Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed support for two private messaging projects, Session and SimpleX, and outlined key privacy requisites.

Core requirements for digital privacy

Buterin said account creation should not require phone numbers, identity documents, or special permissions to reduce centralized control and censorability.

He also stressed that protecting metadata is as important as encrypting message content to prevent inference about users, contacts, and behaviour.

Material support

Buterin noted progress in both projects and provided targeted financial support to help accelerate development and resilience of their networks.

He donated 128 ETH to Session and 128 ETH to SimpleX to fund engineering and infrastructure work.

Developer priorities

Alongside the contributions, he urged engineers to prioritise tools that enable private communication and to build practical, deployable privacy primitives.

Buterin's appeal focused on usability, resistance to metadata collection, and decentralized designs that reduce reliance on central identity providers.

Technical considerations

Metadata includes sender and recipient identifiers, timestamps, frequency patterns, and routing information that can reveal social graphs even when messages are encrypted.

• Registration privacy: avoid phone numbers and identity-linked credentials to minimise traceability.
• Metadata resistance: design systems to hide timing, routing, and contact graphs wherever feasible.
• Decentralisation: reduce single points of control to improve censorship resistance and survivability.

Attribution

The remarks were posted by Vitalik Buterin on his X account, where he described technical and social requirements for private messaging platforms.

The donations deliver immediate development resources, while the stated priorities may influence future design choices for privacy-focused messaging projects and protocols.