Elon Musk is creating a Bitcoin-esque messaging app called X Chat, which Musk has marketed to be a more private, and improved version of rival messaging platforms Telegram and Whatsapp.
During his interview on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, Musk revealed that the new X Chat will using a "peer-to-peer-based" encryption system similar to Bitcoin. During the show, Musk also revealed his current progress, saying
"On X, we just built the entire messaging stack into what's called X chat. It's very good encryption; we're testing it thoroughly."
Musk also promised that X Chat won't have what he calls 'advertisement hooks' as he pointed towards competitors like WhatsApp, which knows enough about what you're texting to know what ads to show you.
"I'm not saying it's perfect, but our goal with X chat is to replace what used to be the Twitter DM Stack with a fully encrypted system where you can text, send files, do audio video calls, and I think it will be the least insecure of any messaging app."
Elon Musk explained that allowing your phone to know too much about you is a massive security vulnerability, emphasizing that X Chat will not collect metadata or share user information with advertisers or third parties.
Muks finally ended the interview with a teaser saying that the rollout for this new app is expected to be within the next few months.
Whatsapp's parent company, Meta, claims that it doesn't have access to private messages, explaining in its FAQ that messages between people are end-to-end encrypted using the signal protocol.
While your messages are encrypted, other "metadata" like who you chatted with, how often you talk with them isn't encrypted.
We also aren't sure what Meta really does with this data they have gathered from your messaging activities, and whether they sell this data to third party companies. Meta indirectly admits to doing so within its own applications
"We work with other Meta companies to help provide, improve and support each other's services. If you choose to integrate your WhatsApp experience with other Meta products, we will share some information with Meta to make this possible."
Musk’s attempt to bring Bitcoin-style privacy to messaging is bold and intriguing. Peer-to-peer encryption promises strong privacy protections, but it also raises usability questions for the everyday user.
While X Chat’s ad-free design is a welcome move, the ultimate test will be whether Musk can deliver truly secure, decentralized messaging without compromising convenience. This approach reflects a broader trend: as digital privacy concerns grow, tech innovators are looking to crypto-inspired models as blueprints for secure communication.
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