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Jack Dorsey has unveiled the beta version of Bitchat, a new peer-to-peer messaging app that runs entirely over Bluetooth, bypassing the internet and promising total decentralization.
In a post on Sunday, the Block and Twitter co-founder said he spent the weekend diving into “Bluetooth mesh networks, relays, store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things.” The result: a lightweight messaging platform with “IRC vibes,” referencing the early internet chatrooms of the 1990s.
Bitchat is built on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networks and is designed to function without any internet infrastructure—making it a potential tool in regions with network outages, high censorship, or unstable internet access.
According to the app’s white paper, Bitchat has no central servers, no accounts, and doesn’t require phone numbers or email addresses. Messages are ephemeral—stored only in memory, not on a database—and are protected by end-to-end encryption. There’s also a caching feature that allows offline users to receive messages when they reconnect.
In practical terms, Bitchat creates a local mesh where each device acts as both a sender and a relay, forwarding messages over Bluetooth’s ~30-meter range. For broader reach, bridge nodes connect clusters of users. The system can support group chats (named using hashtags), encrypted private chats, and public broadcasts.
Future plans include enabling WiFi-based communication to boost message size and speed.
Use cases range from conferences and music festivals to disaster zones and protests—anywhere the internet is blocked, broken, or untrusted.
The app’s architecture leans heavily on privacy principles that push back against centralized platforms like WhatsApp and Messenger, which are owned by Meta and routinely criticized for data mining.
Dorsey has long been an advocate for open protocols. He previously launched Bluesky in 2019 as a decentralized alternative to Twitter, though he quietly exited the Bluesky board in May 2024.
Earleir in May, Dorsey’s Block agreed to pay a $40 million civil penalty and appoint an independent monitor to resolve charges from New York regulators over systemic compliance failures tied to its Cash App service.
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) cited what it called “critical gaps” in Block’s anti-money laundering and know-your-customer programs. Regulators said the company’s weaknesses under the Bank Secrecy Act left Cash App vulnerable to illicit use.
Cash App was founded by Jack Dorsey under Square in 2009, which later rebranded to Block in 2021. The app, known for its user-friendly interface, allowed users to buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
The findings came after a broader internal review at Block uncovered over 8,300 Cash App accounts linked to a Russian criminal network in 2022. The NYDFS added that oversight of Bitcoin transactions on the platform — which began in 2018 — was particularly lacking, as the company expanded rapidly without scaling its compliance framework.
