Bluesky, a company developing a decentralized alternative to Twitter/X, has reached a milestone of 2 million users, doubling its user base since September, despite the fact that the app is invitation-only. The company also announced its plans to launch a public web interface by the end of the month and a federation early next year. The latter is a key feature that differentiates Bluesky from X, as it allows for a more open social network similar to Mastodon, where users can choose and move between different servers.

Bluesky’s approach to the federation is designed to make the platform “billionaire-proof,” a reference to Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, now called X. This model provides users with the freedom to choose a platform without being subject to the decisions of private companies or opaque algorithms. The company is developing the AT protocol together with its service and mobile application. The new protocol will allow anyone to launch their own service and connect with other similar social networks.

However, Bluesky faces competition from Mastodon, which uses the well-established ActivityPub protocol and gained popularity after Elon Musk acquired Twitter. Companies such as Mozilla, Flipboard, Medium, and Automattic use ActivityPub and Mastodon, potentially calling into question Bluesky’s capabilities if it does not ensure compatibility between the AT protocol and ActivityPub.

Bluesky is also working to increase accessibility by launching a public web interface that allows anyone to view posts on the platform, even without an account. The move should allow Bluesky to compete with X in the breaking news space.

Despite Bluesky’s growth, its permanent invite-only status has allowed other competitors, such as Meta’s Instagram Threads, to gain a better foothold. Threads, with nearly 100 million monthly active users, plans to partner with ActivityPub in the future.