
- 03
Dark-first, light-after was fast, but it showed me what a second theme really costs. Next time I would budget the light pass up front.
- Product & UI
- Ivan Legchilov
- Platform
- Telegram mini-app · iOS
- Year
- 2023