Ethereum Blockchain Is Being Used for a Messaging App by Origin Protocol

Origin Protocol is a new project that is working to build up their decentralized marketplace. One of their recent decisions has been to integrate a peer-to-peer messaging application, which they are building on Ethereum.

To announce this new messaging system, Origin Protocol decided to make a post on Medium to discuss the integration, which is titled “Introducing Origin Messaging: Decentralized, Secure, and Auditable.” Based on this information, this system is presently available on the marketplace demo, which encrypts messages between both buyers and sellers to maintain security and privacy. The Ethereum address for each individual or company will be used as the public ID for contact, though messages aren’t broadcast across the network.

Unlike the typical transactions on the Ethereum network, there are no fees for these interactions. However, to maintain some semblance of transparency, the messages are stored with a program called the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), which will link to the related information on the blockchain. To ensure that there’s little to no disputes, the app uses the ERC-725 standard, which allows the identity of the user to match up with an address. If one of the participants believes that there’s some type of discrepancy, they can have a third-party arbitrator evaluate the conversations between the two parties for a final resolution.

Luckily, text messages aren’t where this platform ends. The post from Origin Protocol says,

“Origin Messaging can be used to send multimedia content and even transporting machine-readable messages between DApps. For example, the arbitration features that we’re working on will use Origin Messaging as the underlying transport system.”

To make this application launch happen, the company managed to host an initial coin offering (ICO) in June this year, which accrued $60 million. Still, there are some limitations. The official post says,

“We’re currently running our own OrbitDB server and IPFS gateway in order to increase the stability and performance of the service. We’re eager to see more adoption of IPFS and the eventual launch of Filecoin to increase the decentralized nature of this system and make it more resilient to attacks”

It continues, saying:

“Origin Messaging requires a double opt-in key generation procedure for each participant in a conversation. This is not a frictionless onboarding experience, but it is a necessary component that provides both security and auditability. We’re also counting on users to be able to maintain their Ethereum private keys, which is an ongoing exercise in user education.”

Going forward, the company wants to work on helping other projects to use these protocols as well. In the next few weeks, the company will be expanding on their current features, and the post concludes with inviting other developers that feel like they can help with the messaging system.

Origin is in good company with several other organizations, which have also been working to establish messaging applications of their own with blockchain technology. Some of those companies include cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and the U.S. Department of Defense.