Bitchat, Offline Push, and the Rebirth of P2P Payments Without Internet

Jack Dorsey has just launched Bitchat, a decentralized messenger that operates entirely offline, using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and mesh communication between devices.

At first glance, it seems like a simple tool: send private messages in areas without internet access. But anyone familiar with P2P architecture can see that something much bigger is unfolding.

This kind of Bluetooth-based offline infrastructure is exactly what was missing to decentralize not just messaging, but payments, with cryptographic security, local signatures, and future compatibility with blockchain.

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🔁 How would an offline push P2P payment work?

Imagine the following scenario:

1️⃣ Two users meet offline. Their mobile wallets connect via BLE or NFC.
2️⃣ The payer creates a “payment block” locally signed with their private key. This block includes:
 • Amount
 • Recipient
 • Timestamp
 • Nonce (a unique incremental number)
3️⃣ The block is pushed directly to the recipient via Bluetooth P2P.
4️⃣ The recipient stores the block locally.
5️⃣ Once either device reconnects to the internet, the block is broadcast to the blockchain, which validates and records the transaction chronologically based on the nonce and signature.

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⛓️ Why won’t there be duplicate transactions?

Transaction integrity and uniqueness are ensured by three technical elements:

👉 Digital Signature: The payer signs the block. The blockchain accepts only one valid transaction per nonce.
👉 Incremental Nonce: Each wallet uses a sequential number for every transaction. If two blocks with the same nonce are submitted, one is rejected.
👉 Finality on the online layer: The transaction is only considered final once it’s written to the blockchain, which defines the canonical order and eliminates any attempt at duplication or replay.

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📲 Offline Push: An overlooked but powerful concept

Unlike traditional push notifications (server → client), offline push between apps means transmitting encrypted data blocks directly between devices via BLE, NFC, or QR — with no intermediaries.

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🔮 This enables:

👉 Payments in regions without internet (slums, conflict zones, prisons)
👉 Secure transfers between strangers at events, in natural disasters, or during blackouts
👉 Creation of local credit markets, with tokens circulating offline and syncing periodically
👉 Reputation or escrow systems with asynchronous checkpoints

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💡 Bitchat may just be the beginning

By enabling the direct transmission of signed blocks between devices, without internet, and later syncing with public blockchain networks, Bitchat introduces a new layer of economic resilience.

This model not only revives the P2P ideal lost in today’s internet-dependent blockchains — it also ensures security, fraud resistance, and immutability, all without sacrificing privacy or local autonomy.

And I talked about this back in 02/2020. 😎

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