Vitalik Buterin Donates 256 ETH to Privacy Messaging Apps

Highlights:

• Vitalik Buterin funded 128 ETH each to Signal and SimpleX Chat platforms.
• He emphasized apps improving metadata privacy and open account creation for users.
• Ethereum will focus on targeted scaling next year to improve efficiency and performance.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has donated a total of 256 ETH to support two encrypted messaging platforms, Signal and SimpleX Chat. He contributed 128 ETH to each platform. Buterin emphasized the apps’ work on open account creation and stronger metadata privacy for users. Buterin said, “Session app and SimpleX Chat are two messaging apps pushing these directions forward. For this reason, I’ve donated 128 ETH to each.” The donation reflects his focus on supporting tools that provide privacy beyond standard encryption methods.

Encrypted messaging, like @signalapp, is critical for preserving our digital privacy. Two important next steps for the space are (i) permissionless account creation and (ii) metadata privacy.@session_app and @SimpleXChat are two messaging apps pushing these directions forward.…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) November 26, 2025

Vitalik Buterin Highlights Privacy Challenges in Messaging Apps

SimpleX and Session are gaining attention because they focus on metadata privacy. Metadata includes information about who users interact with, when, and how often. SimpleX uses one-way messaging queues without global identifiers. Session operates on a decentralized network of service nodes rather than a single server.

Vitalik Buterin noted that messaging apps still face challenges. Full metadata protection is hard without decentralization. He explained that keeping Sybil and DoS resistance in both the network and user side, without using phone numbers, is difficult and needs more attention.

Signal now provides secure backups on iOS, following Android’s September update. Both platforms encrypt messages and media in end-to-end encryption. Every backup requires a 64-character key from the user’s device, which Signal cannot recover if misplaced. Forbes reported that Signal has faced hacking attempts. ThreatFabric researchers identified a sophisticated banking trojan on Android capable of bypassing some security features. The malware targets messages after they are decrypted on the device itself.

Buterin donates 256 ETH and gets attention on X. Users appreciated his support for privacy-focused projects. One user said most people ignore metadata privacy and permissionless onboarding. They noted that encryption is easy, but these privacy features are much harder. Session and SimpleX are working on these challenges, even if they are not perfect.

vitalik donating 128 eth is peak vitalik. humans round at 100. engineers round at powers of two. 128 is not a “nice number”, it is 2^7 – clean, binary, protocol-coded. looks like it is his way of signalling this is not charity theatre, it is a systems-level investment in privacy…

— Parimal (@Fintech03) November 27, 2025

Another X user said the 128 ETH donation fits Vitalik’s style. They added that the number has meaning in binary terms. This shows the contribution is a real investment in privacy, not just a performative action.

Buterin Supports Privacy Projects and Outlines Ethereum Scaling Plans

Vitalik Buterin talked about Ethereum’s expansion plans. He said next year the network will focus on targeted improvements. Scaling will happen in selected areas instead of increasing everything at once. He explained a proposal to raise the block gas limit five times. Gas costs for low-efficiency transactions will also go up. This will help scaling and encourage more efficient use of resources.

Vitalik added that the plan includes SSTORE for new storage slots, other SSTORE actions, precompiles except elliptic-curve ones, large contract calls, complex arithmetic, and calldata. These changes aim to improve Ethereum’s performance without slowing overall network growth.