Block Chief Executive Officer and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has unveiled BitChat, a peer-to-peer messaging application that operates entirely over Bluetooth mesh networks. Published as a weekend project, the open-source app was released in beta on Apple’s TestFlight on 7 July, immediately filling its 10,000-user allocation, and an Android version followed within 24 hours. Dorsey also posted a white paper on GitHub outlining the underlying protocol. BitChat creates ad-hoc Bluetooth Low Energy clusters that relay messages from device to device, extending reach up to about 300 metres without relying on Wi-Fi, cellular service, central servers or personal identifiers. Messages are end-to-end encrypted, stored only on users’ phones and deleted by default. The software supports public channels and password-protected group chats, and will queue traffic until a recipient re-enters range, making it resilient to network outages and censorship. The project echoes earlier off-grid tools popularised during the 2019 Hong Kong protests and aligns with Dorsey’s broader campaign to decentralise digital communications. Technology analysts say the approach could aid disaster response, large events, or regions facing internet shutdowns, while giving users greater privacy than mainstream platforms such as WhatsApp. Several crypto-focused testers said they have already used the mesh to store and forward signed Bitcoin transactions until a connected node broadcasts them online, although this capability was not highlighted in the initial white paper. Dorsey cautioned that BitChat remains experimental; the GitHub repository notes the code has not undergone an external security review and should not yet be considered production-ready.