Jack Dorsey has spent years talking about decentralization. Now he’s testing it in a hands-on way. Over the weekend, the Block CEO and Twitter co-founder pushed out a messaging app called Bitchat. According to him, the platform doesn’t use the internet, doesn’t ask for your number, and doesn’t store anything on a server.
The app works through Bluetooth, bouncing messages from one device to another. You don’t need a data plan or even a Wi-Fi signal. If someone else nearby has the app open, messages pass along through them. That chain can stretch across multiple people, giving the network a longer reach than regular Bluetooth. In good conditions, it can hit around 300 meters.
You won’t find usernames, chat backups, or inboxes from three weeks ago. Conversations are short-lived. Everything gets encrypted and stays local, then disappears. That’s the whole idea, skip the servers, skip the tracking.
It’s not the first app to take that route, as Bridgefy tried something similar years back. Protesters in Hong Kong used it to communicate when mobile networks were unreliable or cut off. Bitchat runs on a related principle, but it's built from scratch and follows Dorsey’s own design preferences.
The beta launched on Apple’s TestFlight, and the initial batch of testers filled up fast. Ten thousand slots went live, and then they were gone. Dorsey also posted a white paper online, calling the whole thing a personal experiment. The project explores Bluetooth-based networking along with message relays, encryption methods, and data transfer without any central control.
The app already supports small group chats. You can create rooms, tag them with hashtags, and add password protection if you want to keep things limited. Down the line, Dorsey and his team plans to add WiFi Direct support. That would mean faster delivery and longer range, all while keeping things offline.
Compared to WhatsApp or Messenger, Bitchat barely resembles what most people think of as a messaging app. There are no profiles, no syncing, no cloud. It’s just one phone talking to another, quietly and directly.
Whether it catches on or stays a side project, Bitchat fits right in with Dorsey’s push toward simpler, user-controlled tech. No announcements, no fanfare, just a new tool passed hand to hand.
Note: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools.
Read next: Chatbots Are Pointing Millions Of Users to the Wrong Sites and Scammers Are Cashing In
The app works through Bluetooth, bouncing messages from one device to another. You don’t need a data plan or even a Wi-Fi signal. If someone else nearby has the app open, messages pass along through them. That chain can stretch across multiple people, giving the network a longer reach than regular Bluetooth. In good conditions, it can hit around 300 meters.
You won’t find usernames, chat backups, or inboxes from three weeks ago. Conversations are short-lived. Everything gets encrypted and stays local, then disappears. That’s the whole idea, skip the servers, skip the tracking.
It’s not the first app to take that route, as Bridgefy tried something similar years back. Protesters in Hong Kong used it to communicate when mobile networks were unreliable or cut off. Bitchat runs on a related principle, but it's built from scratch and follows Dorsey’s own design preferences.
The beta launched on Apple’s TestFlight, and the initial batch of testers filled up fast. Ten thousand slots went live, and then they were gone. Dorsey also posted a white paper online, calling the whole thing a personal experiment. The project explores Bluetooth-based networking along with message relays, encryption methods, and data transfer without any central control.
The app already supports small group chats. You can create rooms, tag them with hashtags, and add password protection if you want to keep things limited. Down the line, Dorsey and his team plans to add WiFi Direct support. That would mean faster delivery and longer range, all while keeping things offline.
Compared to WhatsApp or Messenger, Bitchat barely resembles what most people think of as a messaging app. There are no profiles, no syncing, no cloud. It’s just one phone talking to another, quietly and directly.
Whether it catches on or stays a side project, Bitchat fits right in with Dorsey’s push toward simpler, user-controlled tech. No announcements, no fanfare, just a new tool passed hand to hand.
Note: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools.
Read next: Chatbots Are Pointing Millions Of Users to the Wrong Sites and Scammers Are Cashing In
