Catenaa, Tuesday, June 06, 2025- Elon Musk unveiled a new messaging feature called XChat on Sunday May 25, promising encrypted conversations, vanishing messages, file transfers, and audio-video calling.
However his technical claims sparked immediate criticism from developers.
Musk said XChat is “built on Rust with Bitcoin-style encryption,” describing it as part of a whole new messaging architecture for the social platform.
However, cryptographers and Bitcoin developers quickly disputed the claim, pointing out that Bitcoin does not use encryption in the traditional sense.
Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr and JAN3 CEO Samson Mow both noted that Bitcoin relies on cryptographic primitives like elliptic curve cryptography and SHA-256 hashing — but not for message confidentiality. Others questioned Musk’s reference to Rust, highlighting that Bitcoin was originally written in C++.
No additional technical documentation was released by X, and the company has not responded to requests for comment.
The announcement follows Musk’s departure as a Special Government Employee at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump-era initiative aimed at reducing federal waste.
Meanwhile, Musk’s ventures remain in headlines. Last week, a SpaceX rocket failed shortly after launch, while a rumored $300 million deal between Musk’s xAI and Telegram has yet to be confirmed.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced a one-year partnership involving app integration with xAI, which Musk later denied.
X also began a soft rollout of its digital wallet, “X Money,” in its broader push to become an all-in-one super app.
