Status: Seeking To Be Largest Private Messenger App
A lot is made of instant messengers these days. It is a very popular form of community. Thus, it is a very competitive field with users having many options.
Between Facebook, Telegram, Kik, and Hangouts, there are lots of ways to communicate.
The challenge is all of these are centralized messenger systems.
Status seeks to change all that. It is an instant messenger that used blockchain while also providing end-to-end encryption.
Status is seeking to leverage Ethereum's success with DeFi. By creating an application where people can not only message, but also take care of money transactions, we could see a new evolution in messengers.
They key is to ensure as much privacy as possible. This is done by providing users with names although there is an option to customize them. The challenge with this is that it does open up the possibility of more information being revealed.
The messenger utilizes peer-to-peer transactions. This is not only for the distribution of money but also the messages themselves. Thus, without a central authority, there is no way for anyone outside the two parties to see what is being transmitted.
In this era when privacy is becoming even a greater concern, this is a new approach. Governments are trying to get regulations set up where they have a "backdoor" to monitor criminal activity. Of course, as we know, governments monitor all activity.
More information can be found in this write up.
https://decrypt.co/25629/status-wants-to-be-the-worlds-most-private-instant-messaging-app