Nostr

Bitcoin applications take time and developing a new web of trust takes years. Phone numbers are something we already share and have for years with a web of trust. You only see offers from people inside that web of trust. Someone doesn’t need to be on vexl to b e in your WOT.

The numbers are encrypted locally on your device. Only the hashes are sent.

I really encourage you to think about it more and read more, we are fully open-source. Funded by donations only and just received a grant from open sats.

We are building something that we want to use, we are cypherpunks, privacy is the right to selectively reveal yourself, and we want to create a tool that enables that for everyone.

We believe without the freedom to transact you have no other rights…

Banana Shake 1y ago

The point is not whether the phone number is stored encrypted on the device or not, the point is that governments/phone companies gatekeep who can get a phone number and who can’t and at what terms, therefore a phone number shouldn’t be required, as it means that a user would have to possess government ID to get a phone number in most jurisdictions, it should be based on an open and permission-less identifier, for instance a #nostr account.

The world is bigger and more complex than just one single country.

The design philosophy behind something should account for decades/centuries of changing government policies and privacy regulations/requirements, hence ditching the phone number requirement, same goes for email

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Discussion

Grafton @ Vexl 1y ago

I get your point there’s also plenty of services available where you can get a number without kyc using bitcoin. The problem is that nothing exists with the better web of trust than the one that you already have.

The way that we handle phone numbers gives you privacy because you don’t just use your phone numbers and the phone numbers of bitcoin. When you import your contacts you import everyone your favorite pizza delivery company, your dog walker, maybe the painter who did a job for you. These people do not need to be on the app to be included in your Web of trust. The way we handled data keeps your offers, your contacts, your chats, and your profile, completely separated. In fact, each offer is encrypted for each person individually. These people are not associated with bitcoin as we are not a wallet. We are simply a matchmaking service a tinder for bitcoin you might say.

We are absolutely focused on the future, and we are happy to support anything that comes along that could improve upon this and one Vexl scales and becomes more widespread on its own we will be more than keen to introduce an identifier that is completely independent from your real-world identity.