In an exciting announcement, Elon Musk revealed that the latest iteration of X’s Direct Messaging feature, known as XChat, is set to be launched for all users. This new platform promises a range of innovative features, including disappearing messages, enhanced encryption, and the ability to share files seamlessly, along with support for audio and video calls.
Currently, XChat is in the beta testing phase, available to a limited group of users. However, Musk has indicated that the full rollout is expected to occur within the week, provided there are no significant scaling challenges during the process.
In a series of posts, Musk highlighted that XChat has been developed using Rust and incorporates what he describes as “Bitcoin-style” encryption along with a completely revamped architecture. The term “Bitcoin-style encryption” has raised eyebrows, as it is not entirely clear what this entails, especially since Bitcoin’s security relies on public key cryptography rather than traditional encryption methods.
This ambiguity has sparked discussions among experts, with some questioning whether Musk is using the term for marketing purposes, if he has a misunderstanding of encryption, or if he simply misspoke and meant to refer to “cryptography” instead.
The owner of X has frequently expressed his ambition to position X’s Direct Messaging as a serious competitor to established encrypted messaging platforms like Signal and iMessage. However, the characterization of XChat as having only “Bitcoin-style encryption” raises questions about its viability as a true competitor in the secure messaging space.
Additionally, Musk announced that XChat users will have the capability to make audio and video calls across all platforms without the need for a phone number, further enhancing the user experience.
Prior to this launch, X had paused its work on encrypted direct messages, likely in anticipation of XChat taking over the existing system.
Unfortunately, users have experienced significant instability with the service in recent days, as multiple outages have hindered their ability to access timelines and utilize various features, including XChat.