diff --git a/apps/flipcash/core/src/main/res/values/strings.xml b/apps/flipcash/core/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
index 21b9ad578d..92cb2f7e00 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/core/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
+++ b/apps/flipcash/core/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
@@ -953,6 +953,7 @@
     <string name="label_chat_preview_senderMessage">%1$s: %2$s</string>
     <string name="label_chat_preview_sentCash_bySender">%1$s sent %2$s</string>
     <string name="label_chat_preview_tippedCash_bySender">%1$s tipped %2$s</string>
+    <string name="label_chat_preview_noMessages">Nothing yet</string>
     <string name="label_isTyping">Is Typing…</string>
 
     <string name="label_edited">Edited</string>
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/components/TipChatRow.kt b/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/components/TipChatRow.kt
index 03bd7afd10..75244cf27d 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/components/TipChatRow.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/components/TipChatRow.kt
@@ -69,7 +69,11 @@ internal fun TipChatRow(
                     ChatRowSubtitle(
                         isTyping = chat.isTyping,
                         preview = chat.lastMessagePreview,
+                        hasMessages = chat.hasMessages,
                         fallback = {
+                            // Blank rather than absent: a chat with a message the row cannot
+                            // preview still occupies both lines, so it doesn't jump in height
+                            // against its neighbours.
                             SubtitleText("")
                         }
                     )
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/TipChatRowScreenshotTest.kt b/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/TipChatRowScreenshotTest.kt
index ed1c519a89..71734dcac7 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/TipChatRowScreenshotTest.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/features/tipping/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/tipping/internal/TipChatRowScreenshotTest.kt
@@ -79,6 +79,41 @@ class TipChatRowScreenshotTest {
         capture("tip_chat_row_identity.png")
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun rendersEmptyChatPlaceholder() {
+        val at = Instant.fromEpochMilliseconds(1_700_000_000_000)
+        val rows = listOf(
+            // A group created but never spoken in: italic placeholder where the preview goes.
+            ConversationReference(
+                chatId = ChatId(byteArrayOf(4)),
+                title = "Bad Boys",
+                isGroup = true,
+                hasMessages = false,
+                lastActivity = at,
+            ),
+            // Its neighbour, for the weight the placeholder is read against.
+            ConversationReference(
+                chatId = ChatId(byteArrayOf(5)),
+                title = "Dinner Club",
+                isGroup = true,
+                lastMessagePreview = "Grace: on my way",
+                lastActivity = at,
+            ),
+        )
+
+        composeRule.mainClock.autoAdvance = false
+        composeRule.setContent {
+            FlipcashPreview(showBackground = true) {
+                Column(modifier = Modifier.width(360.dp).padding(vertical = 8.dp)) {
+                    rows.forEach { TipChatRow(chat = it, onClick = {}) }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        repeat(10) { composeRule.mainClock.advanceTimeByFrame() }
+
+        capture("tip_chat_row_empty.png")
+    }
+
     private fun capture(name: String) {
         val root: View = composeRule.activity.findViewById(android.R.id.content)
         val width = root.width.takeIf { it > 0 } ?: 1080
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatRowContent.kt b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatRowContent.kt
index 66c2ca02d1..272525f1d9 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatRowContent.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatRowContent.kt
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
 import androidx.compose.ui.draw.scale
 import androidx.compose.ui.res.painterResource
 import androidx.compose.ui.res.stringResource
+import androidx.compose.ui.text.font.FontStyle
 import androidx.compose.ui.text.style.TextOverflow
 import com.flipcash.core.R
 import com.getcode.theme.CodeTheme
@@ -59,29 +60,43 @@ fun RowScope.ChatRowTrailing(
 }
 
 /**
- * Subtitle line of a chat row: the typing indicator, else the message [preview], else the
- * caller's [fallback] (e.g. a phone number or a "joined" line for a contact).
+ * Subtitle line of a chat row: the typing indicator, else the message [preview], else a placeholder
+ * when the chat has no messages at all ([hasMessages]), else the caller's [fallback] (e.g. a phone
+ * number or a "joined" line for a contact).
+ *
+ * The placeholder is keyed on [hasMessages] rather than on the absent [preview] because the two are
+ * not the same thing: a chat whose newest message is media or a system event previews as nothing
+ * but is not empty, and telling the viewer it is would be a lie. Rows that cannot tell the
+ * difference leave [hasMessages] alone and keep their own fallback.
  */
 @Composable
 fun ChatRowSubtitle(
     isTyping: Boolean,
     preview: String?,
+    hasMessages: Boolean = true,
     fallback: @Composable () -> Unit = {},
 ) {
     when {
         isTyping -> SubtitleText(stringResource(R.string.label_isTyping))
         !preview.isNullOrEmpty() -> SubtitleText(preview)
+        !hasMessages -> SubtitleText(
+            text = stringResource(R.string.label_chat_preview_noMessages),
+            // Italic marks it as the row talking about itself rather than quoting a message —
+            // the same distinction the tombstone bubble draws.
+            fontStyle = FontStyle.Italic,
+        )
         else -> fallback()
     }
 }
 
 /** Standard single-line secondary text used for chat/contact row subtitles. */
 @Composable
-fun SubtitleText(text: String) {
+fun SubtitleText(text: String, fontStyle: FontStyle = FontStyle.Normal) {
     Text(
         text = text,
         style = CodeTheme.typography.textSmall,
         color = CodeTheme.colors.textSecondary,
+        fontStyle = fontStyle,
         maxLines = 1,
         overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
     )
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryMapping.kt b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryMapping.kt
index 963abcf995..d708358e15 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryMapping.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryMapping.kt
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ fun ChatSummary.toConversationReference(
         title = metadata.title,
         isGroup = isGroup,
         lastMessagePreview = formatPreview(selfId, tokensByMint, resources),
+        hasMessages = metadata.lastMessage != null,
         lastActivity = metadata.lastActivity,
         unreadCount = unreadCount,
         viewerState = metadata.viewerState,
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ConversationReference.kt b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ConversationReference.kt
index 99304e1c92..7414a4261c 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ConversationReference.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ConversationReference.kt
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ data class ConversationReference(
     /** Whether this row is a group. Decides where the name and the avatar's authority come from. */
     val isGroup: Boolean = false,
     val lastMessagePreview: String? = null,
+    /**
+     * Whether the chat has any message at all.
+     *
+     * Separate from [lastMessagePreview] being null, which a chat with messages can also be — media
+     * and system events have no preview line yet. Only this says the chat was created and never
+     * spoken in, which is the one case a row can call empty.
+     */
+    val hasMessages: Boolean = true,
     /** The chat's last-activity timestamp; drives recency sorting and the row's trailing timestamp. */
     val lastActivity: Instant? = null,
     val unreadCount: Int = 0,
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryPreviewTest.kt b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryPreviewTest.kt
index 18856b4262..70892c27d2 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryPreviewTest.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/shared/chat-ui/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/shared/chat/ui/ChatSummaryPreviewTest.kt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import io.mockk.every
 import io.mockk.mockk
 import kotlin.test.Test
 import kotlin.test.assertEquals
+import kotlin.test.assertFalse
 import kotlin.test.assertNull
 import kotlin.test.assertTrue
 import kotlin.time.Instant
@@ -226,4 +227,34 @@ class ChatSummaryPreviewTest {
 
         assertEquals("$25.00", groupReference(listOf(cash), senderId = stranger).lastMessagePreview)
     }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a group nobody has spoken in yet reports no messages`() {
+        val reference = ChatSummary(
+            metadata = ChatMetadata(
+                chatId = ChatId(byteArrayOf(9)),
+                type = ChatType.GROUP,
+                members = listOf(
+                    ChatMember(userId = self, userProfile = profile("Me"), pointers = emptyList()),
+                ),
+                lastMessage = null,
+                lastActivity = sentAt,
+                title = "Bad Boys",
+            ),
+            unreadCount = 0,
+        ).toConversationReference(selfId = self, tokensByMint = emptyMap(), resources = resources)
+
+        assertFalse(reference.hasMessages)
+        assertNull(reference.lastMessagePreview)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a chat whose newest message has no preview still counts as having messages`() {
+        // Media previews as nothing today, which is not the same as an empty chat — the row must
+        // not label it "Nothing yet".
+        val reference = groupReference(listOf(MessageContent.Media(items = emptyList(), caption = null)))
+
+        assertTrue(reference.hasMessages)
+        assertNull(reference.lastMessagePreview)
+    }
 }