SAN FRANCISCO, USA — Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter (now X), has launched a new messaging tool, BitChat, that allows users to send encrypted messages without internet access.
Revealed over the weekend in a post on X, Dorsey described BitChat as a personal experimental project delving into Bluetooth mesh networking, store-and-forward communication, and end-to-end encryption.
The app is designed to operate independently of traditional internet infrastructure, using Bluetooth-enabled devices to relay messages across nearby nodes until they reach their destination.
“My weekend project to learn about bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things,” Dorsey wrote in his post.
A beta version of BitChat is now available via TestFlight for iOS, and Dorsey has made the source code and technical white paper publicly available on GitHub, inviting open-source collaboration.
According to the project’s documentation, BitChat employs Curve25519 public key cryptography and uses the Noise Protocol Framework (NPF) for authentication, ensuring strong end-to-end encryption.
The app’s architecture mirrors a decentralised “store-and-forward” model, where each message is passed from device to device, storing temporarily until it can move closer to the intended recipient.
The user interface is stripped-down and functional, reminiscent of Internet Relay Chat (IRC)—a deliberate nod to early internet decentralism and simplicity.
BitChat is the latest in a string of Dorsey-backed projects exploring decentralisation.
He was a founding backer of Bluesky, the decentralised social media platform spun out of Twitter, though he resigned from its board in May 2024, citing dissatisfaction with its direction.
Since stepping down from Twitter in 2021, Dorsey has focused on Bitcoin infrastructure, privacy tech, and financial decentralisation through his company Block, Inc. (formerly Square), positioning himself as a leading voice in the crypto-libertarian movement.
