Elon Musk's XChat Is Replacing X's DMs With Encryption and More Features to Enjoy—When's It Coming?

For a long time, Elon Musk has promised that he and X would release a secure messaging platform for users, and that is about to come true with the nearing arrival of "XChat." This experience would be available right on the X app and is integrated into the social media platform, with this replacing the regular Messages tool which is also known as direct messages (DMs).

However, it will not be the regular DM experience that users have been familiar with for many years now as this will be a different experience that offers encryption and many more features than the previous one.

Elon Musk's XChat Is Replacing X's DMs

Musk announced via his official account on X that a new messaging feature called "XChat" will be coming to the platform, and this will effectively replace the existing Messages. This specific feature will be Musk's take on encrypted messaging that is directly available on X, with users getting the chance to enjoy a private experience directly.

According to Musk, the XChat experience is coming sometime this week, and it is currently rolling out across different regions. It is available for all users, and since it will replace the DMs, there may be no subscription requirements.

XChat: Encryption and More Features Coming

The X owner revealed that XChat's main feature is to bring encryption to the messaging experience on the platform, and this latest technology is built on Rust that offers a similar "Bitcoin-style" encryption.

Users may also send vanishing messages to other accounts as well as receive the same type of message that would disappear after being read. Additionally, users may now send any type of file via XChat, with audio and video calling available across all platforms.

Secure Messaging for X

Back when Musk was still on the verge of buying Twitter, one of the things he wanted for the platform to feature was an encrypted messaging experience that would offer security for all. He said that it would be one of the top priorities once he got ahold of X and became its leader/owner, with the executive hinting about this feature over the years.

In 2023, Twitter released the first phase of its encrypted DMs project on the platform, testing the feature that would help improve the privacy and security of users in their different conversations. The goal is to deliver a safe experience on the platform as Musk envisions it to be, one that would no longer have users relying on third-party apps to enjoy secure conversations.

Previously, Musk and X wanted Signal Messenger's technology to deliver the encrypted messages experiences on the platform, but this did not push through as the instant messaging app's team opted not to work with X.