Vitalik Buterin Donates 256 ETH to Privacy-Focused Messaging Projects Session and SimpleX to Enhance Digital Privacy

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin continues to actively support initiatives aimed at protecting privacy in the digital world. In his recent post on the X platform, Buterin stated that encrypted messengers like Signal are critical for preserving digital privacy. He emphasized that the next key steps in this area should be permissionless account creation and metadata privacy.

According to Buterin, two projects - Session and SimpleX, are actively advancing these directions. To support their work, he donated 128 ETH to each, which at the time of the donation amounted to approximately $760,000 in total (considering the current ETH price around $3,000). Addresses for further donations are available on the projects' websites: getsession.org and simplex.chat. Buterin also urged developers to join in improving privacy-preserving messaging tools, stressing that none of these apps are perfect and require further development for optimal user experience and security.

Session is a decentralized messenger that operates on the Session Token and does not require phone numbers or central servers, focusing on message anonymity. SimpleX Chat, in turn, positions itself as a network where users own their identity, contacts, and groups, with an emphasis on decentralization and open source. This project previously received investments from notable figures, including $1.3 million in a pre-seed round from Jack Dorsey (Twitter co-founder) and Asymmetric Ventures in August 2024.

The community's reaction to Buterin's donation was positive: the projects expressed gratitude for the support, and X users actively discussed the importance of privacy. For example, the Session team noted that "your support means a lot, and the work continues," while SimpleX Chat thanked for the "huge support." However, Buterin warned about challenges: true metadata privacy requires deep decentralization, and support for multiple devices, resistance to Sybil and DoS attacks add complexity.

This donation fits into Buterin's broader pattern of actions, who has previously supported projects like ethOS (a mobile OS based on Ethereum) and other privacy initiatives. In the context of growing pressure on privacy (for example, the use of SimpleX by extremist groups, as noted in Wired), such investments underscore the importance of decentralized tools for all users in the crypto community. Buterin advises not only financial support but also active use of these apps for testing and improvement.