Session Adds Quantum-Resistant Encryption to Messaging Network With 1M Users

Session, an encrypted messaging app with over 1 million monthly users, announced Protocol V2 on December 1, adding quantum-resistant encryption to its decentralized network to protect against future quantum computers that could break current methods.

The privacy-focused platform runs on about 1,500 independent computers instead of company servers, allowing users to send messages anonymously. The Swiss nonprofit behind Session said the upgrade addresses community concerns about quantum computing threats and device compromise vulnerabilities, according to the Session Technology Foundation.

The new protocol uses ML-KEM. That’s a quantum-resistant method that Signal picked up this year. Apple’s iMessage uses it too. It used to be called CRYSTALS-Kyber before getting standardized.

Session also brought back Perfect Forward Secrecy. Here’s what that means: Someone steals your phone and has all your current keys. They still can’t decrypt old messages. The keys for those conversations don’t exist anymore.

The Technical Setup

Encryption keys will rotate regularly. Each device you link to Session gets its own unique keys. Those never leave that specific device.

Then there are shared keys across all your devices for incoming messages. Both types rotate and old ones get deleted after some time period.

Session tried this before in 2020. Didn’t go well. Messages constantly failed to decrypt across different devices. They pulled it and rebuilt the infrastructure over several years.

Network Details

Session moved to Arbitrum One back in May. The Arbitrum Foundation gave them a grant for the migration, according to Decrypt. The move aligned Session with Arbitrum’s growing ecosystem, which saw major integrations earlier this year.

Community members operate the network nodes. Running a node requires locking up 25,000 SESH [NC] tokens. That’s roughly 37.5 million SESH securing the whole network.

Node operators get paid from a rewards pool. It distributes 14% annually, according to Session’s network page. The model resembles other proof-of-stake networks where validators earn rewards for maintaining infrastructure.

The app has over 13 million downloads. SESH launched with 240 million total supply during the migration. Up to 80 million unlocked at launch.

The network uses onion routing, a privacy method that hides user locations from node operators. Users remain anonymous while sending messages.

Session Technology Foundation runs things from Zug, Switzerland. The location puts Session alongside other Swiss blockchain projects that have launched recently. Detailed specs for Protocol V2 should come out in 2026 after more review. Quantum computers powerful enough to break Bitcoin encryption don’t exist yet. Building them will take years.

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