diff --git a/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModel.kt b/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModel.kt
index 51eec541d..9826c4194 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModel.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModel.kt
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ internal class ChatViewModel @Inject constructor(
          * Mirrors iOS `ConversationGatePresentation.readOnly`.
          */
         val isReadOnlySpeaker: Boolean
-            get() = subject is ChatSubject.Group && !isOutsideGroup && !replacesComposer && speakerBlock != null
+            get() = subject != null && !isOutsideGroup && !replacesComposer && speakerBlock != null
 
         /**
          * Whether the gate stands where the composer does. Every viewer outside the group, eligible
@@ -1671,15 +1671,19 @@ internal class ChatViewModel @Inject constructor(
             .onEach { dispatchEvent(Event.OnGroupAccessResolved(it)) }
             .launchIn(viewModelScope)
 
-        // The speaker rules, on the same terms as the gate above. A DM has none, so it speaks.
-        stateFlow.map { it.subject as? ChatSubject.Group }
+        // The speaker rules, read from the chat's metadata for every chat type: the Flipcash welcome
+        // chat is a DM that carries a `never` rule. A chat without rules, as most DMs are, speaks.
+        stateFlow.mapNotNull { it.chatId }
             .distinctUntilChanged()
-            .flatMapLatest { group ->
-                if (group == null) {
+            .flatMapLatest { chatCoordinator.observeMetadata(it) }
+            .map { it?.metadata?.rules }
+            .distinctUntilChanged()
+            .flatMapLatest { rules ->
+                if (rules == null) {
                     flowOf(null)
                 } else {
                     tokenCoordinator.speakerBlock(
-                        rules = group.rules,
+                        rules = rules,
                         isStaff = userFlags.resolvedFlags.map { it.isStaff.effectiveValue },
                     )
                 }
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/screens/components/SpeakerGateBar.kt b/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/screens/components/SpeakerGateBar.kt
index b54b5508e..e54fe506f 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/screens/components/SpeakerGateBar.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/main/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/screens/components/SpeakerGateBar.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package com.flipcash.app.messenger.internal.screens.components
 
+import androidx.compose.foundation.background
 import androidx.compose.foundation.border
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxWidth
@@ -10,6 +11,8 @@ import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
 import androidx.compose.ui.Alignment
 import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
+import androidx.compose.ui.draw.clip
+import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
 import androidx.compose.ui.res.stringResource
 import androidx.compose.ui.text.style.TextAlign
 import androidx.compose.ui.tooling.preview.Preview
@@ -37,6 +40,9 @@ import dev.chrisbanes.haze.rememberHazeState
  * Copy follows iOS `ConversationGatePanel`: `never` names the sender, a balance states the amount
  * as a sending requirement, staff names who may send.
  */
+/** The design's fill, drawn over the blur (node 10588:1969), matching iOS's tint. */
+private val PillTint = Color(0xFF1E1E1E).copy(alpha = 0.46f)
+
 @Composable
 internal fun SpeakerGateBar(
     /** The requirement standing in the viewer's way. */
@@ -48,6 +54,7 @@ internal fun SpeakerGateBar(
     /** Off only for a Robolectric render, whose native runtime cannot compile the blur shader. */
     blurEnabled: Boolean = true,
 ) {
+    val shape = CodeTheme.shapes.medium
     val material = HazeMaterials.ultraThin(containerColor = CodeTheme.colors.background)
     val text = when (requirement) {
         ChatRuleRequirement.Never -> stringResource(R.string.label_chatGate_speakerNever)
@@ -74,8 +81,10 @@ internal fun SpeakerGateBar(
             .padding(horizontal = CodeTheme.dimens.grid.x6.coerceAtLeast(CodeTheme.dimens.inset))
             .padding(vertical = CodeTheme.dimens.grid.x3)
             .height(50.dp)
-            .border(CodeTheme.dimens.border, CodeTheme.colors.divider, CodeTheme.shapes.medium)
+            .border(CodeTheme.dimens.border, CodeTheme.colors.divider, shape)
+            .clip(shape)
             .then(if (blurEnabled) Modifier.hazeBlur(HazeInput.Sources(hazeState), material) else Modifier)
+            .background(PillTint)
             .padding(horizontal = CodeTheme.dimens.grid.x3),
         contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
     ) {
diff --git a/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModelStateTest.kt b/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModelStateTest.kt
index 6002939dc..4b8759adf 100644
--- a/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModelStateTest.kt
+++ b/apps/flipcash/features/messenger/src/test/kotlin/com/flipcash/app/messenger/internal/ChatViewModelStateTest.kt
@@ -570,4 +570,20 @@ class ChatViewModelStateTest {
         assertTrue(state.canSpeak)
         assertFalse(state.isReadOnlySpeaker)
     }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a DM carrying a never rule is read-only with the never panel`() {
+        // The Flipcash welcome chat: a DM whose metadata holds the rule.
+        val state = ChatViewModel.State(subject = dm, speakerBlock = ChatRuleRequirement.Never)
+        assertTrue(state.isReadOnlySpeaker)
+        assertFalse(state.canSpeak)
+        assertEquals(ChatRuleRequirement.Never, state.speakerBlock)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a DM with no rules keeps the composer`() {
+        val state = ChatViewModel.State(subject = dm, speakerBlock = null)
+        assertFalse(state.isReadOnlySpeaker)
+        assertTrue(state.canSpeak)
+    }
 }