Privacy-focused messenger Signal has allocated resources to test internal payments in cryptocurrency, according to Casey Newton, founder of the information service Platformer.
🧵 Today’s issue of @platformer is a look at the battle inside Signal. The company is developing features that would make it vulnerable to abuse – and employees are sounding the alarm https://t.co/7KotVpoQWK
– Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) January 26, 2021
Signal has experimented with the MobileCoin token, developed by messenger creator Moxie Marlinspike, Newton said. In 2018, the project team received $ 30 million from the Binance bitcoin exchange.
The interlocutors suggested that the integration of the token would attract the attention of regulators to the platform and interest unscrupulous users. Marlinspike called the MobileCoin work “research.”
“If we really decided to add cryptocurrency payments to Signal, we would try to think it over carefully,” said the creator of the platform.
However, ex-employees told Newton that the company is actively developing the necessary protocols for the integration of MobileCoin.
Signal expanded its user base in January 2021 amid changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy. During the week, the number of downloads of the messenger grew by 4200%.
Recall that in November 2020, the EU authorities approved a resolution obliging messenger operators to create keys for monitoring chats and messages with end-to-end encryption.
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