Lightning Network messaging – privacy and censorship resistance

Two Bitcoin developers, Joost Jager and Paul Itoi, have proposed using the Lightning network as a messaging system. A recent network update allows you to add messages to Lightning microtransactions. Thus, two technical solutions have emerged – Sphinx Chat and Whatsat, which offer the benefits of message encryption.

When it comes to electronic communication, the messaging application is generally responsible for encrypting messages. Basically, users must trust a centralized entity whose code has not been verified, which claims that messages can only be decrypted by the sender and recipient. There is also a risk that governments will put pressure on these companies to give them access.

This is why most crypto-enthusiasts only trust open-source applications like Signal. Other centralized applications, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, have a lower degree of confidence that data remains confidential.

Lightning Network messaging

By comparison, Lightning Network messaging is based on the infrastructure of the decentralized secondary network of Bitcoin. With approximately 11,000 (known) public nodes, Lightning Network messages are routed through this Tor-like network without any central authority. By configuring a direct channel with the recipient, the message is transmitted directly to the recipient.

“Chatting on Lightning also makes it much harder to find out who is communicating with whom,” Jager explained. “You do not need to have a direct (observable) TCP / IP connection between users and there is no central server that can reconstruct the communication paths.”

In Jager’s opinion, an application that manages both messaging and payments at the same time is a great success.

“The key advantage is the integration of the payment and communication capacity under one identity”,

he said.

“Our main belief is that the privacy and censorship resistance that Lightning offers for payments should apply equally to conversations. In addition, the use of Lightning for chat will accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment. “

Whatsat is currently on testnet, and its source code is on GitHub. Jager hopes this proof of concept will inspire other developers to deliver a finished product.

Sfinx Chat is currently in closed beta testing, which means it will take several months until we find out if it meets your expectations.