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ETH Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin supports Signal's privacy upgrade and supports no mobile phone number registration
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed strong support for the privacy measures taken by Signal, a widely used encrypted communications application. Currently, the platform is working to enable users to register without a mobile phone number.
Butrin defends privacy and digital autonomy
As a key advocate of privacy protection in the encryption ecosystem, Vitalik Butrin has consistently supported initiatives aimed at protecting user data and metadata. Based on his concern about the direction of Ethereum's development, Buterin pointed out in an article in April 2025 that whoever has information has huge power. He emphasized the need to resist centralized data collection, especially in the digital field where these practices are most active.
In November 2025, Buterin donated 128 ether to the Signal Foundation and SimpleX Chat each. Both organizations are committed to allowing users to create accounts without submitting personally identifiable information. Butrint praised their efforts to improve account privacy and strengthen user metadata protection.
Butrin pointed out that it is extremely difficult to implement anti-witch attacks and denial of service attacks without relying on traditional identities such as mobile phone numbers. He expressed appreciation for the team's efforts to explore alternatives to protect privacy.
Signal is managed by the Signal Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing open source privacy technologies. The results of its work have attracted widespread attention from global privacy advocates and the vast encryption community.
(Small Dictionary: Anti-witch attacks refer to a mechanism that prevents a single entity from creating multiple false identities and disrupting system operation in a decentralized network.)
Signal tests no mobile number account function
Currently, Signal requires users to provide their mobile number when registering an account. Privacy advocates such as Butrin have criticized the policy, arguing it could pose a security risk. A recent report released by AboutSignal, an independent project that tracks the development progress of the app, shows that Signal is supporting the ability to create new accounts without a mobile phone number on the backend.
Code commit records found in Signal's server codebase indicate that new accounts without mobile numbers will remain separate from existing accounts with mobile numbers bound. This separation means that users cannot remove mobile numbers from old accounts or add mobile numbers to accounts without mobile numbers; this option only applies to new user registrations.
Ellen Kreit, Chief Technology Officer of Signal, talked about the technical and security challenges in March, noting that preventing malicious actors from creating accounts in bulk is a top priority. Krette explained that the team is considering setting some cost threshold for exemption from mobile phone registration, but it may not necessarily involve financial payments. He said Signal plans to launch a version of the feature later this year.
"We have to find a way to make it cost to not providing mobile phone registration," Krett explained, adding that implementation does not necessarily require a fee.
In line with Ethereum's privacy vision
Vitalik Buterin has also contributed to enhancing privacy protection on the Ethereum main network, with a focus on enabling private, uncensored transactions and unconnected on-chain activities. The updates are designed to prevent external entities from associating wallet addresses and transaction records with specific users, but these features are still under development and are not yet available.
Butrin believes that the push for privacy protection on Ethereum and the initiatives taken by Signal are part of the same battle: reducing the reliance of digital infrastructure on identifiable information. Signal's initiative aims to reduce the use of mobile numbers as identification, while Ethereum's plan aims to eliminate similar association mechanisms in blockchain activities.
