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Secure messaging on the XRP Ledger by XRP Tip Bot creator!


kenrino

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Community developer Wietse Wind, known for his work on the XRP Tip Bot, has announced that he is working on an encrypted messaging service. The service in question functions on the XRP Ledger.

The service utilizes the Diffie Hellman algorithm, which can be used to establish a shared ‘secret’ between two parties. Users can send messages with no need for exchanging their keys or a secret before the process.

https://ambcrypto.com/secure-messaging-on-the-xrp-ledger-by-xrp-tip-bot-creator/

Edited by kenrino
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9 hours ago, kenrino said:

This is very good news while it will help solving the banks 'securiy issues' on the XRP ledger. This kind of innovation is exactly what it needs. If now Ripple could also set a goal for more decentralised validators than the XRP Ledger is here to stay and will prosper and grow. :beach:

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1 hour ago, cmbartley said:

There's also a question as to whether this is a good use of the ledger as it may cause bloat and limit financial transaction throughput. Can this be implemented with payment channels in some way?

Yup.  Pretty much anything can be done another way.  No real reason to use the ledger, proper, unless the message contains dough and/or instructions on how to bake it.  But, I can certainly see instances where "here's how to use this dough" type messages might be of some value...  especially when there are a lot of smart contracts running around that need inputs/outputs... :)

But, uh, also - the ledger *really does scale* - so, no need to worry about "bloat" and "throughput" for quite a while.  Besides, anyone who can pay the fee can use it, for whatever they want.  That's kinda one of the beauty parts...  Never know what's gonna pop up - all kinds of things are possible - you got the XRP, you do what you want;  if that's sending texts or tips or odes to joy written into the void, well, so long as your transactions are formatted properly and you can pay, compose that ode away... :)

Edited by NightJanitor
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On 6/25/2018 at 6:06 PM, NightJanitor said:

Yup.  Pretty much anything can be done another way.  No real reason to use the ledger, proper, unless the message contains dough and/or instructions on how to bake it.  But, I can certainly see instances where "here's how to use this dough" type messages might be of some value...  especially when there are a lot of smart contracts running around that need inputs/outputs... :)

But, uh, also - the ledger *really does scale* - so, no need to worry about "bloat" and "throughput" for quite a while.  Besides, anyone who can pay the fee can use it, for whatever they want.  That's kinda one of the beauty parts...  Never know what's gonna pop up - all kinds of things are possible - you got the XRP, you do what you want;  if that's sending texts or tips or odes to joy written into the void, well, so long as your transactions are formatted properly and you can pay, compose that ode away... :)

This is exactly the reasoning that has lead to the split between Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin. Where Bitcoin proponents wanted to make sure the ledger is used for monetary transactions only, and push everything else to layer 2, keeping the core ledger as lean as possible. And Bitcoin Cash proponents wanted it to be used for anything, not bothering about the burden to run a node.

The exact same issue is unfolding here. Here are my thoughts:

  • secure messaging is *not* a problem that needs to be solved, it has been solved already.
  • global payments *is* a problem that still needs to be solved.
  • the XRP Ledger is designed for payments (in particular: solving the double spend problem in a decentralized system), not for messaging.
  • using the ledger for anything else than payments, adds to the burden of the ledger, a burden that has to be carried by *every* validator in the network. Currently there are less than 10 transactions per second, and any 2k server can run that, without needing to bother about bandwidth. When that capacity fills up to the max 1,500 tx, where each messages has a payload of up to 2000 characters content, you'd need a much more expensive server to process that, and bandwidth costs will start to become significant.
  • it will not only increase the technical costs of running a validator, but it will also add to the legal risks of running a validator: there is a legal risk running a server that relays arbitrary content (think copyrighted content, inflammatory content, religious content, child pornography, hate speech). even if that risk is minimal, every increase of risk and costs decreases the chance financial institutions will say “yes” to running a validator.
  • it will *significantly* increase the costs, both legal and technical, of running a full history node. I'm not sure if I can still run one from the jurisdiction I now operate one, when the ledger has been polluted with content that is illegal in my jurisdiction. We need those full history nodes, and we need them in as many jurisdictions as possible.

I'm in the Bitcoin Core camp here. I think we should not abuse the ledger with frivolous usecases. Please, please please keep the XRP Ledger about account balances only. Let's not destroy this solution before it has had a chance to do the task it has been designed for. The option to add arbitrary content to transactions is a weak spot of the ledger. Let's not help our enemies with abusing it, by doing the hard work for them.

Edited by Guest
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