Elon Musk’s XChat, a DM replacement, faces criticism

On June 1, Elon Musk announced the launch of the new XChat messenger “with encryption, vanishing messages and the ability to send any kind of file”.

All new XChat is rolling out with encryption, vanishing messages and the ability to send any kind of file. Also, audio/video calling.

This is built on Rust with (Bitcoin style) encryption, whole new architecture.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2025

A key feature of the app is that it is built in the Rust programming language. It also touts the use of “Bitcoin-style” encryption.

According to Musk, users will be able to make audio and video calls without a phone number “on all platforms”.

According to TechCrunch, some users with the paid X Prime subscription have already received access to XChat.

The announcement followed a message from X’s engineering account saying it was pausing the encrypted direct-messages (DM) feature.

Starting today we will be pausing the encrypted DMs feature while we work on making some improvements. You will still be able to access your encrypted DMs, but won’t be able to send new ones.

— Engineering (@XEng) May 28, 2025

The team said users will retain access to existing encrypted DMs, but they will not be able to send new ones.

Leaks that proved accurate

On April 16, a user going by the handle P4mui said that DMs would be replaced by XChat, which would offer expanded functionality and stronger security.

Yes DMs will be gone soon… but it’s in favor of XChat, the new generation of DMs on X/Twitter

So you will still be able to message people but:

— fully encrypted end to end

— you’ll be able to send files

— you can « delete a message for all »

— you can UNREAD a message

Ect… https://t.co/hMd9Es4Nft pic.twitter.com/xavkK1zHxE

— P4mui (@P4mui) April 16, 2025

The insider also shared key features of the new platform:

• conversation contents will be protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning the information will be available only to the sender and the recipient;
• users will be able to exchange files directly in chats;
• it will be possible to delete a sent message not only on your side but also for the other party;
• you can mark a message as unread to return to it later.

P4mui noted that this is not an exhaustive list of changes and XChat may include other improvements.

On April 18, developer Nima Owji also posted about forthcoming changes to messaging. He noted that the messenger “will support more advanced group chats and vanishing messages”.

BREAKING: X CHAT will support more advanced group chats and VANISHING MODE! pic.twitter.com/zgcS6qZy6y

— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) April 18, 2025

On May 30, the researcher told TechCrunch that the new messaging system appeared ready for a full launch.

Criticism of XChat

The announcement drew scepticism in the crypto community, which questioned what exactly “Bitcoin-style encryption” means. Ian Miers, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland, noted that the first cryptocurrency “primarily uses digital signatures”.

Seriously, what is Bitcoin style encryption? Bitcoin primarily uses signatures, not encryption.
This is like saying, we decided to run our rocket on water, since NASA uses Hydrogen and Oxygen. https://t.co/dWZhV6H4Tk

— Ian Miers (@secparam) June 1, 2025

“This is like saying, we decided to run our rocket on water, since NASA uses Hydrogen and Oxygen,” the expert said.

Miers added that “Bitcoin-style” and Rust are not descriptions of an encryption scheme and do not serve as reliable indicators of a messenger’s security. Moreover, if encrypted direct messages are available only in the app, they are unlikely to be implemented purely in Rust.

JAN3 CEO Samson Mow also said that “Bitcoin is not encrypted,” while a user going by the handle Pledditor pointed to the use of elliptic-curve cryptography in the structure of the digital gold.

A naming problem for Musk?

It turns out the name XChat was already used for an IRC client developed by Peter Zelezny from 1998 to 2010.

According to GitHub, the X-Chat (or xchat) program was released under the GPL v2 licence. Although active development ceased many years ago, the question of rights to the name may remain open.

If the XChat trademark rights are still valid and belong to the original developers or related parties, Musk’s team may have to enter talks to buy those rights.

Otherwise, launching a new product under an existing brand could entail legal complications and potential lawsuits, which may delay or even derail plans to integrate the messenger into the X ecosystem.

In March, a court rejected Musk’s request to block the “commercialization” of OpenAI.