Radar Chat Wants to Make Sending Bitcoin as Easy as Firing Off a Text - Decrypt

In brief

Radar Chat launched Tuesday, combining encrypted messaging with Bitcoin payments.

The app uses the Signal Protocol but was developed independently from Signal.

Radar says users remain in control of their Bitcoin, which is sent via the Lightning Network.

A new app from the team behind Cake Wallet brings Bitcoin payments directly into private messaging.Launched Tuesday, Radar Chat combines end-to-end encrypted messaging with self-custodial Bitcoin payments via the Lightning Network, allowing users to send Bitcoin via text messages without having to switch apps or copy wallet addresses.“The idea behind Radar is that the people we talk to and the people we pay are often the same people, yet messaging and payments still live in separate places,” Radar Chat and Cake Wallet founder Vikrant Sharma told Decrypt.Available on iOS and Android, Radar—which the company clarified is a separate company from Cake Wallet—uses Signal’s open-source protocol to let users send encrypted messages and Bitcoin payments inside private conversations without switching between separate chat and wallet apps, with private keys controlled by users.