Session, a decentralized encrypted messenger used by more than a million people each month, will keep running after thousands of users donated to fund its next phase of development.
Key Points:
- Session will keep operating after thousands of users donated to support continued development.
- A funding shortfall earlier this year forced the project to cut paid staff and warn of a July closure.
- A leaner team led by Jason Rhinelander will keep building features such as post-quantum encryption.
Session Reverses Shutdown After Donations
Earlier this year, a funding shortfall pushed the Session Technology Foundation, the non-profit behind the app, to shed its paid team and shift to a smaller model. The group had warned it would close on Jul. 8 without about $1 million in new support.
The community refused to let it fade. Thousands of users chipped in, mostly in small amounts, and long-time contributors stayed on, which proved enough to cancel the shutdown and carry development into 2027.
The rescue is a rare case of a privacy tool kept alive by the people who use it.
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Linton Touts Private Messaging Demand
Alexander Linton, president of the foundation, said the money came mostly from ordinary users who wanted the app to live on.
He called the response a sign of how much people value private, censorship-resistant communication. "Session is still here because its users believe it should be," Linton said.
Unlike most encrypted messengers, the app requires no phone number and routes messages through a decentralized network of more than 2,000 nodes. That design masks IP addresses and strips away metadata, which has made it a fixture for journalists, activists, and human rights workers around the world.
Session Funding Crisis Recap
The leaner operation now runs under chief software architect Jason Rhinelander, a contributor who joined before the app even carried the Session name. His small team is steering the work toward post-quantum encryption and a paid Pro tier built to make the project self-funding. The foundation says its focus now is keeping the app stable, sustainable, and independent.
The turnaround caps months of strain for the project. Co-founder Chris McCabe issued a public appeal in March, and the paid staff departed on Apr. 9. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had earlier pledged 128 Ether (ETH), worth about $382,000 at the time, toward the same cause.
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