Jack Dorsey is getting back to his cypherpunk roots.
The X founder and Block CEO released a test version of a decentralised messaging app called Bitchat on Sunday, designed to facilitate private conversations using end-to-end encryption.
Bitchat “provides ephemeral, encrypted communication without relying on internet infrastructure, making it resilient to network outages and censorship,” Dorsey said in the Bitchat whitepaper, a technical document explaining how the app works.
Despite its similar name, Bitchat has no direct connection to Bitcoin.
But the name is likely meant as a nod to the top cryptocurrency, as both technologies are decentralised and peer-to-peer, aiming to remove unnecessary middlemen and return power back to users.
Cypherpunk
Dorsey is a well-known cypherpunk, a loose group that advocates for the use of cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies to bring about social and political change, often with a focus on resisting surveillance and promoting individual freedom.
Many self-proclaimed cypherpunks helped develop Bitcoin during its early years, and still do to this day.
While Dorsey wasn’t involved in Bitcoin’s early development — at least not publicly — he has been a vocal advocate for Bitcoin, and has taken steps to promote its adoption and development through Block, his payments firm.
Dorsey’s ongoing support for Bitcoin, coupled with a raft of circumstantial evidence, has led some to theorise he could be the cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. He has denied being Satoshi.