What Is XChat, Musk’s New Social App With Bitcoin-Like Privacy?

Key Takeaways:

• Elon Musk plans to launch a new messaging app called XChat to rival WhatsApp and Telegram.
• The app uses a peer-to-peer-based encryption system “similar to Bitcoin.”
• Experts say Musk’s description of Bitcoin-style encryption is vague and more branding than it is real cryptographic innovation.

Elon Musk has revealed plans to launch a new messaging app called ‘XChat’ to rival WhatsApp and Telegram, as part of the Tesla billionaire’s wider push to turn X, formerly Twitter, into an ‘everything app’.

In a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Musk said that the service will use “a peer-to-peer based cryptography system similar to Bitcoin”, and will be available as a standalone app and as an integrated feature in X.

“In X, we just rebuilt the entire messaging stack in what’s called XChat, Musk said. “It uses a type of peer-to-peer based encryption system, similar to Bitcoin. Very good encryption. We proved it thoroughly.”

“XChat doesn’t have hooks for advertising. I’m not saying it’s perfect. But our goal with XChat is to replace what was the Twitter DM stack with a completely encrypted system where you can text, send files, and make audio and video calls. I think it will be the least insecure of any messaging system.”

The app will be “released in a few months,” Musk said, without specifying a date. He said that XChat would have “no advertising hooks”, in a dig at rival platforms, which he claims will analyze user content for targeted marketing.

“WhatsApp knows enough about what you write to know what ads to show you,” he said. “This is a massive security vulnerability. Anyone can just use the same hook to get in and look at your messages.”

The comments are the last in by Elon Musk often high rhetoric about the growth of the X ecosystem, which he said will eventually include social networks, payments and AI-driven services, such as WeChat in China.

XChat: Branding or Privacy Breakthrough?

According to Moe Levin, Chief Marketing Officer at Hemi, an execution layer for Bitcoin (BTC), Musk’s description of Bitcoin-style cryptography is vague, more a mark of true cryptographic innovation.

“The Bitcoin network uses peer-to-peer (P2P) connections and public key cryptography for transaction validation,” Levin said. Cryptonews. “For a messaging app, a P2P system could route messages through peers and encrypt them, allowing only the intended recipient to read them.

But such a “comparison is loose,” says Levin, because “Bitcoin itself does not encrypt network traffic or protect message content.” It is doubtful that XChat can match the technical capabilities of the Bitcoin network.

“Secure messaging requires forward secrecy, ephemeral keys, and metadata protection. Bitcoin encryption secures transactions, not real-time messaging. So, calling it ‘Bitcoin-style encryption’ is, to put it mildly, misleading.”

In theory, P2P frameworks can reduce reliance on centralized servers that store message data, experts say. But as Levin noted, building such a system at scale is hard. Users will be skeptical about XChat, he says.

“Musk has promised a lot of things,” he said, “whether it’s landing on Mars, flying cars, or humanoid robots at home. We’ll see if that’s something he can do.”

XChat comes into a market that is seeing a change in user behavior, according to Sasha Barrie, founder of social media agency Hype.

Speaking to CryptonewsBarrie said people are moving away from public feeds to private group chats​​​​​​​on WhatsApp and Telegram, where content is spread directly through circles of trust rather than algorithms.

“From what we know, XChat will be a built-in direct messaging feature in X, similar to how Messenger is part of Facebook,” he said.

“It will automatically have X audience and will also likely be integrated with Grok, which will set it apart from other players,” he added.

In a crowded market, however, Barrie believes that encryption alone will not be able to attract new users to XChat.

“I don’t think privacy will be the main selling point. Most users don’t care enough. XChat is probably an attempt to keep the conversation on X instead of escaping to other platforms.”

Privacy apps under pressure from regulators

The Hype founder talked about how XChat could help Musk rebuild user engagement on X, where public activity and advertiser interest appear to have taken a hit since its $44 billion takeover in October 2022.

“In recent years, much of the user’s attention is no longer in feeds that are governed by algorithms that people do not trust,” he observed, adding:

“The second more specific functionality around group chats in XChat – how many members are allowed in a group, gated access, payments – there will probably be some new use cases. Some of the market could come from Substack, since it has been great for gated access, but not so great for discovery.”

Experts say Musk’s emphasis on encryption with XChat could prompt scrutiny from regulators and governments who want to restore total privacy on social media networks, which they say enable criminal activity.

“Any new messaging app that offers strong encryption, especially one from a high-profile figure like Musk, will be held under a microscope by regulators,” Joshua Chu, a lawyer and co-chairman of Hong Kong’s Web3 Association, said. Cryptonews.

In the European Union, says Chu, rules under the GDPR and the Digital Services Act require technology companies to ensure user transparency and “clear” data protection while complying with law enforcement.

The United States is moving in the same direction, he adds, with the state and federal level debates over encryption backdoors and legal access.

“Musk’s brand of free speech and minimal government intervention is attractive to privacy advocates, but it’s also attracting the attention of regulators eager to test those limits, especially as XChat’s structural reach and user base grows.”

In Asia, the political and legal risks are much greater. For example, Chu said Hong Kong’s National Security Law has put pressure on privacy-first platforms like Telegram to restrict content seen as sensitive or illegal.

“Content deemed unacceptable or threatening by authorities can trigger court actions that seek to block, restrict or penalize global technology companies,” Chu says. Cryptonewsadding:

“Telegram’s run-ins with governments highlight how companies can be legally challenged, not just for hosting end-to-end encrypted chats, but for alleged inaction in moderating illegal or sensitive content.”

Chu said XChat would have to balance privacy with respect if it hopes to avoid the regulatory problems faced by Telegram, whose CEO, Pavel Durov, was fired last year. arrested by the French police under a warrant related to the app.

Durov is currently out on bail of 5 million euros. The 40-year-old billionaire, who is known for his focus on privacy, criticized his arrest as “legally and logically absurd.”

A year ago, the French police arrested me for 4 days, because some people I have never heard of Telegram use Telegram to coordinate crimes. Arresting a CEO of a major platform over the actions of its users was not only unprecedented – it was legally and logically absurd.

– Pavel Durov (@durov) August 24, 2025

Musk’s Everything App Ambitions

Musk has previously talked about turning X into an “app for everything,” similar to China’s WeChat. He wants to go beyond social media, adding financial payments, smart home controls, and even ride-hailing to the site.

X is currently enjoying success with its socially integrated generative AI chatbot, Grok. Recently, Musk revealed the plans relaunch Vine in an AI format. Twitter shut down the short video app in 2017 due to increased competition.

The founder of Tesla and SpaceX also hinted that integrated payments on X could launch in 2025. Analysts say XChat is the latest piece in Elon Musk’s push to turn X into an “everything app.”

“It’s an attempt to strengthen the ecosystem in preparation for the payment launch,” said Barrie, the founder of Hype.

“XChat will likely find its own place in the messaging market and bring some new use cases that will be unique to the platform.”

In his interview with Rogan, Musk referenced Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin, claiming that US agencies spent $750,000 trying to decipher his messages with the Russian president’s team.

Musk said it is possible to decipher encrypted messages, but “it’s not that easy to do.” “I think you have to look at any given messaging system as not whether it’s secure or not, but there are degrees of insecurity,” he said.

He hopes that with Bitcoin-like peer-to-peer encryption, XChat will be the “least insecure of any messaging system.”