Short answers, pulled from the story.
Bluesky launched as an invitation-only iOS beta on the 17th of February 2023 before releasing for Android in April 2023. Public registration opened on the 6th of February 2024 marking a year after the initial beta launch.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the new initiative called Bluesky to explore decentralizing social media in 2019. Twitter hired Jay Graber to lead the effort in August 2021 and develop what became known as the Authenticated Data Experiment or ADX.
By January 2025 registered users totaled thirty million while unique posters peaked at levels four times higher than the previous year. However activity declined steadily after January 2025 with daily active users dropping forty percent by September 2025 to reach 1.5 million.
The protocol's architecture centers around three main services: a Personal Data Server or PDS, a Relay, and an AppView. A PDS hosts user data within Data Repositories that utilize a Merkle tree structure and handles authentication for hosted repositories.
Bluesky began requiring age verification in July 2025 to comply with the UK Online Safety Act 2023 using Kids Web Services provided by Epic Games. Australia required all users to verify identities via Kids Web Services starting the 8th of December 2025.