Is a messenger based on the Grin network possible?

Development and Technical Discussion
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Is it possible to create a messenger based on the Grin network? like a telegram. It would be convenient to use an anonymous messenger with a built-in wallet. I don’t understand technical issues, so it’s just a question.

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Not really possible. But for example a Nostr messanger App with grin wallet integration or a grin wallet with Nostr messanger integrated, is possible.
That should give the user experience you might be thinking of, and yes that is a good idea in my opinion.

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I’m hoping for a grin based messenger since some years. I would prefer optional text-messages inside slatepacks. And I’m also interested to see reasons that would speak against it.

My reasons pro grin based messenger:

  1. I see a lack of permission-less, privacy-preserving, “trust-less” simple messengers, in general. And my trust in modern devices like smartphones and personal computers is also descending in regards of preserving privacy.

  2. I see a convergence in the underling problem, to keep a secret. And keep the system as simple as many people are able, to verify how it works, to make it so called trust-less. I think grin needs the ability to handle secret messages anyway. And invoices need to commit to a human readable contract that is displayed to the user somehow.

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In theory slatepack messanges over tor could be used for messanges, which can be encrypted (armor). It would not be something for a cor wallet, more like an add-on. You would need some sort of spam protection mechanism, e.g paying a small amount of grin for each message (like Bitcoin Cash stamps) or using a Contact Book. However, if only tor is used messanges cannot be buffered. If the receiver is not online, the message would fail. The solution for bufferin is Nostr.

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Maybe I’ve got a misunderstanding whether tor is used as an alternative to slatepack, or is tor just an alternative way to transport the slatepack?

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Yeah like this Keychat: Nostr messenger

At the bare minimum, you just need to fork an existing messenger, include a grin wallet with the app, and render slatepacks in a pretty way.

But what keychat adds is the ability to pay for messages with grin, boosting the actual utility of grin

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