2020 Blockchain Messenger Series: Session
In this piece, we’re going to take a look at Session, a blockchain-based end-to-end encrypted messaging application released in mid-to-late January 2020.
Session can be downloaded directly as an APK, the Google Play Store, iOS App Store, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Why do we need encrypted messaging applications?
The internet is a very lucrative place for those looking to leverage data for their own gain, whether it be financially motivated, power oriented, or something else. We’ve seen social networks harvesting data for over a decade while not doing the greatest job to protect that data: they either sell it, or someone finds a way to get their hands on it.
Encrypted messaging applications allow YOU to keep YOUR data protected from hackers, governments, and corporations.
Lets get into it, shall we?
Session— A Quick Summary
Session is a fully open source end-to-end encrypted messaging application. It is a fork of the Signal protocol, but also a fork of Monero — with a sprinkling of an incentivized TOR network.
Session is an end-to-end encrypted messenger that removes sensitive metadata collection, and is designed for people who want privacy and freedom from any forms of surveillance.
Session does not require a phone number nor does it require an email address to register an account.
Launch Date
January 22nd (planned), but actually released on February 4th.
Team
Session is a product of the Loki Foundation, which has outsourced development and marketing work to the Loki project team. It’s a fairly large team, mainly based in Melbourne, Australia, but with remote team members situated around the globe.
Session’s development team is as follows:
- Niels Andriesse — Project Manager
- Maxim Shishmarev — Developer
- Mikunj Varsani — Developer
- Heather Dumond — UI & UX
- Vincent Bavitz — Developer
- Ryan Zhao — Developer
- Audric Ackermann — Developer
You can view the full Loki project team here, and the Loki Foundation here.
Blockchain
Session runs atop the Loki Network, a fork of the Monero code with additional features including: Instant Transactions, Incentivized Nodes, Checkpointing, Onion Routing and more.
Funding
US$9 million raised in March 2018.
Coin Distribution
- Pre-mine Size — 22,500,000 $LOKI (15%), plus 153 normal blocks
- Day 0 Circulating Supply — 5,606,500 $LOKI
- Token Sale — 59% of Day 0 supply
- Founders — 17% of Day 0 supply
- Advisors — 5% of Day 0 supply
- Seed — 13% of Day 0 supply
- Community/Reserve — 6% of Day 0 supply
- Circulating Supply — 45,987,088 $LOKI
A full pre-mine report of the Loki private sale is available here.
Whitepaper
Github
https://github.com/Loki-project
Roadmap
Although many targets have beet hit on the Session roadmap including multi-device support, end-to-end encrypted group chats, self-hosted public chat servers, mentions / replies, and more, there isn’t a whole lot clearly available in terms of future goals.
The only goal on the Session roadmap that I can see is Mixmode, which has not been started yet, according to the Loki website. As Session is a new app, I’m sure there will be a lot of bug fixing, and hopefully a proper third-party audit in the near future.
Availability
Session can be downloaded directly as an APK, the Google Play Store, iOS App Store, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Social Channels
Session have a limited presence online under the name Session, as a lot of the social media presence for the Loki project team is done through the Loki Network accounts.
Session— Final Thoughts
Session seems a very promising encrypted messaging application; however, it is still early days for the project. No formal code review has been completed by a third party auditor, and the software is still undergoing bug fixes since its release earlier this month.
That said, Session does not require a subscription model and does not require the user to pay to send messages — Session is entirely free, and separate from the Loki ecosystem, yet still very much a part of it. Outside of Session’s technology, the separation of Session from the Loki brand will likely be Session’s best chance at achieving a large user base.
