Moxie Marlinspike, creator and CEO of the favored encrypted chat software Signal, says that he shall be stepping down as head of the corporate this 12 months however plans to call a successor within the coming months.

Signal, which gives end-to-end encryption and is taken into account some of the safe, privacy-oriented chat platforms accessible, was launched by Marlinspike (whose actual title is Matthew Rosenfeld) as a free, open-source platform. Since its preliminary launch, the messenger service has become wildly common—now claiming as many as 40 million customers. The firm, Signal Messenger LLC, subsists off of donations to the Signal Foundation, the non-profit of which it’s a subsidiary.

Marlinspike, who has run the corporate since its launch, tweeted out the announcement about his transition on Monday, linking to a press release explaining his resolution:

Marlinspike says that he shall be transitioning out of the position over the subsequent month and shall be instantly changed by Signal Foundation board member Brian Acton, who will function interim CEO. Acton presently serves because the Executive Chairman of the Foundation and can be the co-founder of WhatsApp, the encrypted chat platform purchased by Facebook (now Meta) in 2014. And whereas the affiliation with a former member of the Facebook clan would possibly trigger some concern, Acton has been quite critical of the corporate since he left in 2017. Marlinspike mentioned he has “have every confidence” in Acton’s “commitment to the mission and ability to facilitate the team for this time.” While Acton serves as a brief chief, Marlinspike plans to seek for a extra everlasting alternative.

It’s unclear precisely what Marlinspike plans to do subsequent, although the developer has made it identified that he’ll stay on Signal’s board and can keep “committed to helping manifest Signal’s mission from that role,” as he put it.

We’ve additionally not too long ago seen Marlinspike present indicators of curiosity in cryptocurrency and web3 tech by minor joke projects, a skeptical blog post surveying the trade, and maybe most significantly, the worldwide launch of crypto-payments through Signal.

“After a decade or more, it’s difficult to overstate how important Signal is to me, but I now feel very comfortable replacing myself as CEO based on the team we have, and also believe that it is an important step for expanding on Signal’s success,” Marlinspike mentioned in a blog post on Monday. “I’ve been talking with candidates over the last few months, but want to open up the search with this announcement in order to help find the best person for the next decade of Signal. Please get in touch if that might be you!”

In different phrases, no one is in line for the job but however Marlinspike is clearly taking purposes. If you’re trying to run one of many coolest privateness purposes round, possibly strive sliding into Marlinspike’s DMs? He in all probability needs to listen to from you.