In Elon Musk’s mind, the word “pause” does not exist. Between two tweets, he redraws the future. Colonizing Mars, reshaping finance, robotizing daily life… The man never stops. Not even to sleep. Today, he wants to make X a total super-app. And in this titanic endeavor, he unveils X Chat: an encrypted messaging service designed as a direct replica of the WhatsApp model. With, as a bonus, an architecture inspired by Bitcoin.
X Chat is a digital milestone. Musk wants to replace the old direct messaging system with a fully encrypted messaging service. His ambition: to build a decentralized technology, based on peer-to-peer encryption “similar to that of bitcoin”.
No central server, no access for the publisher, no advertising exploitation. Opposite to WhatsApp, which Musk criticizes for its marketing “hooks,” these bridges that allow targeting users based on the content of their messages. According to him, this would be a gaping security hole.
X Chat thus addresses all those who want to talk without being watched. A space without ad algorithms or hidden profiling. It is less a feature than a technical manifesto: that of a network where confidentiality is no longer a vague promise but an unalterable foundation.
On the ring of secure messaging, competition is already tough. Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp… each makes its promise. But Elon Musk is not here to negotiate a spot. He wants to reset the rules of the game. With X Chat, he relies on Bitcoin’s DNA: public code, individual control, absence of trusted third parties.
It is not just a messaging app. It is an extension of the crypto vision. Where WhatsApp says encrypt messages but collects metadata. Where companies can entrust Meta with message analysis via AI. Where encryption ends as soon as you interact with a brand. Musk wants everything to stay encrypted, all the time.
He also wants to show that one can communicate without going through the big data silos. That encryption is not just a technical tool but an idea: that of giving control back to the users. Bitcoin did it for money. X Chat wants to do it for speech.
X Chat is not a gadget. It is a central piece in Elon Musk’s global vision for X. A vision where messaging, payments, AI, and services merge into one single interface. And where data is no longer the currency of exchange.
Musk repeats it: ads harm the system’s integrity. That’s why he wants a radical alternative. A place where security is not bypassable. Where no AI scrutinizes exchanges to improve a bot or refine a campaign.
For some, it sounds like a utopia. For others, like a return to internet values: anonymity, freedom, digital sovereignty. And X Chat could well become the tool of this reconquest.
Musk is not inspired only by Bitcoin encryption. He embraces its deeper logic: that of a monetary system that limits arbitrary value issuance. A break with the money printing press. And if the X Chat messaging seems modest, it could be the cornerstone of a post-advertising internet.
