I’ve been looking forward to using blockchain for encrypted private communications since I first used Bitmessage sometime in 2013 or 2014.
Do you remember this?
Bitmessage gained a reputation for being out of reach of warrantless wiretapping conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA), due to the decentralized nature of the protocol, and its encryption being difficult to crack.
As a result, downloads of the Bitmessage program increased fivefold during June 2013, after news broke of classified email surveillance activities conducted by the NSA.
That was bad enough, but it’s much worse now: everyone wants to use and abuse your data and metadata - communists, socialists, fascists… And the NSA hasn’t changed their mind, but I repeat myself. On the whole, it’s worse than it’s ever been.
Bitmessage didn’t take off and although there have been more successful attempts that combine decentralized blockchain with secure messaging, nothing excited me enough to use it or try to get involved.
Until I heard of David Chaum’s plans for XX Network, that is. Since then I’ve been looking for some action and two-three years later I’m about to become a validator on XX Network mainnet.
Still, why run a node, why not just use the network?
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It’s not something we can simply outsource to telcos, FAANG, or dot-coms. It’s something some of us - the users - need to do for others. It can’t be done for free (recall that Bitmessage was “free”, aka spam traffic), either. To do it right over the long-term and at scale, we need individuals to run the network and users to pay for related capital and operational expenses. Which brings me to my second point.
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XX Network is a Nominated Proof-of-Stake chain. I don’t like the idea of leaving the task of running a node to children, communist party members, or government employees. Remember, this is not Proof of Work where the miners fight it out - there’s also stake-based governance - decision-making related to running the network. Do I want those matters decided by a teenager? I can’t prevent them to vote, but I can run a node and try to acquire a stake larger than theirs.
Am I motivated by the coins? Not much. I could be a validator without spending free time to create this site.
I could also validate transactions on any network, or run no node at all. Nor do I not need the income - while it’d be nice to have some, I can afford to lose some money while doing this.
I chose to be a validator on XX Network (ProtoNet at this time) because I want to help it deliver on the promise of secure and private communications for all, and we need economically and ideologically motivated developers, validators and community members to make that happen.
I want to do it right, I can do it right, so I’ll do it myself.
LET’S GO!!!