Block CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has launched the beta version of a new decentralized peer-to-peer messaging service called Bitchat, which operates entirely on a Bluetooth Mesh network.
Jack Dorsey stated that he spent his weekend deeply studying "Bluetooth Mesh networks, relays, store-and-forward models, message encryption models, and other related topics," and introduced Bitchat on the X platform on Sunday.
Dorsey added that this "Bluetooth Mesh chat" system is reminiscent of "IRC (Internet Relay Chat)," recalling the early days of network-based messaging systems in the late 1990s.
His white paper details Bitchat, a decentralized messaging application that operates on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Mesh network.
"The application enables temporary encrypted communication without relying on internet infrastructure, thus possessing strong resistance to network interruptions and censorship."
According to the white paper, the network is completely decentralized, does not rely on any central servers, and requires no account, email, or phone number registration, nor does it have infrastructure dependencies.
The application supports a "temporary message" feature, where messages are stored only in the device's memory by default and are not saved to a central database. It is also equipped with end-to-end encryption, further enhancing security.
Current mainstream messaging applications like WhatsApp and Messenger, operated by social media giants like Meta, are centralized, profit-driven companies that commodify personal and message data.
Meanwhile, the Mesh network supports automatic multi-hop message relaying, allowing chat rooms to set groups via topic tags and optionally password-protect them. The "store-and-forward" system can cache messages for offline nodes and forward them within a set time.
In April of this year, Cointelegraph reported that some popular social messaging applications might be monitoring users and collecting vast amounts of personal information and message content.
Each device can act as both a client and a peripheral, collaboratively building a self-organizing Mesh structure that allows messages to be relayed between devices to remote nodes. The system uses a 30-meter Bluetooth communication range and connects different clusters through bridging devices.
Messages will be encrypted based on type (private chat, chat room, or broadcast), and oversized messages will be split into 500-byte chunks for transmission.
Future plans also include supporting WiFi transmission to enhance bandwidth for large messages.
The system is suitable for various scenarios, such as meetings, disaster areas, protests, or any environment where internet infrastructure is unavailable, unreliable, or untrusted.
The paper states that Bitchat demonstrates that secure and private messaging can be achieved without centralized infrastructure, stating: "By combining Bluetooth mesh networks, end-to-end encryption, and privacy protection protocols, Bitchat provides highly reliable communication wherever people gather, regardless of internet availability."
Dorsey has extensive experience in messaging protocols, having served as CEO of Twitter and founded the decentralized social messaging platform Bluesky in 2019. He left the Bluesky board in May 2024 without specifying a reason.
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Original article: “Jack Dorsey Tests Bitchat—Decentralized Messaging Communication Without the Internet”
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