Jupiter, a blockchain project that touts itself as “the people’s blockchain,” recently unveiled its decentralized chatting service Metis. The fully encrypted decentralized application (dApp) enables a fast and secure chatting experience while eliminating the bottlenecks associated with similar services of centralized nature.
After spending over a month in beta testing on iOS, the Metis app was officially released to the Apple Store on June 21.
That being said, Metis provides users with a messaging experience that is void of snooping. According to the team, there is zero advertising, data mining, and AI listening.
Is the instant messaging niche ripe for disruption?
Tech services such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have dominated the instant messaging sector. Facebook, for instance, had roughly 2.85 billion monthly active users as of the first quarter of 2021. While this growth is worth celebrating, such centralized systems are often at the risk of security breaches. Furthermore, user data is often sold to advertisers, thereby making the customers the product.
Late last year, it was reported that Facebook was being sued for failing to safeguard the personal data of its users in the Cambridge Analytica breach. The data of about 87 million people was harvested for advertising during elections. Before this, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) slammed the social media giant with a $5 billion fine in 2019 for allegedly violating a 2012 FTC order revolving around user privacy.
Such scenarios reinforce the narrative that centralized systems are inherently flawed. With this in mind, one could argue that the instant messaging sector along with several other industries involving the sharing of data is due for disruption, and blockchain appears to be the perfect answer.
Metis prioritizes user privacy and data
In the case of Metis, the messenger can be likened to WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, but with added privacy, full encryption, and decentralization.
Metis is a decentralized chat application that syncs across a plethora of platforms. It originated from the Gravity protocol for Jupiter and uniquely employs accounts for channels. Users have their own channel lists that are stored in their accounts. This model allows for account portability across any Metis instance.
Speaking of user privacy and data protection, by utilizing Jupiter’s military-grade encryption, the Metis application is able to secure messages on the platform. This is in addition to JSON formatting. Furthermore, the dApp is double encrypted – first by the Gravity protocol at the application layer and then by the Jupiter blockchain protocol.
Scalability on the platform is achieved by combining private and public chains, when necessary, for high-speed data replication. Moreover, interoperability is created via the JUP token (wrapped Jupiter) on the Ethereum blockchain and the native Jupiter chain.
In general, the Metis Messenger comes packed with a variety of features, making it one of the most powerful apps in its class. Beyond its double and military-grade encryption, no personal information is required during the registration process. Sending and storing messages are executed with the help of Jupiter coins, and the network also incorporates two-layer authentication for added security.
About Jupiter
As earlier mentioned, Metis is the brainchild of Jupiter, a blockchain project that is “democratizing data and expression.” Jupiter was founded by Steven Grove in 2016 and houses a variety of innovative features, including decentralized voting, file sharing, DEX, asset creation, an NFT marketplace, currency creation, and the ability to send cross-border payments.
The project is currently listed on Kucoin, Uniswap, and PancakeSwap. A multi-chain bridge has also been deployed to move JUP tokens between chains. Commenting on his creation, Grove said:
“The Jupiter project is about democratizing data and expression. We feel being de-platformed is against human rights. Our technology will allow for secured communications that are not at the mercy of centralized corporations or banned by governments… I wanted to create an affordable application layer to scaffold data storage from blockchain-enabled apps to easily store, replicate, and encrypt the stored data.”
In closing, Metis is just the tip of the iceberg, according to the founder. His vision is to have Metis containers in homes. These devices will run their own Metis messenger, home automation, IoT, and store cryptos in a safe place.
