Following its official integration into Bluesky, Germ Network reported a fivefold jump in daily active users. The California-based startup — founded by Tessa Brown, a former Stanford communications scholar, and Mark Xue, an ex-privacy engineer at Apple — had already launched a public beta of its standalone iOS app across North America and Europe. But embedding directly into Bluesky significantly boosted adoption.

Germ’s approach avoids phone numbers and instead connects encrypted messaging directly to ATProto identities, aligning with the broader decentralized ethos. The company says it is now focused on rolling out everyday messaging features, with potential future paid tools aimed at creators, journalists, and public figures. Meanwhile, other AT Protocol-based apps, including Blacksky, have begun adopting similar integrations — signaling that encrypted messaging may soon become a standard layer across the growing Bluesky ecosystem.