Key Highlights
- Jack Dorsey and Peter Todd are leading a campaign for the privacy app Signal to adopt Bitcoin for payments
- The plan involves using the Cashu protocol to enable private Bitcoin transactions within Signal
- Supporters want Bitcoin to replace or supplement Signal’s current, criticized crypto solution, MobileCoin
- Critics argue that Bitcoin’s public ledger makes it unsuitable for a privacy app, suggesting Monero or Zcash as better alternatives
A growing number of influential Bitcoin advocates, including former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and developer Peter Todd, are publicly supporting a new initiative called “Bitcoin for Signal.” The campaign aims to integrate Bitcoin payments into the popular, privacy-focused messaging application, Signal.
The core of the movement centers on the belief that Bitcoin belongs in a private messaging app like Signal and that it should be used for everyday transactions, not just as a long-term investment (a “store of value”). Dorsey has been a long-time proponent of this view, echoing the original vision of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, for the cryptocurrency to be a system for peer-to-peer electronic cash.
How Would Bitcoin Work on Signal?
The “Bitcoin for Signal” campaign proposes using a specific technological solution called “Cashu,” which utilizes “Chaumian Ecash.” Essentially, this technology acts as a privacy layer on top of the public Bitcoin blockchain. The goal, as stated on the campaign’s website, is to enable “truly private Bitcoin payments” within the messenger app, leveraging Signal’s existing reputation as the world’s most trusted encryption service.
Signal already has a cryptocurrency payment feature, which it implemented in April 2021 using a coin called MobileCoin (MOB). However, this existing solution has faced criticism, primarily for being overly centralized due to its small number of network validators.
Bitcoin developer Peter Todd has been vocal about his frustration with MobileCoin, calling it a “failure” and urging Signal to “accept reality and just add Bitcoin support.” The campaigners see Bitcoin, especially when paired with a privacy tool like Cashu, as a superior replacement or at least an essential addition to Signal’s payment options.
With an estimated 70 million monthly active users, a successful integration of Bitcoin into Signal could turn the platform into a major hub for people to send and receive Bitcoin directly to one another.
The Privacy Problem and Alternative Suggestions
Despite the high-profile support, the campaign has met with significant criticism, mainly centered on Bitcoin’s inherent lack of privacy at its most basic level.
Critics point out that the Bitcoin blockchain is fully public. This means every single transaction is permanently recorded and visible for anyone to trace. As Aztec Network engineer José Pedro Sousa asked Dorsey, “why use a fully public blockchain for a privacy chat?” Digital rights advocates like Techlore have argued that integrating Bitcoin could actually jeopardize the privacy that Signal users rely on.
While the Cashu protocol is meant to solve this issue by offering a privacy-preserving wrapper for Bitcoin, critics note that very few applications attempting to do this have managed to succeed on a large scale.
Instead, many suggest that Monero (XMR) or Zcash (ZEC) would be better options. These cryptocurrencies were specifically designed with enhanced privacy features built directly into their core technology, making them, arguably, a more suitable partner for a highly private messenger like Signal.
The Broader Context: Protecting Private Messaging
This push to solidify a private, decentralized payment system within Signal comes at a time when digital privacy is under threat, particularly in Europe.
Recently, the European Union considered a controversial “Chat Control” law. If passed, this law would have forced all messaging services even those with end-to-end encryption like Signal and WhatsApp to scan users’ private messages and report certain content, primarily to spot child abuse material. Critics argued this measure would effectively break end-to-end encryption and strip away fundamental communication privacy.
The current campaign can be seen as part of a larger movement by Bitcoin and privacy advocates to create robust, decentralized tools that are resistant to such government or corporate control. By integrating Bitcoin with a secure messenger like Signal, the goal is to create a platform where users can communicate and transact freely and privately, shielded from mass surveillance efforts.
