Jack Dorsey Launches Bluetooth-Based Messaging App Bitchat

Co-founder of the American social network Twitter and head of the fintech company Block Inc. Jack Dorsey has released a beta version of the decentralized messenger Bitchat, which works via a Bluetooth network. Bitchat does not require the Internet, central servers, phone numbers or email to work. Dorsey noted that this is his personal experiment in the field of "wireless mesh networks, repeaters, store and forward models, message encryption models and some other things."

The messenger uses encryption and allows exchanging messages between devices located nearby. They form Bluetooth clusters, which ensures communication even without access to a mobile or Wi-Fi network. Some devices act as "bridges", connecting clusters to each other and expanding the coverage area. Messages are stored only on users' devices and are not transmitted to a centralized infrastructure.

Bitchat supports group chats ("rooms"), which can be named with hashtags and protected with a password. There is also a function for sending messages to users who are temporarily offline.

In the future, it is planned to add support for Wi-Fi Direct technology to increase speed and coverage area by directly connecting devices via Wi-Fi. Creating accounts in the messenger is not required, it does not collect user data.