• The app is a product of the crypto exchange, the stablecoin issuer, and Hypercore, a software firm.
• Keet will address the privacy concerns surrounding its Web2 competitors, zoom and google meet.

Crypto exchange (Bitfinex) and USDT stablecoin issuer (Tether) have announced the launch of Keet, a video chat application. Thus, marking their foray into the social media world. Bitfinex, Tether, and Hypercore (a peer-to-peer data network) have collaborated to launch the fully-encrypted Keet app.

In a joint statement from the three companies, Keet is a desktop-only app for now, but the trio plans to launch the app’s mobile version soon. This mobile version will have a super video quality than the desktop version. The communication app is the first app developed on Holepunch. Earlier today, the three companies announced the launch of the Holepunch platform as a means for developers to build Web3 apps.

While it is still a close source project, the companies plan to make it open source before this year-end. By then, it will no longer run on blockchain technology. Instead, it will use the layer-2 solution, lightning network, to make payments affordable and facilitate Bitcoin transactions.

Thus, developers can use the lightning network to build payment apps on the Holepunch network. The launch announcement further revealed that Holepunch still has access to millions of dollars for expansion efforts. Hypercore, Tether, and Bitfinex have invested $10 million into the Web3 application development platform.

The question many industry players are asking is, why would Bitfinex and the issuers of the biggest stablecoin globally launch a chat app? Paolo Ardoino’s answer was simple – freedom of speech. While Ardoino doubles as the chief technology officer of Bitfinex and Tether, he would also be the chief strategy officer at Holepunch.

Ardoino explained that Tether and Bitfinex are building apps in the blockchain space that provides real solutions to people’s problems. Hence, they are not necessarily in it for the money. He added that financial freedom without freedom of speech could not create individual sovereignty.

Related: As more crypto hedge funds bet against Tether’s USDT stablecoin, CTO Paolo Ardoino lashes out

The Holepunch CSO also said that Holepunch is free for all developers. More importantly, it will ensure greater privacy and security of communication than centralized chat platforms such as google meet or zoom. Arduino said the privacy feature is possible because calls between users are directly between their computers.

Hence, the app’s servers don’t store any information about their communication. Ardoino added that privacy had become one of the most forgotten human rights. Many no longer have the freedom to say what they want to their parents because they worry that someone else is listening or recording their conversation.

Tether’s recent growth

Tether’s USDT is available on multiple blockchains. The USD-pegged token is the most-traded digital asset, and many industry players consider it the cornerstone of the crypto economy. Despite its popularity and transparency, many regulators still wonder whether real reserves back its tokens. Tether was fined $41 million in 2021 by the commodity futures trading commission (CFTC) because it lied about its fiat-backed reserves.