Do you use Signal for chatting securely with friends and loved ones? Us too! We endorse it wholeheartedly, and rely on it for nearly all our communication.
But the vibes are deteriorating here in the US, and we should have a communications contingency plan for if Signal goes down.
Didnt threema just get bought up by VC?
oh fuck…
uh… nevermind?
Threema has  been through two private equity acquisitions now. In 2020, the original cofounders sold to AFINUM (German PE firm) but retained leadership and a significant share. Then the founders left the company entirely in 2024. Just announced in January 2026: Comitis Capital (Hamburg-based PE) is acquiring Threema from AFINUM. The deal is expected to close this month.  This is what’s called a secondary buyout - one PE firm flipping to another. The concerning pattern: ∙ 2020: Founders sell majority to AFINUM ∙ 2024: Founders exit completely ∙ 2026: Flipped to another PE firm Threema claims “our core values, corporate mission, and management remain unchanged”  - which is the standard line in these acquisitions. They emphasize that technical infrastructure and data centers will remain in Switzerland , but the company is now fully owned by German investors with zero founder involvement. Why this matters: PE firms optimize for exit value. Two buyouts in 5 years with founders completely out suggests the product is now a financial asset, not a mission-driven project. Compare to Signal, which is a 501©(3) nonprofit. One commenter on the news put it bluntly: “I so liked this product… simpleX is now the only clean option in the market.”  If you want something without VC/PE ownership risk, SimpleX and Session are both structurally different - Session is backed by a foundation, SimpleX is open source with a different funding model. Delta Chat also dodges this since there’s no company to acquire.
How well does matrix hold up in comparison to Session or SimpleX? Maybe i have been living under a rock, but i did not hear much about them.