Silicon Tanks: Moxie Marlinspike, the Web3 Skeptic Behind Signal

Why the creator of Signal Protocol does not believe in true decentralization.

Moxie Marlinspike is best known as the creator of the secure messenger Signal. He is regarded as one of the leading advocates for privacy in the digital realm. 

However, he is a staunch critic of Web3, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs. Marlinspike argues that the decentralized future touted by enthusiasts is merely an illusion, masking old centralized schemes.

ForkLog examined the validity of the American cryptographer’s arguments. 

Who is Moxie Marlinspike?

Moxie Marlinspike (real name Matthew Rosenfeld) is a prominent figure in the world of cryptography, information security, censorship circumvention systems, and online anonymity.

In 2013, he founded Open Whisper Systems, which later evolved into the non-profit Signal Foundation. The main product, the Signal messenger, has become the gold standard for secure communication. Its end-to-end encryption protocol, Signal Protocol, is used in WhatsApp and Google Messages.

Marlinspike approaches technology pragmatically. He values not ideological purity, but the end result for the user: simplicity, reliability, and genuine privacy. This approach has shaped his skeptical view of Web3, which he first detailed in early 2022 in a personal blog.

The World Doesn’t Want to Run Its Own Servers

Marlinspike’s main argument is that Web3 does not solve the internet’s core problem—dependency on providers. People do not want and will not run their own servers to interact with applications. They value convenience.

Web3 applications are positioned as decentralized. In practice, nearly all of them interact with the blockchain not directly, but through major providers. Wallets like MetaMask or Phantom default to using services like Infura and Alchemy to fetch data from networks like Ethereum or Solana.

This creates a classic architecture where Infura replaces the personal server. If these providers shut down or impose censorship, most applications will cease to function. Marlinspike believes that Web3 has merely replaced one form of centralization with another, more complex and less efficient one.

The Illusion of Ownership: An NFT Example

To demonstrate the weakness of non-fungible tokens, Marlinspike created his own NFT. The uploaded image changed depending on where it was viewed: on OpenSea, Rarible, or in a wallet. 

Source: Marlinspike’s blog.

The experiment showed that most NFTs do not store the media file (image, GIF, video) on the blockchain. The network records only a token with a link to a file located on a regular server, whose owner can change or delete the content at any time.

Thus, the NFT buyer acquires not the digital object itself, but merely a record in a distributed ledger pointing to that object. True control over the asset remains with the creator or the server owner where it is stored. This undermines the very idea of immutable ownership rights promoted by NFT advocates.

Centralized Points of Failure

Marlinspike’s criticism found practical confirmation. In August 2022, the US authorities imposed sanctions against Tornado Cash. Immediately after, Infura and Alchemy blocked access to the service’s smart contracts. As a result, many Web3 projects using their API lost the ability to interact with the mixer.

This case clearly demonstrated how dependent the ecosystem is on centralized providers, who must comply with regulatory demands.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin partially agreed with the criticism. He acknowledged the problem of dependency on centralized APIs but noted that it is a temporary phenomenon. In his view, the development of “light” clients, which do not require downloading the entire blockchain, will eventually solve this issue and allow users to interact with the network directly.

The MobileCoin Paradox

Marlinspike’s position seems contradictory, given that the Signal messenger integrated payments in the MobileCoin (MOB) cryptocurrency. However, there is no direct conflict here.

Marlinspike’s criticism is not directed at cryptography or blockchain technology per se, but at the Web3 ecosystem and its false claims of decentralization. MobileCoin is a cryptocurrency focused on transaction privacy, aligning with Signal’s philosophy. 

Marlinspike distinguishes between the technology and its marketing facade. He uses cryptographic tools for specific tasks but rejects the notion that the current implementation of Web3 can transform the internet.

In early 2022, Marlinspike stepped down as CEO of Signal to focus on his own research. He urges the industry to look at the real state of affairs and consider the fundamental infrastructure problems.