For people who already recognize the Delta Chat brand from years ago, confusion stems from the fact that it's now practically two different things at the same time:

• An encrypted messaging overlay for email addresses you already have
• An entirely novel messaging system that uses purpose-built servers incompatible with email

The former can introduce massive problems with metadata if, say, one of your contacts uses a Gmail address with DeltaChat.

And despite basically redefining their ecosystem from the ground up, Delta still hasn't implemented forward secrecy, which I would consider table stakes these days.

Complaints aside:

[S]how us a centralized, end-to-end encrypted Signal alternative that is not backed by venture capital, blockchain, the Saudi royal family, or all three, and we'll sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.

This is an entirely fair point. The closest alternative I might consider is SimpleX, but its creator is already pushing people to the Blockchain!