Status: D-messenger, token, and crypto wallet

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• By Status Research & Development GmbH (Switzerland)

• Open-source

• Does not require any personally identifiable information to sign in

• Partially built on the Ethereum blockchain (only the wallet and browser interact with it)

• Download
  • Desktop (Why and What; not recommended for now)

    • Currently in beta version, it has not undergone a formal security audit (yet), so wallet features are available at the risk of the user (ref)

  • Mobile – App Store, Google Play, Android APK, F-Droid

    • Tested to run on Android 7+ and iOS 13+

Messenger

• You can create/join private or public chat rooms

• Messages are not stored on the blockchain

• Uses the Waku peer-to-peer protocol, as well as end-to-end encryption (by default)

  • Status and Waku are not entirely peer-to-peer yet, as mailservers are used to manage messages when a peer is offline

• Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) is an added layer of security for all of your 1:1 chats, built on specifications from Open Whisper Systems adapted to a decentralized environment

  • Past messages cannot be decrypted by a third-party who manages to get a hold of a private key

Status Network Token (SNT)

An ERC-20 token required to power certain Status application features – example:

• Voting DApp (live)
  • can be used by anyone to set up a community vote with SNT
  • leveraging quadratic voting, the amount of SNT in your wallet determines how many votes you can cast

Ethereum DApp browser

Browse the growing ecosystem of ethereum decentralized applications (DApps), including marketplaces, exchanges, games and social networks.

The web 3.0 browser is designed to act as a network node which interacts with DApps

Status implements the latest security standards to ensure you are safe and free from tracking and data collection

Crypto Wallet

Safely send, store and receive cryptocurrencies, including ERC20 and ERC721 tokens (collectibles and NFTs).

• Non-custodial – only you hold the public and private keys to your funds
• Your locally generated/stored keys are protected via a password and mnemonic (or seed) phrase, which should be stored offline in an extremely safe place:
  • Password recovery is not a feature in Status
  • If you lose your mnemonic phrase, you will never be able to restore access to your funds
• Seamlessly integrated with the private messenger
• Multiple wallet accounts (for greater privacy)
  • Select which account you use for interacting with DApps, sending payments, and storing funds
• Signing phrase for protection from pishing attacks:

A 3-word phrase, randomly generated for you and stored on your device, that is presented each time you attempt to make a transaction

Frequently Asked Questions

How to uninstall the desktop app?

• Delete (i) Status installation folder and (ii) the folder located at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Status (copy+paste it into File Explorer's address bar)

How to report a bug or security issue?

• If you find a bug or vulnerability in the code, please report it to [email protected] and feel free to reach out to them through the Status Security public channel #status-security

Conclusions

After trying out the Status Desktop app (beta 0.1.0), I saw some potential but there are still many important things to add, improve and audit:

• fully syncing of the account created on the mobile app

• adjusting app size when opened in full-screen – it slightly goes beyond screen dimensions in my case

• finishing "experimental" wallet and web3 browser features

• auditing everything, as already done for the mobile app

At this stage I do not recommend the use of Status Desktop. It requires way more development and robustness for me to use it. Its still in a very early beta ??

Even though I have enjoyed trying out the Status Mobile app, I definitely wont change my favorite crypto wallet and exchange for it.

 I won?t use it for now, but it might become a good decentralized messenger.