Why decentralized messaging matters more than ever
In today’s ever-shifting digital terrain, the struggle for uncensored, verifiable communication is at the heart of personal sovereignty.
Nodle has been working on XMTP integration into their apps for months. In June, we released the public beta on iOS, allowing users to connect privately and without a middleman. This experience is now live on Android, enabling our global user base to benefit from private and encrypted chat.
This launch of Nodle’s decentralized, privacy-first chat, powered by XMTP and available on both Android and iOS - is more than just a feature release. It’s a direct response to growing calls in the tech community for digital tools that empower individuals against centralized control and persistent surveillance. Legislation and platform policies increasingly threaten the ability of journalists, activists, and everyday citizens to communicate freely and anonymously.
Digital sovereignty, once a mere concept, has become a rallying cry for everyone seeking agency over their own voice and data.
How to use the Beta-Chat feature
Simply navigate to the settings screen within the Nodle app and tap the button. Activating the chat connects you to XMTP, empowering you to connect with other users within the network. All conversations are accessible in the transaction tab of the Nodle app.
There are two ways to start a conversation:
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Share your invite link: From the transaction tab, this is a convenient way to connect with people you already know. Be aware that anyone with the link can connect, so share it at your discretion.
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Send a transaction: Send a transaction to the address/handle you wish to contact. This acts as a low barrier to fight unwanted spam and deters most abusers.
Your conversation. Your choice.
Should you receive unwanted messages, you can opt out by clicking the "Ignore" button within the chat. This ends the conversation, and the abuser will be unable to contact you through the Nodle app again (at least from the sender’s public key used to initiate contact).
This blocklist is linked to your public key/ENS profile (e.g., clk/nodl.eth domains), making it portable across devices and apps. This ensures a clean chat experience across the board, all in a decentralized and pseudonymous way.
Decentralized trade-offs and expected behavior
By building atop the robust XMTP protocol, Nodle prioritizes peer-to-peer encrypted messaging and digital immutability. Features like reactions and easy asset transfer maintain a vibrant and human experience. While some advanced features of centralized messengers (e.g., polished multimedia, extensive integrations) remain on XMTP’s roadmap, the promise of open, composable and rapidly evolving open-source code ensures the gap is closing fast.
Chat history
Reinstalling the app will result in the loss of chat history, unless your conversation partner still has the conversation in their list, in which case your client will retrieve it. If both parties have left the conversation, it is not recoverable. This is a feature, not a bug, as conversations are completely private, between only the two participants and not stored elsewhere.
Reactions, GIFs, and Stickers
A crucial aspect of communication is its social element. Reacting to messages with emojis or GIFs allows for interactive and personal exchanges beyond just words.
Although the current beta offers limited interactions, future iterations of this feature plan to add more ways for users to interact via the interface.
Connect. Communicate. Cooperate.
The crypto community is buzzing about messaging. From small projects to industry giants, all are moving towards messaging, driven by diverse motivations and offering a wide range of services. The reason is simple: chat is the most natural and adopted way of digital communication. Pagers in the 90s provided one-way updates, freeing users from desks. SMS allowed instant messages, reducing reliance on calls or emails. IRC clients broke global barriers, enabling large groups to connect and exchange thoughts in a centralized environment. Today, chats are ubiquitous: service centers outsource basic troubleshooting to agents, and messengers like Telegram, Discord and WhatsApp are omnipresent, used across all ages as the default for digital interaction.
The future is agentic
With rapid technological advancements and societal developments, intertwining decentralized tech with the human need for private and secure connection is a natural progression.
Chat not only enables individuals to connect but also reshapes interactions with creators and companies on a more personal level.
For example, a creator, designer or artist setting up a digital storefront for their latest collection can go public without full self-exposure (like Banksy). A customer can acquire goods, perhaps a Phygital of a sneaker edition. Payment establishes a direct connection to the creator, making the ownership of digital and physical assets a personal experience with interaction between creator and buyer. This allows artists and companies to build deeper connections with their fanbase, fostering stronger bonds and better experiences for both parties.
This is just one example of how chats will shape various business branches in the future, from personal interactions to marketing initiatives and exclusive content for superfans.
You are the change
Nodle’s approach has always been fundamentally different: radically simple and permissionless. Unlike mainstream platforms where communication and identity are tied to telecom numbers, emails or KYC, Nodle requires none of these. No email, phone or government-issued credential is ever requested. With just a smartphone and a crypto wallet, anyone can claim a handle, interact and participate, protected from the toxic trade-offs of surveillance capitalism or state actors.
Click. Nodle. You.
Layered atop this, Nodle has introduced AI agents, ushering in a new wave of user empowerment within the app. Initially, the Click AI mentor launched on the web, granting access via the Click app by connecting your account via WalletConnect.
On the web, users could submit their Clicks (photos only) to the Click AI for mentoring on improving quality. Additionally, users could submit their favorite shots to the AI contest; paying the entry fee (plus transaction costs) triggered the AI to assess and evaluate the submission’s overall quality, determining if it was a winner and offering opportunities to win NODL tokens.
Click Agent goes mobile
With the implementation of the chat feature, improved WalletConnect flows, and the team’s dedication, the agent has found its home within the Nodle app.
The process is seamless: interact with the Click AI in the Mission tab of the Nodle app, which initiates a chat with the AI.
Here, you submit your Clicks, follow the AI’s prompt and get rewarded in one place - no need for a second screen, eliminating the complexity of needing two devices to participate in the contest. It’s noteworthy that early AI-human interactions will be monitored (for usability insights, not surveillance), priming the system for future upgrades and improved prompting. As the AI runs on Nodle’s cloud infrastructure, monitoring of flows is possible, but the P2P chat you establish with your contacts remains private and inaccessible.
Early steps to shape the network
The in-app integration of the Click AI is our first step to add another layer of value propositions for Nodle app users. However, like the chat, it’s in an early stage and will be improved with user feedback, shaping the best possible experience for everyone.
In coming updates, Nodle will introduce more agents to create value for you to connect and interact with, while adhering to the principles of the First Digital Trust Network.
The success of improving the Nodle app’s services relies on your feedback: test the new features and report any issues to our community team so your feedback can shape the next version of the Nodle app.
Final thoughts
In a world where digital repression, manipulation and doubt are the norm, Nodle returns the keys to credibility, privacy, and reputation to the user. It raises the bar on what messaging can - and must - be: sovereign, verifiable and empowering.
Let’s connect, decentralize and empower the world together! One node at a time!