New Messaging App Using Bitcoin Blockchain Thoughts?

Check out this GitHub Repository: https://github.com/theRomanMercury/BitcoinMessagingApp This Windows app claims to let you send and receive messages using Bitcoin Core. It’s supposed to use the Bitcoin blockchain for secure communication.

Are you the developer behind this thing or just sharing it? Tbh, it doesn’t seem too groundbreaking since memo.cash on the BCH network already does something similar with OP_RETURN for social media.

Hey, good catch on memo.cash, it’s a solid example of using OP_RETURN for on-chain social. Sure, I’m the one who created this project. I agree it might not feel too innovative compared to existing solutions. Just trying to build on those ideas and push some boundaries around privacy and user identity.

Some AI tool flagged both your posts as totally bot-generated. Not sure it's worth engaging with OP if they’re just a bot.

Bitcoin’s a payment system, not meant for messaging or cloud storage. Just because you can stick data in doesn’t mean it was intended for that.

Yeah, but what kind of privacy are we even discussing? Messages aren’t encrypted and Bitcoin blockchain is public info. You can check it out on block explorers.

I’ve seen projects use the lightning network for messaging. Way more efficient and could offer better privacy. Using the main chain for this is just bad... way too expensive.

Why even use Bitcoin for chats? Just encrypt your messages and shoot them through email. P2P chat apps are simple to make too, can do it in C# with just a few lines.

Have you actually put your app to the test? It looks like it’s misusing createrawtransaction and adding OP_Return in a weird way. And that’s not even broadcasting the transaction.

Thanks for checking it out. Planning on improving it but life gets in the way. I’m thinking about adding encryption for messages sent via OP_RETURN so only the recipient can read them.

How’s the sender supposed to encrypt messages if they don’t have the recipient’s private key? Did you even try testing it on the testnet?

1. Encrypt the message with the recipient's public key. 2. Embed it in a Bitcoin testnet transaction using OP_RETURN. 3. Recipient uses their private key to decrypt it. I haven’t started on testnet yet, too busy syncing mainnet and testnet plus dealing with config stuff.

That only works if OP_RETURN’s limit is above 80 bytes. Even a small message could turn into a bigger hex value when encrypted. So you totally didn’t test it before launching.

Yeah that’s a good point. But you need the recipient's public key, which only shows up when they spend Bitcoin or share it.

What if you moved some stuff off-chain or used the testnet? Might save costs and ease the blockchain load.

Who actually wants personal messages on a public ledger? There are better encrypted apps out there. Bitcoin should stick to being a currency.

I can’t support anything messing with scalability without clear benefits. What’s next? Keeping accounting records on-chain?

That’s true, but remember testnets aren’t permanent. Like, they can get abandoned anytime. The current testnet3 might go soon just because it’s getting bloated.

OP_RETURN should be kept without extra cost since those outputs can’t be spent. If there’s a fee, it might just lead to abusing the protocol, which we don’t want.

Completely agree. We’ve got to steer clear of treating Bitcoin like a cloud storage solution and let the fee market sort out the usage.