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Introducing DChat - Decentralized Chat for All

by Unstoppable DomainsJuly 8th, 2020

Too Long; Didn't Read

DChat - Decentralized Chat for All - is a messaging “lego” that follows your crypto address anywhere. A composable, open-source chat protocol that any developer can integrate into their own app. DChat is built on a P2P storage network, GunDB, to a blockchain identifier, in this case, your domain name. All chats are encrypted by default and can only be unlocked by the owner of the private key. With dChat, no company can shut off a user’s account.

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featured image - Introducing DChat - Decentralized Chat for All

Messaging is a core feature of the internet. It was described as the internet’s killer app. It enabled anyone to communicate with anyone else in the world instantly, and for free. Billions of people chat every day.

Payments is the core feature of crypto. It is described as crypto’s killer app. It enables anyone to pay any individual or business in the world instantly, at very low costs. Billions of people pay for products and services in crypto everyday.

See the similarities here? Why aren’t those two concepts available together?

Do you message the people or businesses you pay? Everyone does.

And yet, no payment system has been successfully paired with a chat app before. It’s Venmo and Facebook, PayPal and WhatsApp, and so on and so forth.

Until now.

Enter Dchat: the messaging “lego” that follows your crypto address anywhere

A composable, open-source chat protocol

Just like DeFi created an open-source “money lego” solution that any developer can integrate into their own app, dChat protocol enables messaging that is directly tied to your crypto address (domain name, e.g. unstoppable.crypto).

Any wallet or blockchain application can independently build and release features on top of it, like team chats, auto-destruct features, stickers apps, games, etc.

It is built on a P2P storage network, GunDB, to a blockchain identifier, in this case, your domain name. You can fork the code and attach another chat protocol, say:

Status wallet inking the libp2p database protocol to your blockchain domain.
Associate your blockchain domain with your cabal.chat ID.

This is a way to have a human-readable identifier connected to any chat protocol.

Simply put, dChat is the foundation for connecting text with payments that anyone can iterate on. It’s never been easier to pay friends and businesses you interact with because their domain name and payment details are one and the same: whether in .crypto or .eth.

A universal inbox, portable anywhere

Since this protocol can be implemented in any wallet or service using your crypto address, you keep the same chats in all the applications using your crypto address.

This is the opposite of today’s countless applications that all have separate Direct Message features where users are locked-in.

You can now have a unified inbox, portable anywhere your crypto address is, bringing clarity to every message going through your crypto address.

Unstoppable encryption, free from big tech

It is decentralized: no one wants Facebook to oversee their payments. So instead of bringing payments to Facebook, we are bringing text-to-crypto. With dChat, no company can shut off a user’s account.

All data is stored on the P2P storage network, and only the user itself can access and delete chats.

Even if a company bans a user, gets hacked, or shuts down, users are unaffected. They can simply chat in any other app that supports the protocol.

All chats are encrypted by default and can only be unlocked by the owner of the private key. This means that a violation of privacy would require someone to obtain physical control of the device where the private key is stored (typically a phone or computer).

It goes beyond centralized counterparts end-to-end encryption because there is no central database to start with.

It also significantly reduces text phishing as the business you interact with will verifiably have the same payment address as their domain name.

Dchat apps: Unstoppable Chat, MyEtherWallet and imToken

We are proud to unveil the first dChat app: Unstoppable Chat. Here, you can sign with your crypto address to access P2P chat, group chats, and read-only broadcasting channels.

Other crypto companies like MEW (MyEtherWallet) and imToken will be launching their own app using the dChat protocol. Expect many more apps to launch their own feature in the coming months.

Crypto made the internet a free place to pay people. Now is the time for us —developers and users— to make sure we are free to message the people we care about, without any big tech controlling us.