I am the person who posted the reddit post regarding using Monero tx's for communications and data storage on the Monero blockchain. At the moment I have a very basic prototype that I wrote in C++ , which allows users to decode and print messages.

My only issue is that I am having diffculties with making the monerocpp library work

so I am stuck with the part of automating the part that directly pulls/send data from/to the network

Right now I have to :

1. use get_transfers from the CLI ( this exports a csv into the same folder as the exe monero exe)

2. parse the amount column with the module that I wrote

anonyphi[m]: you can PM woodser[m], he wrote the monero-cpp lib

This pretty much sums the entire process of recieving encrypted messages via the chain ( there are some specific definitions I used in order to separate multiple messages one from the other

anonyphi: you can PM woodser, he wrote the monero-cpp library

I tried that, got a bunch of errors, I think its due to the fact im doing it on a win10 machine

anonyphi[m]: this sounds like a painful process, not using a library that already handles blockchain interactions

woodser[m]: Like I said, right now I use the built in CLI command "get_transfers" which exports a list of transfers into a csv file. parsing it is really simple, its less than 60 lines.

of code

Right now I am able to manually send each transaction ( a single character) one by one to the recipient's address, recipient can then decode with my module... Perhaps I should create a short video demonstrating how messages could be sent, as well as data storage ( technically its possible to save any type of data this way, from short sentences to entire bmp images)

even grayscale images are possible, though quiet expensive due to fees

Why not use something like Bitcoin Cash (it has big blocks and OP Return)? Or you can fork Monero and add your messenger TXs on that chain (e.g. via tx_extra)?

Privacy is the first reason

Encrypt it before you write it in OP return.

second reason is I am not trying to create something new here, almost everything that's required to do this - already exist. my only issue is automating and maximizing efficiency

Also, you really want multiple TB of private messages to be stored permanently (no deletion or edits possible) for decades on thousands of strangers' computers worldwide?

I don't want it, but if someone wants it, I want them to be able to

Then they can implement it themselves or simply use PGP and email, Signal, XMPP or any other non-blockchain solution.

They could also use visa and mastercard, which give you cashbacks unlike monero. Also, this method requires no single connection point between the parties involved

I simply want this to be possible for those who want it. In the end the fees for spamming the network are too high for this to become an issue

and even if this does happen - its simply more rewards for miners

Visa and MasterCard are inaccessible since they require government ID KYC to signup for the credit card. Whereas nothing stops you from downloading PGP, Signal, XMPP, etc.

I feel bad if this bloats the blockchain, increases fees for everyone else, and may harm fungibility.

can we haz emojis in xmr bloatchain please

But you can probably develop this on testnet first.

If you believe that using these things give you the level of security you get with using monero with its 3 GH/s and sending each tx to a different node, I am sorry to disappoint you

I wouldn't feel secure if my private conversations were stored permanently for decades on thousands of people's computers.

But feel free to develop this if you want, nothing stops you.

imho, anything other than using txns to advertise a public key to bootstrap a comms channel is unnecessary bloat

(in the messaging use case)

what townforge does makes sense, chat messages stay in the mempool and don't get mined

(that discussion would be better suited for #monero thought, again, imo :p )

selsta: yeah that’s neat - to correct my stmt: txns included in blocks

yeah, using the monero p2p network as a relay network independent of storage in the blockchain could be an area of interesting development

especially with the ability to use mine-for-service, or rpc-pay

.merges

Any comments remaining regarding #7891 (zmq changes)? Otherwise I will add it to the merge queue in the next days.

vtnerd: ^

selsta ping me when you add it, I'll create PR for the release-v0.17 branch too

I've reviewed it, nothing else to say

is that appropriate for 0.17 branch? its an added feature not a bug fix

although the next release will be a while I guess

having it in the official release will make p2pool use easier. Right now I have to bundle it with custom monerod binary

yes, it will take a while to branch from master, it makes sense to PR it against release

are we doing 0.17.3.0 then?