Elon Musk Announces X Chat Feature, Prompts Expert Critique on ‘Bitcoin Style Encryption’
Elon Musk announced over the weekend that X (formerly Twitter) would soon debut a new messaging feature called XChat, promising capabilities including encrypted conversations, disappearing messages, file transfers, and audio/video calls.
However, Musk’s description caused confusion. He touted the feature as “built on Rust with (Bitcoin style) encryption, whole new architecture.” This ignited skepticism among Bitcoin developers and cryptography experts, who pointed out inaccuracies.
Responding to Musk’s post, Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr stated unequivocally, “Bitcoin doesn’t even use encryption.” This sentiment was echoed by JAN3 and Pixelmatic CEO Samson Mow, who added, “Bitcoin isn’t encrypted.”
Explanations from experts clarified that Bitcoin employs cryptographic techniques like elliptic curve cryptography and SHA-256 hashing for transaction validation and key generation, but crucially, not encryption for message confidentiality. Furthermore, a technical point was raised regarding the development language: Shaw Walters, founder of Eliza Labs, noted that “Bitcoin was written in C++,” with Rust clients appearing later.
The social media platform has provided no further documentation regarding the XChat feature’s architecture. Attempts to contact X for clarification were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
Musk’s surprise announcement follows a week of renewed interest in his companies after he stepped down from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency. Despite a recent rocket explosion by SpaceX, the company behind X, Musk reiterated his vision for Mars colonization during an appearance.
X previously soft-launched another new feature, a digital wallet named “X Money,” suggesting Musk’s ongoing effort to transform X into an all-in-one app. This latest venture into encrypted messaging also occurs after Musk publicly denied a reported deal with Telegram, though Telegram CEO Pavel Durov had recently claimed a partnership involving a $300 million payout and app integration. Musk countered, “No deal has been signed.”
