Signal, a cross-platform encrypted messenger, is reportedly testing new features, including cryptocurrency payments, as its user base has grown beyond 40 million users globally, Platformer has learned.
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Casey Newton, Founder of Platformer, says new features would make it "vulnerable to abuse." Signal's employees also sounded alarm as the company’s exploration of cryptocurrency could involve "more bad actors onto the platform and attract regulatory scrutiny from world leaders."
While the backbone of the crypto payments system under development remains unknown, Signal CEO, Moxie Marlinspike, has previously served as an adviser to MobileCoin, a Stellar-based cryptocurrency that could allow anyone to "hide everything from everyone."
Marlinspike declined to confirm the upcoming crypto-related system, but noted the company had done some "design explorations."
"If we did decide we wanted to put payments into Signal, we would try to think really carefully about how we did that. It is hard to be totally hypothetical," Marlinspike added.
Signal grew its user base in January after several tech giants in the US blocked Trump's accounts on multiple social media and WhatsApp changed its privacy policy.
As iHodl reported, Chainalysis, a cryptocurrency-focused analytic agency, found that several members of the alt-right movement received a total of 28.15 BTC (over $1 million at the current price) a few days before the US Capitol riot. The agency says the bitcoin donor sent the cryptocurrency to 22 separate addresses in a single transaction. Chainalysis alleges many of those addresses are connected with "far-right activists and internet personalities."
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