I do still use whatsapp but it's almost a necessity and I feel that there's more safety in that.
There are many other open source and end-to-end encrypted instant messengers you can use, but I appreciate the problem is getting all your friends/colleagues/whoever to use them too.
Signal is the one I use. It is free, open source, and available for in android, iOS and desktop versions. It also supports voice, image, video and file sharing. There is also
Wire which pretty much does the same things.
I use Signal but unfortunately the only people I know who use it are people in the cannabis industry (or otherwise involved in black or grey market activity). It's incredible how egregious the privacy violations are with major social networking apps, but nobody seems to care. Most people I talk to have no interest in using Signal. Messenger still seems really popular.
I also use signal to message privately with other crypto users i know.
I use whatsapp only for work related stuff as its the most popular
messenger so when someone wants to send info to me its
"Are you in whatsapp" facebook knew what they were doing when
they bought it!
I doubt this is true. Facebook wouldnt do such a thing, they dont need cryptocurrency cause they wouldnt consider it safe for their platforms users.
People can already send and receive money with Facebook, there is a feature to send and receive money in the Messenger app. If they want they will do the same for WhatsApp, but it wont be anything to do with cryptocurrencies, these medias are fond of carrying fake news.
I doubt facebook would do much in relation to their users safety,
This move would be for facebooks benefit.