Jack Dorsey's Bitchat - messenger without internet: Bluetooth networking, encryption and decentralisation
Twitter co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey has developed "Bitchat", a decentralised instant messaging application that works over Bluetooth mesh networks. This solution can transmit a message without the internet over a distance of up to 300 metres by relaying it through intermediary devices.
What is Bitchat
- Works completely without the internet: apps communicate via Bluetooth Low Energy mesh network, the devices themselves automatically relay messages, extending coverage up to 300 metres.
- Privacy and security: end-to-end encryption (E2EE), messages aren't stored on servers - they're temporary and disappear upon delivery
- Nothing superfluous: no accounts, no centralised servers, no phone numbers - just code and communication between phones
- Beta test via TestFlight: access for first 10,000 users (test is currently full), rollout is still frozen in the testing phase
my weekend project to learn about bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things.
— jack (@jack) July 6, 2025
bitchat: bluetooth mesh chat...IRC vibes.
TestFlight: https://t.co/P5zRRX0TB3
GitHub: https://t.co/Yphb3Izm0P pic.twitter.com/yxZxiMfMH2
Why it's needed
For offline environments: festivals, protests, disconnected areas, extreme situations - the concept of decentralised communication is ideal.
Against censorship: Peer-to-peer connectivity enables communication that is difficult to track and block - as was the case with Bridgefy at the Hong Kong protests.
Dorsey's policy is decentralisation: after Bitcoin, Bluesky and Nostr, Bitchat becomes another step in his philosophy of rejecting centralised platforms.
Source: @jack | TechCrunch
