150% shameless cash grab and one of the largest wastes of community goodwill in some time.

Honestly if it weren't for the shady actions you described, I maybe could have bit my tongue.

But the wizard-of-oz game they are playing has been enough for me to tell people to contact me on Telegram instead.

Do they not realize they are taking trust away from signal? (aka the primary reason people use the app)

Agreed. I think this is simply cashing in on the cryptocurrency craze while it's still fashionable. Then again, Moxie Marlinspike was never the most transparent fellow I've seen.

At this rate, I'm probably going to go with a Matrix + element style chat system with my family and friends. I'm getting fed up with the outright grift.

Matrix and Element user here, been working well for almost a year. No complaints. Using my own Synapse server as a Docker container.

https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360057625692-In... - the feature is opt-in