A fresh wave of Bitcoin supporters — including Jack Dorsey and developer Peter Todd — are calling on the privacy-focused messaging platform Signal to integrate Bitcoin as part of a new “Bitcoin for Signal” initiative.
The campaign, led by pseudonymous Bitcoin developer Cashu, seeks to enable peer-to-peer Bitcoin payments inside Signal using Cashu’s Chaumian eCash protocol. This system would allow users to send and receive Bitcoin privately within the app.
Jack Dorsey amplified the movement by reposting a tweet from Cashu, saying, “@Signalapp should use Bitcoin.” The campaign’s official site emphasizes that Bitcoin deserves a place in Signal, calling it a move toward “truly private Bitcoin transactions inside the world’s most trusted encrypted messenger.”
The idea has gained traction among prominent Bitcoin figures, including Peter Todd, who criticized Signal’s existing crypto integration, MobileCoin (MOB) — introduced in 2021 — for being too centralized and difficult to access. “Signal needs to face reality and add Bitcoin support,” Todd commented.
Other Bitcoin advocates, such as Satoshi Labs co-founder Pavol Rusnak and developer Calle, have also voiced support. They believe Signal’s 70 million monthly active users could make it a powerful hub for decentralized payments if Bitcoin were adopted.
However, not everyone agrees. Critics, including engineers from Aztec Network and digital privacy advocates at Techlore, argue that Bitcoin’s public blockchain undermines the privacy principles that Signal is built on. They suggest alternatives like Monero (XMR) or Zcash (ZEC), which offer stronger built-in privacy protections.
Despite these concerns, proponents of the Cashu protocol argue it provides sufficient privacy for Bitcoin-based payments, though similar systems have struggled to gain mainstream use.
The timing of this debate aligns with ongoing privacy concerns in Europe, where the EU’s proposed “Chat Control” bill could weaken encryption by forcing apps to scan users’ private messages for harmful content. Germany has opposed the proposal, citing constitutional violations, and a new vote is expected in December.
As governments tighten scrutiny over online privacy, Bitcoin advocates see this as the perfect moment to strengthen privacy-preserving technologies — and integrating Bitcoin into apps like Signal could be a key step in that direction.
