Block CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey revealed in a post on X Sunday night that he spent the weekend building a new app called Bitchat — a name that appears to blend “bit” and “chat,” though it may raise a few eyebrows at first glance.
Bitchat is a privacy-first chat platform built on a store-and-forward architecture using BLE. Its goal is to offer censorship-resistant communication that remains functional even during internet outages or infrastructure failures.
Bitchat uses a custom BLE mesh protocol that lets devices scan for others within a 30-meter radius using a shared service UUID. Once discovered, they connect and create temporary mesh hubs. Messages are encrypted end-to-end and exist only in device memory by default, ensuring security and ephemerality.
Bitchat is a decentralized messaging app that runs over Bluetooth mesh networks, allowing users to send messages without relying on Wi-Fi or cellular service. Typically, such apps have a range limited to around 100 meters due to Bluetooth constraints. However, Dorsey claims that his version goes further: by using peer-to-peer relaying, Bitchat can stretch its communication range to as much as 300 meters, or roughly 984 feet.
One of the most well-known Bluetooth messaging apps, Bridgefy, gained prominence during pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong due to its internet-free messaging — which makes government surveillance more difficult. Both Bridgefy and Bitchat claim to support end-to-end encryption for added security.
Interestingly, Bridgefy is partially backed by another Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone. Dorsey’s move into this space aligns with his ongoing push for decentralized technologies. He has long supported Bitcoin and originally launched the Bluesky initiative during his time as Twitter CEO, though he is no longer affiliated with the project in its current form.
Bitchat has already drawn significant attention. Dorsey opened the app to testers via Apple’s Testflight, but the beta is currently full after reaching the 10,000-user limit. He noted on X that the app remains under review ahead of a wider release.
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