White Noise: A New Privacy-First Messaging App on Nostr
White Noise, a privacy-centric messaging app, launched its alpha v0.1.0 public beta in July 2026. Built on Nostr's Bitcoin-native decentralized identity system and the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol, White Noise introduces an anonymization protocol that hides sensitive metadata. Combined with end-to-end encrypted group chats and direct messages (DMs), it aims to transform Nostr from an early-adopter hobbyist technology into a viable alternative to privacy-branded messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram.
Nostr's Privacy Shortcomings and the MLS Solution
Nostr, short for 'Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays,' is a decentralized open-source protocol launched in 2021 to enable censorship-resistant communication and social networking. Unlike centralized platforms, Nostr uses an open network of independent relays, allowing users to publish posts, send private messages, and share data without depending on a single company. Users authenticate with private/public keys that can also be used for Bitcoin payments, requiring no identifiable information like email or phone. Despite its popularity among Bitcoin users, Nostr lacked proper tools for private group chats and anonymized DMs.
“We started this project because we saw no alternatives,” Max Hillebrand, founder of White Noise and former contributor to Wasabi Wallet, told Bitcoin Magazine. “Existing encrypted apps fail at scale: Adding 100 people to a group chat slows encryption to a crawl. Decentralized platforms lack private messaging. Meanwhile, Nostr’s open relay network lets anyone broadcast ideas, but direct messages remain woefully underprotected. We realized: To protect freedom, we needed to merge these systems.” White Noise addresses these problems using MLS, the Messaging Layer Security standard developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF, founded in 1986). Unlike current Nostr DMs and public posts, White Noise obfuscates who is sending what to whom using the mature MLS encryption scheme — similar to the one used by Signal.
Open Source Alpha and Community Feedback
The open-source alpha invites audits and feedback from the privacy and Bitcoin community. Users can find details about the app at whitenoise.chat or connect with them on X. With this release, White Noise takes a step toward making Nostr a true contender in the privacy messaging space — not just encryption, but metadata protection, a pain point many existing encrypted apps haven't fully addressed.