Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced an overhaul of the messaging system on X, stating that the platform’s new peer-to-peer (P2P) encryption system, “X Chat,” is “similar to Bitcoin.”
The announcement was made during an appearance on The Joe Rogan podcast, where Musk talked about his ambition to make X Chat “the least insecure of any messaging system.”
Key features of X Chat
Musk said that X Chat uses a “peer-to-peer-based encryption system, kind of similar to Bitcoin.” X Chat also promises to remove advertising “hooks.” Musk argued that rival messengers, which use these hooks to collect user data for targeted ads, create a “massive security vulnerability.” He stated that X Chat will not include these hooks, thereby protecting user data, including the sensitive metadata (who is messaging whom and when) that is often collected by competitors.
The new messaging stack is built on a “whole new architecture” using the Rust programming language. X Chat aims to be a fully encrypted platform supporting text, file sharing, and audio/video calls, all without requiring a phone number. It also includes features like vanishing messages.
The service is being rolled out in two forms: as an integrated feature within the main X platform and as a dedicated, standalone “X Chat” app, which Musk indicated would launch “in a few months.”
Experts criticize security pitch
Despite Musk’s strong security pitch, some experts suggest the “Bitcoin-style encryption” claim may be more of a marketing term. They feel the need for independent security audits and technical transparency to fully verify the system’s claims against established end-to-end encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp.
Ian Miers, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland mocked Musk’s claim on X by saying, “This is like saying, we decided to run our rocket on water, since NASA uses Hydrogen and Oxygen.”
Elon Musk announced the launch of XChat in June, 2025. XChat is built with inspiration from bitcoin developer Satoshi Nakamoto. Prior to the full rollout, X had temporarily disabled its previous encrypted messaging feature to make way for the rebuild.
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