# Best crypto messaging apps: 7 wallet-native picks

> Seven crypto messaging apps compared on wallet sign-in, encrypted DMs, gated groups and paid access, plus a simple rule for picking the right one.


A crypto messaging app is one where your wallet is the account, so you can write to an address, prove what the other side holds, and move money inside the conversation. Seven apps are worth a look in September 2026, in three shapes: private messengers with no wallet (Signal), wallet messengers on the XMTP protocol (Coinbase Wallet, Convos), and community apps where rooms are gated and paid (Towns, dm.fun, Cherry), with Telegram still holding most of the crypto traffic. We build Cherry (cherry.fun), a wallet-to-wallet messenger and community app where you sign in with a wallet, DM any address, and join or create token-gated, NFT-gated, and paid group chats.

## How we picked

This list is for traders and community owners deciding where a crypto community should live. Seven criteria: whether the wallet is the account or the app hands you one; what the app states about encryption for DMs and for groups; whether groups have owners, roles and moderation; whether holdings are verified on-chain without a verify bot; whether access can be sold, and what the owner keeps; which chains the app reads; and where it runs, including phones. Feed-first social apps and trading apps without chat are out, which is why Farcaster and fomo are not on the list.

## Telegram

Telegram is where most crypto communities already are, and its encryption is narrower than its reputation. Telegram's FAQ says cloud chats use client-server encryption, that "All messages in secret chats use end-to-end encryption", and that "All secret chats in Telegram are device-specific and are not part of the Telegram cloud". Secret chats are one-to-one, so a group chat on Telegram has no end-to-end option. There is no wallet identity either: gating by holdings means a third-party verify bot, a wallet-connect site, and a re-verify loop. The failure modes are familiar: verify links from strangers, fake balance screenshots, scam DMs that arrive before your announcement does.

Fit: keep Telegram when your members will not move and your gate is loose. Our guide to [moving a community off Telegram](https://cherry.fun/learn/guides/move-a-community-off-telegram/) covers the migration in detail.

## Signal

Signal is the one app here with no crypto layer to judge, and the one whose encryption covers every chat and call. It is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by grants and donations, and its home page states that end-to-end encryption powered by the open-source Signal Protocol covers your conversations. Group chats are encrypted the same way as one-to-one chats. A phone number is still the ticket in: Signal's usernames post of February 20 2024 says "you will still need a phone number to sign up for Signal", and a username is "a way to initiate contact on Signal without sharing your phone number". Its feature list has no wallet sign-in, no on-chain gating and no paid rooms.

Fit: deal rooms and private groups where everyone already knows everyone and nothing depends on what a wallet holds.

## Coinbase Wallet, the app that was Base App

Coinbase renamed Coinbase Wallet to Base App in July 2025, then reversed the name on September 10 2026, with The Block reporting the same day that the app was refocusing on trading and multichain asset access after the social experiment fell short. Chat survived the rebrand. Messaging runs on XMTP, and the App Store listing on 10 September 2026 read "DMs, group chats, and AI agents - all encrypted, private and secure". The wallet is the account, created as a smart wallet with a passkey and an email address or as a legacy seed-phrase wallet, as CryptoSlate's review of July 2026 describes, so a Phantom or Solflare identity does not come with you. Coinbase does not advertise token-gated rooms, paid memberships, admin roles or a public community page.

Fit: one self-custodial app for multichain trading, plus encrypted chat with friends. [Cherry vs Base App](https://cherry.fun/learn/compare/cherry-vs-base-app/) goes row by row.

## Convos and the other XMTP apps

XMTP is the protocol under several of these apps, and its claims are specific. Its home page describes it as "the world's new private line" for sending "messages and money securely between people or agents", and states that its MLS implementation "was fully audited by the same cryptography firm that reviews Signal and WhatsApp", with quantum-resistant hybrid encryption and identity from any DID. The apps it lists are World, Base App, Convos, Zora and XMTP Chat.

Convos is the standalone XMTP app. Its open-source repository calls it "an everyday private chat app for the surveillance age" and lists "No signup", no phone numbers, invitation-only chats, and messages stored on the device. On 11 September 2026 Convos had 4.8 stars from 20 ratings on the App Store, on version 2.5.0 released August 25, and its listing describes an agent in every group chat that turns the thread into itineraries, lists and receipts.

Fit: an XMTP app suits encrypted chat between wallets with no roles, gating or paid access. The trade-off is reach, since the recipient needs an XMTP identity.

## Towns

Towns overlaps Cherry most directly, on gated and paid rooms. It is an on-chain group chat on Base, running its own node network: towns.com describes Towns Protocol as "an open messaging protocol built on Base that powers private groups and decentralized finance", under the headline "Discover the best money making group chats", and showed $31,232,500 in total earnings on 11 September 2026. Every group is minted on-chain and every membership is an NFT. The money stack arrived in stages: in-chat trading of Base and Solana tokens (April 2025), a 0.25% trade-fee split to owners (June 2025), recurring memberships (October 2025), Hyperliquid perps and Polymarket bets (December 2025 and January 2026), and USDC pricing with Apple Pay deposits (January 2026). Towns reported 450,000+ groups and 1.7M memberships on February 13 2026, the same membership figure it gave in August 2025, and says it has raised $46M. The rebuilt iOS app of February 27 2026 is a new app with a new account, aimed at small friend groups, while large communities stay on the web app.

Fit: choose Towns if memberships as tradable on-chain assets on Base are the point. Check the web and iOS split first. [Cherry vs Towns](https://cherry.fun/learn/compare/cherry-vs-towns/) has the detail.

## dm.fun

dm.fun, from Matrica Labs, is a Solana-only app that auto-creates a chat room for every token contract address, with trading, raids, prediction markets, DMs, groups and paid alpha groups inside. It pitches itself as a Telegram replacement for memecoin communities. Wallets are Privy embedded wallets, so members do not bring the wallet their holdings sit in. It went "officially live" on May 21 2026 across web, Seeker, iOS and Android, and reported 150K total messages on June 15 2026. Store pages in June 2026 showed 1K+ downloads and 3.2 stars from 5 reviews on Google Play, and 5.0 stars from 5 ratings on the App Store.

Fit: worth a look if your community is one memecoin and you want the room to exist the moment the contract does. [Cherry vs dm.fun](https://cherry.fun/learn/compare/cherry-vs-dmfun/) compares the gating and the wallet model.

## Cherry

Cherry is a wallet-to-wallet messenger and community app built by Cherry Technologies, S.A., with a web app at chat.cherry.fun, iOS and Android apps, and a listing on the Solana dApp Store for the Seeker phone. You sign in with the wallet you already use, with no phone number, email or KYC, and [DMs are end to end encrypted with keys derived from your wallet](https://cherry.fun/learn/features/encrypted-dms-no-phone-no-kyc/). Group chats are not end-to-end encrypted, by design, so moderation and bots can work. [You can DM any address](https://cherry.fun/learn/features/dm-a-wallet-address/) or name such as alice.sol, and the conversation waits even if the recipient has never signed in.

Cherry started on Solana and also supports Base, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and Robinhood Chain. [Token-gated and NFT-gated rooms](https://cherry.fun/learn/features/token-gated-chat/) are checked by the app against the chain: seven rule types, up to five rules per group with all-or-any logic, an eligibility preview before you join, and background re-verification that ends access when holdings drop below the threshold. Nobody sends your members a verify link. [Paid access](https://cherry.fun/learn/features/paid-communities-and-channels/) is a one-time fee of 0.0001 to 100 SOL or a USDC subscription between 1 and 10,000 USDC per period, with 70% to the owner as of 10 September 2026, and every public group gets an indexable storefront page at `chat.cherry.fun/@<handle>`. Mini apps run inside the chat: the Trading Terminal for spot, perps and tokenized stocks had 160 members on 11 September 2026, and prediction markets via the Polymarket mini app had 979.

As of September 2026, Cherry hosts 200+ communities and 1M+ messages, and ranks #1 on the Seeker dApp Store with 4.8 stars from 4,000+ reviews. The Cherry Announcements channel had 77,442 wallets on 11 September 2026. Seeker Club, gated by a `.skr` domain, had 8,637 members and 58,198 messages on 11 September 2026.

[Seeker Club on Cherry](https://chat.cherry.fun/@seekerclub)

Fit: choose Cherry when the room has to know what members hold, on more than one chain, and you want to charge for access without handing anyone a new wallet.

## Side by side

| App | Sign-in | DMs | Group encryption | Gating | Paid access | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Phone number | Cloud chats server-encrypted; secret chats end to end, one device | Not end to end | Third-party verify bots | Via third-party bots | iOS, Android, web, desktop |
| Signal | Phone number | End to end (Signal Protocol) | End to end | None | None | iOS, Android, desktop |
| Coinbase Wallet | Passkey and email, or seed phrase, in-app | XMTP, "encrypted, private and secure" (10 September 2026) | Stated encrypted | Not stated | Not stated | iOS, Android, web, extension |
| Convos | No signup, no phone number | XMTP, invitation-only chats | Stated encrypted | Not stated | Not stated | iOS |
| Towns | Embedded wallet, social login or WalletConnect; new account on iOS | Yes | Stated end to end | NFT, token and creator-coin gating on Base | One-off and recurring USDC memberships; 0.25% trade fee to owners | iOS, Android, web |
| dm.fun | Privy embedded wallet | Yes | Not stated | Paid alpha groups; a room per token address | Paid alpha groups | iOS, Android, web, Seeker |
| Cherry | Your own wallet; no phone, email or KYC | End to end, keys from your wallet | Not end to end, by design | Seven rule types checked on-chain, re-verified in the background | One-time SOL or USDC subscriptions, 70% to the owner (10 September 2026) | iOS, Android, web, Solana dApp Store |

## Which crypto messaging app to pick

Start from what the chat has to prove. If it only has to stay private between people who already trust each other, Signal wins and the wallet question never comes up. For encrypted messages tied to an address and nothing more, an XMTP app does the job: Convos as the standalone, Coinbase Wallet as the one that also trades. If the room is a business with paying members, the choice is Towns or Cherry. Towns fits when the membership itself should be a tradable on-chain asset on Base. Cherry fits when entry depends on holdings across Solana, Base, Ethereum and BSC, members keep their own wallet, and you want a storefront page and mini apps in the same room. If your community is one memecoin on Solana, dm.fun's room-per-contract model is the shortcut. Telegram stays the answer when moving costs more than staying.

To try the Cherry side, create a gated or paid group at [chat.cherry.fun](https://chat.cherry.fun) and share the @handle with your holders.

## FAQ

### What is the best crypto messaging app?

It depends on what the app has to prove. Signal is a pure privacy messenger with no wallet layer, and it needs a phone number. Convos and Coinbase Wallet carry encrypted wallet-to-wallet chat over XMTP. Towns and Cherry run gated, paid communities, and Cherry checks Solana, Base, Ethereum and BSC holdings on-chain with no verify bot.

### What is a web3 messaging app?

A web3 messaging app uses a wallet as the account instead of a phone number or an email address. You sign a message to prove the wallet is yours, other people can reach you at your address or your name, and the app can read the chain to decide who gets into a room.

### Can I message a wallet address without knowing the person?

Yes, with limits that differ by app. On XMTP apps the recipient needs an XMTP identity. On Cherry you can DM any address or name such as alice.sol, the conversation waits if the recipient has never signed in, a first message from a stranger lands in their Requests folder without a push, and a paid DM (0.01 SOL by default as of 10 September 2026) delivers with a notification once the payment confirms.

### Are crypto group chats end-to-end encrypted?

Rarely, and the app should say so. Telegram's secret chats are end-to-end encrypted and one-to-one only, so group chats there are not. XMTP and Towns state end-to-end encryption for group chats. Cherry encrypts DMs end to end with keys derived from your wallet and does not encrypt group chats end to end, by design, so moderation and bots can work.

### Which crypto messenger apps work without a phone number?

Cherry, Convos, Towns on the web app, and dm.fun all start from a wallet or an in-app identity rather than a phone number. Signal still requires a phone number to sign up, which its February 20 2024 usernames post states plainly. Towns' rebuilt iOS app of February 27 2026 asks for contacts and a new account, so check it before you move a community there.

### What happened to Converse?

The apps xmtp.org lists as built on XMTP are World, Base App, Convos, Zora and XMTP Chat, with no Converse entry in September 2026. Convos ships on iOS, version 2.5.0 released August 25 with 4.8 stars from 20 ratings on the App Store in September 2026.


## Sources

- [Telegram FAQ](https://telegram.org/faq)
- [Signal](https://signal.org)
- [Signal, "Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames", 20 February 2024](https://signal.org/blog/phone-number-privacy-usernames/)
- [The Block, "Coinbase rebrands Base App back to Coinbase Wallet", 10 September 2026](https://www.theblock.co/news/defi/2026-09-10-coinbase-rebrands-base-app-back-to-coinbase-wallet-after-just-over-a-year-as-social-experiment-falls-short-414115)
- [Coinbase Wallet on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/base-app-built-to-trade/id1278383455)
- [CryptoSlate, "Base Wallet review", updated 24 July 2026](https://cryptoslate.com/crypto-wallets/base-wallet-review/)
- [XMTP](https://xmtp.org)
- [Convos on GitHub](https://github.com/xmtplabs/convos-ios)
- [Towns Protocol](https://towns.com)
- [dm.fun](https://dm.fun)
- [dm.fun on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fun.dm.app)
- [dm.fun on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/dm-fun/id6751585252)
- [Cherry](https://cherry.fun)
- [Seeker Club on Cherry](https://chat.cherry.fun/@seekerclub)
- [Trading Terminal mini app on Cherry](https://chat.cherry.fun/@trade)
- [Polymarket mini app on Cherry](https://chat.cherry.fun/@predict)