Each app received 128 ETH to protect metadata in their chats.
In parallel, Ethereum will integrate technology from the Tor network to anonymize transactions.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin allocated 256 ether (ETH), equivalent to $768,000, to drive extreme privacy in messaging chats. Session and SimpleX Chat each received half – 128 ETH – for their bet on permissionless accounts and protected metadata.
Buterin highlighted these efforts in a publication in X. There he noted: «Encrypted messaging, like Signal, is essential to preserving our digital privacy. “Two important next steps for this space are permissionless account creation and metadata privacy.”
“Session and SimpleX Chat are two messaging applications that drive these directions,” he continued to explain the decision to donate to these initiatives.
This happens in a world where privacy is under threateven banning anonymous bitcoin and cryptocurrency wallets in Europe by 2027, as detailed in an opinion article published in CriptoNoticias.
With state and corporate spying on the rise, privacy-focused apps like Signal, Session, and SimpleX Chat are gaining popularity among security-conscious users.
In fact, SimpleX Chat protects metadata with one-way message queues and without permanent global identifiers. For its part, Session routes all traffic through a decentralized network of nodes (onion routing), eliminating central servers and hiding both the identity and IP of the users.
However, Buterin acknowledged imperfections. “True metadata protection requires a high degree of decentralization, which is not easy to implement,” he said.
“Challenges remain such as compatibility with multiple devices and resistance to Sybil or DoS attacks,” he added.
The donation caused immediate reactions in X. A user applauded support by pointing out that what Vitalik highlights here (permissionless identity, metadata privacy, and Sybil-resistant decentralization) is exactly where the next generation of encrypted messaging will win or fail. Other commented: “decentralized messaging sounds difficult… luckily, you just made it sound rich and easy.”
In parallel, Buterin promotes similar advances in Ethereum. During Devconnect Argentina on November 21, it announced the integration of Tor network technologies to reinforce anonymity in wallets, transactions and connections to the network.
“We will incorporate hidden services in all layers where possible,” said Buterin in the presentation with Robert Dingledine, founder of Tor.
Buterin also emphasized a conceptual shift in the Ethereum Foundation. “We moved from thinking about privacy only within the chain to a broader view, which protects how users read data or interact with a node,” he said. This complements zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs with safeguards on external connections.
There is no fixed date for implementation, but it reinforces Buterin’s commitment to comprehensive privacy. Their donation to Session and SimpleX Chat, along with these plans for Ethereum, signals a unified strategy of shielding digital communications from everyday chats to cryptocurrency networks.