Jack Dorsey Urges Signal to Integrate Bitcoin for P2P Payments

Coin WorldThursday, Apr 10, 2025 6:02 am ET
1min read

Jack Dorsey, a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur and former CEO of Twitter, has urged Signal Messenger to integrate Bitcoin for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. This move could potentially shift Signal’s crypto strategy away from altcoins, which have been the primary focus for in-app payments.

On April 9, Dorsey took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his support for Bitcoin integration within Signal. He responded to a post by Bitcoin developer Calle, who suggested that Bitcoin would be an ideal fit for Signal’s private communication

. Dorsey’s endorsement was further bolstered by other industry leaders, including former president David Marcus, who advocated for all non-transactional apps to connect to Bitcoin.

This push reflects a growing trend within the cryptocurrency community to promote Bitcoin as a functional payment system, rather than merely a store of value or digital gold. Dorsey has long been an advocate for Bitcoin, believing that its success hinges on its utility as a payment method.

Signal, an open-source encrypted messaging service, currently supports in-app payments using Sentz, formerly known as MobileCoin. Sentz is a privacy-focused ERC-20 token that was rebranded in November 2023. The messenger’s website lists Sentz as the only supported cryptocurrency for payments within the app. Sentz was founded in 2017 by Josh Goldbard and Shane Glyn, with backing from prominent industry players like BlockTower Capital and Coinbase Ventures.

Signal’s integration of MobileCoin in 2021 sparked controversy, with many raising concerns about potential ties between Signal’s founder and MobileCoin, as well as the opacity surrounding its issuance and suspicious gains leading up to the partnership announcement. Despite these issues, Signal has continued to support Sentz for in-app payments.

Signal is not the only social media app that has pushed altcoin payments over Bitcoin. Telegram, another popular messenger, has aggressively promoted its ecosystem to use Toncoin, a crypto asset linked to Telegram founders. Similarly, Elon Musk’s “everything app” X has been suspected of planning to launch its own coin, although Musk publicly denied these plans in August 2023.

The endorsements from industry leaders like Dorsey and Marcus highlight a shift in the cryptocurrency landscape, where Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a viable payment option. This could potentially influence other messaging platforms to reconsider their crypto strategies and explore Bitcoin integration for P2P payments.