Introduction to ECHO: A Revolution in Social Messaging by chris4210

View this thread on: hive.blog | peakd.com | ecency.com

crypto-news · @chris4210 · May 6 '16

$10.23

Introduction to ECHO: A Revolution in Social Messaging

## ECHO is a decentralized end-to-end encrypted social messaging & money transfer platform: enabling anybody to exchange encrypted text, audio, video and selfies via IPFS plus transforming money transfer thanks to Blockchain technology.

Say goodbye to regular unprotected chat apps and censorship in your country. Say goodbye to slow, expensive and boring bank transfers. Your life will be easier again, with ECHO!


## Echo is a Revolution in Social Messaging
![Echo Front](http://i.imgur.com/EaeOKDF.png)

1. Private - ECHO messages are heavily encrypted and can self-destruct. You decide how long your messages´ life.
2. Free - ECHO chat is free forever. No adds. No subscription fees. No hidden fees.
3. Flexible - ECHO can be fully customized. Change the background, download new stickers and emoji, create your own and much more. Time to explore!
4. Fun - ECHO gives you the best messaging experience, make no compromises, enjoy your truly private chat with your friends.
5. Secure - ECHO protects your data from hackers with Blockchain technology.
6. Distributed - ECHO servers are spread worldwide for security and speed. Your messages are stored in the cloud and 100% protected, no matter where you live.

## The Best of two Worlds: Chatting + Money Transfering in one App
![Echo Front](http://i.imgur.com/dQLUB1Q.png)

1. Instant - ECHO enables instant P2P money transfer via photo, e-mail or text message. Send money to your friends, pay in stores, online or remit to your family.
2. Secure - ECHO does not hold your money or data. Your funds are 100% secured and protected in the Blockchain cloud. ECHO is your private remote control for your cloud wallet.
3. Cheap - ECHO wallet is a cheap alternative to your existing online wallet. No monthly fees, no negative interest rates. You just pay a small fee for your money transfer.
4. Transparent - ECHO is 100% transparent. No hidden fees. No gambling with your money. You can easily track your money transfer history.
5. Multiple Currencies - ECHO supports multiple currencies. Send your preferred currency for no extra charges around the world. Store your wealth regardless where you live.
6. Financial Services - ECHO provides financial services for the developed and undeveloped world. Simple download the app and open a new account within a few minutes.

We are happy to invite you on our journey to build this revolutionary new social messaging app with us together. Please leave us feedbacks and comments. 

The trailer can be found here: [ECHO Trailer](https://steemit.com/crypto-news/@chris4210/a-revolution-in-social-messaging--encrypted-chat-instant-money-transfer )


Please follow us on Twitter: @myechochat

Sign up for our newsletter: www.my-echo.com

## Share The Love !! Share The Story!! Join the Revolution of Social Cash!!

👍 enki, roadscape, arhag, onceuponatime, marginal, liondani, indominon, vault, twiceuponatime, pheonike, markopaasila, stan, steemrollin, mldorton, kencode, yakoza, thera, bitshares-munich

`author`	chris4210
`permlink`	introduction-to-echo-a-revolution-in-social-messaging
`category`	crypto-news
`json_metadata`	{}
`created`	2016-05-06 15:11:54
`last_update`	2016-05-06 15:11:54
`depth`	0
`children`	5
`last_payout`	2016-08-25 07:09:42
`cashout_time`	1969-12-31 23:59:59
`total_payout_value`	5.115 HBD
`curator_payout_value`	5.114 HBD
`pending_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`promoted`	0.000 HBD
`body_length`	2,804
`author_reputation`	40,042,535,242,490
`root_title`	"Introduction to ECHO: A Revolution in Social Messaging"
`beneficiaries`	`[]`
`max_accepted_payout`	1,000,000.000 HBD
`percent_hbd`	10,000
`post_id`	2,941
`net_rshares`	9,492,097,299,467
`author_curate_reward`	""

properties (23)vote details (18)

voter	rshares	pct
enki	5,068,237,072,500	100%
liondani	286,536,563,075	100%
roadscape	1,440,167,448,541	100%
arhag	962,786,034,370	100%
stan	10,265,361,600	100%
twiceuponatime	53,290,969,923	100%
indominon	122,183,054,345	100%
onceuponatime	961,413,141,569	100%
marginal	486,427,625,557	100%
pheonike	17,404,836,491	100%
vault	69,561,327,600	100%
markopaasila	10,731,438,189	100%
steemrollin	691,600,921	100%
mldorton	654,381,658	100%
kencode	625,214,673	100%
yakoza	601,120,166	100%
thera	520,108,289	100%
bitshares-munich	0	100%

@arhag · May 6 '16

When can we learn more about the technology behind the app? If I understood correctly, the money transfer part is powered by BitShares. But what about the private messaging? I would like to know what kind of cryptography is being used.  If you haven't so already, I recommend checking out the Axolotl protocol (now simply called [Signal Protocol](https://whispersystems.org/blog/signal-inside-and-out/)) used by Open Whisper Systems' Signal app. It is a really great protocol. The potential downside to using the code implementing that protocol (but not the protocol itself) is that it is GPLv3 licensed.

And speaking of open source, any news regarding making ECHO open source? I think it is unreasonable to expect privacy conscious people to trust end-to-end encrypted private messaging to closed-source software. It doesn't even need to be licensed as free software if your concern is copycats and competition. The license can be restrictive as long as, at a minimum, the source is available to view _and_ the license allows users to compile the source code (unchanged) and effectively use the resulting binaries (of course I understand this might be an issue on iOS).

👍 brindleswan, matt876, kalimor

`author`	arhag
`permlink`	re-chris4210-introduction-to-echo-a-revolution-in-social-messaging-20160506t154332145z
`category`	crypto-news
`json_metadata`	{}
`created`	2016-05-06 15:43:30
`last_update`	2016-05-06 15:43:30
`depth`	1
`children`	2
`last_payout`	2016-08-25 07:09:42
`cashout_time`	1969-12-31 23:59:59
`total_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`curator_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`pending_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`promoted`	0.000 HBD
`body_length`	1,171
`author_reputation`	52,490,827,205,383
`root_title`	"Introduction to ECHO: A Revolution in Social Messaging"
`beneficiaries`	`[]`
`max_accepted_payout`	1,000,000.000 HBD
`percent_hbd`	10,000
`post_id`	2,956
`net_rshares`	653,987,231
`author_curate_reward`	""

properties (23)vote details (3)

voter	rshares	pct
brindleswan	611,335,490	100%
matt876	26,896,185	100%
kalimor	15,755,556	100%

@kencode · May 6 '16

Private messaging; chat messages, stickers, files, videos, images, etc are all stored using IPFS and referenced via uri (perma-linked). Public posts are displayed via standard blockchain messaging (similar to how this works: http://cryptofresh.com/u/announce). ECHO will use open source (javascript primarily, some python and c++ though) and will be hosted for the public via IPFS/IPNS.

👍 imyao

`author`	kencode
`permlink`	re-arhag-re-chris4210-introduction-to-echo-a-revolution-in-social-messaging-20160506t154332145z-20160506t161511997z
`category`	crypto-news
`json_metadata`	{}
`created`	2016-05-06 16:15:12
`last_update`	2016-05-06 16:15:12
`depth`	2
`children`	1
`last_payout`	2016-08-25 07:09:42
`cashout_time`	1969-12-31 23:59:59
`total_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`curator_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`pending_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`promoted`	0.000 HBD
`body_length`	386
`author_reputation`	140,643,562,588,487
`root_title`	"Introduction to ECHO: A Revolution in Social Messaging"
`beneficiaries`	`[]`
`max_accepted_payout`	1,000,000.000 HBD
`percent_hbd`	10,000
`post_id`	2,975
`net_rshares`	357,284,300
`author_curate_reward`	""

properties (23)vote details (1)

voter	weight	wgt%	rshares	pct	time
imyao	0 B		357,284,300	100%

@arhag · May 6 '16

Thanks. I'll wait to read the source code then to get the detailed answers I'm looking for.

But I would like to just provide some reasoning why I am a proponent of the Signal Protocol for end-to-end encrypted messaging and why I would love it if you would consider it for ECHO. By the way, apparently even [WhatsApp is now using it](https://whispersystems.org/blog/whatsapp-complete/).

The Signal Protocol provides [forward secrecy](https://whispersystems.org/blog/advanced-ratcheting/) compatible with [asynchronous communication](https://whispersystems.org/blog/asynchronous-security/). This means, assuming you haven't saved the history elsewhere, that if your keys are compromised in the future, someone cannot just replay the encrypted messages on the blockchain (or perhaps somehow recorded live from client-to-server communication) and recover your chat history. You can still selectively re-encrypt and backup portions of chat history if you wish to keep them. But the base protocol is more secure because you can truly have ephemeral private conversations.

The Signal Protocol also provide [plausible deniability](https://whispersystems.org/blog/simplifying-otr-deniability/). Which means that someone you are communicating with cannot cryptographically prove that you said any particular thing, and yet they still have cryptographic proof that they are talking to the correct person (assuming their private keys weren't compromised of course).

I'm also a little confused by your response regarding what is and is not stored on the blockchain. You said private text messages are stored in IPFS (not the blockchain), but public text messages are stored on the blockchain directly? Why not just store the public message in IPFS as well (except unencrypted unlike the private message) and simply reference it from the blockchain to avoid blockchain bloat. 

Also, am I understanding this correctly that while the content of private messages is stored encrypted in IPFS, the signaling (referencing it with the URI) still goes on the blockchain? If so, I am still a little bit concerned about blockchain bloat and TPS overload just to handle all the signaling for every single message being sent back and forth between users (not to mention the cost!), but at least that is less of a concern if the content itself is not being stored on the blockchain. 

And finally, I still haven't figured out how the economics of IPFS is supposed to work. How are IPFS blob hosts supposed to be incentivized to pay the storage and bandwidth costs to host all these blobs anyway?  But I guess that is a much larger problem not specific to ECHO, and one that Steem needs to consider as well.

👍 kalimor, begger

`author`	arhag
`permlink`	re-kencode-re-arhag-re-chris4210-introduction-to-echo-a-revolution-in-social-messaging-20160506t154332145z-20160506t161511997z-20160506t165001418z
`category`	crypto-news
`json_metadata`	{}
`created`	2016-05-06 16:50:00
`last_update`	2016-05-06 16:50:00
`depth`	3
`children`	0
`last_payout`	2016-08-25 07:09:42
`cashout_time`	1969-12-31 23:59:59
`total_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`curator_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`pending_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`promoted`	0.000 HBD
`body_length`	2,684
`author_reputation`	52,490,827,205,383
`root_title`	"Introduction to ECHO: A Revolution in Social Messaging"
`beneficiaries`	`[]`
`max_accepted_payout`	1,000,000.000 HBD
`percent_hbd`	10,000
`post_id`	2,986
`net_rshares`	15,755,556
`author_curate_reward`	""

properties (23)vote details (2)

voter	weight	wgt%	rshares	pct	time
kalimor	0 B		15,755,556	100%
begger	0 B		0	100%

@marginal · May 6 '16

$0.06

This sounds very, very interesting. I can see it catching on as an alternative to WeChat (680 million users). Do you have a timeline for development?

👍 indominon, twiceuponatime

`author`	marginal
`permlink`	re-chris4210-introduction-to-echo-a-revolution-in-social-messaging-20160506t152139460z
`category`	crypto-news
`json_metadata`	{}
`created`	2016-05-06 15:21:45
`last_update`	2016-05-06 15:21:45
`depth`	1
`children`	1
`last_payout`	2016-08-25 07:09:42
`cashout_time`	1969-12-31 23:59:59
`total_payout_value`	0.029 HBD
`curator_payout_value`	0.029 HBD
`pending_payout_value`	0.000 HBD
`promoted`	0.000 HBD
`body_length`	149
`author_reputation`	2,214,494,931,417
`root_title`	"Introduction to ECHO: A Revolution in Social Messaging"
`beneficiaries`	`[]`
`max_accepted_payout`	1,000,000.000 HBD
`percent_hbd`	10,000
`post_id`	2,950
`net_rshares`	178,983,504,754
`author_curate_reward`	""

properties (23)vote details (2)

voter	weight	wgt%	rshares	pct	time
twiceuponatime	0 B		54,356,789,322	100%
indominon	0 B		124,626,715,432	100%

@kencode · May 6 '16

Less than 1 year if we can Close on the rest of the funding (Chris, Rodrigo and team work that side of the boat).

properties (22)