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new post: waku product update (#78)
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layout: post
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name: "Waku for All Decentralized Applications and Infrastructures"
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title: "Waku for All Decentralized Applications and Infrastructures"
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date: 2022-11-08 00:00:00 +0000
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author: franck
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published: true
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permalink: /waku-for-all
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categories: waku, dapp, infrastructure, public good, platform, operator
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summary: |
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Waku is an open communication protocol and network. Decentralized apps and infrastructure can use Waku for their
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communication needs. It is designed to enable dApps and decentralized infrastructure projects to have secure, private,
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scalable communication. Waku is available in several languages and platforms, from Web to mobile to desktop to cloud.
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Initially, We pushed Waku adoption to the Web ecosystem, we learned that Waku is usable in a variety of complex applications
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and infrastructure projects. We have prioritized our effort to make Waku usable on various platforms and environments.
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image: /img/black-waku-logo-with-name.png
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discuss: TODO
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---
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# Background
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We have built Waku to be the communication layer for Web3. Waku is a collection of protocols to chose from for your
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messaging needs. It enables secure, censorship-resistant, privacy-preserving, spam-protected communication for its user.
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It is designed to run on any device, from mobile to the cloud.
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Waku is available on many systems and environments and used by several applications and SDKs for decentralized communications.
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This involved research efforts in various domains: conversational security, protocol incentivization, zero-knowledge,
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etc.
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Waku uses novel technologies. Hence, we knew that early dogfooding of Waku was necessary. Even if research
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was still _in progress_ [[1]](#footnote1). Thus, as soon as Waku protocols and software were usable, we started to push
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for the adoption of Waku. This started back in 2021.
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Waku is the communication component of the Web3 trifecta. This trifecta was Ethereum (contracts), Swarm
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(storage) and Whisper (communication). Hence, it made sense to first target dApps which already uses one of the pillars:
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Ethereum.
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As most dApps are web apps, we started the development of [js-waku for the browser](https://vac.dev/presenting-js-waku).
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Once ready, we reached out to dApps to integrate Waku, added [prizes to hackathons](https://twitter.com/waku_org/status/1451400128791605254?s=20&t=Zhc0BEz6RVLkE_SeE6UyFA)
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and gave [talks](https://docs.wakuconnect.dev/docs/presentations/).
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We also assumed we would see patterns in the usage of Waku, that we would facilitate with the help of
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[SDKs](https://github.com/status-im/wakuconnect-vote-poll-sdk).
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Finally, we created several web apps:
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[examples](https://docs.wakuconnect.dev/docs/examples/)
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and [PoCs](https://github.com/status-iM/gnosis-safe-waku).
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By discussing with Waku users and watching it being used, we learned a few facts:
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1. The potential use cases for Waku are varied and many:
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- Wallet <> dApp communication: [WalletConnect](https://medium.com/walletconnect/walletconnect-v2-0-protocol-whats-new-3243fa80d312), [XMTP](https://xmtp.org/docs/dev-concepts/architectural-overview/)
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- Off-chain (and private) marketplace:
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[RAILGUN](https://twitter.com/RAILGUN_Project/status/1556780629848727552?s=20&t=NEKQJiJAfg5WJqvuF-Ym_Q) &
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[Decentralized Uber](https://twitter.com/TheBojda/status/1455557282318721026)
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- Signature exchange for a multi-sign wallet: [Gnosis Safe x Waku](https://github.com/status-im/gnosis-safe-waku)
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- Off-chain Game moves/actions: [Super Card Game (EthOnline 2021)](https://showcase.ethglobal.com/ethonline2021/super-card-game)
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- Decentralized Pastebin: [Debin](https://debin.io/)
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2. Many projects are interested in having an embedded chat in their dApp,
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3. There are complex applications that need Waku as a solution. Taking RAILGUN as an example:
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- Web wallet
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- \+ React Native mobile wallet
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- \+ NodeJS node/backend.
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(1) means that it is not that easy to create SDKs for common use cases.
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(2) was a clear candidate for an SDK. Yet, building a chat app is a complex task. Hence, the Status app team tackled
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this in the form of [Status Web](https://github.com/status-im/status-web/).
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Finally, (3) was the most important lesson. We learned that multi-tier applications need Waku for decentralized and
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censorship-resistant communications. For these projects, js-waku is simply not enough. They need Waku to work in their
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Golang backend, Unity desktop game and React Native mobile app.
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We understood that we should see the whole Waku software suite
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([js-waku](https://github.com/waku-org/js-waku),
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[nwaku](https://github.com/status-im/nwaku),
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[go-waku](https://github.com/status-im/go-waku),
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[waku-react-native](https://github.com/waku-org/waku-react-native),
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[etc](https://github.com/waku-org)) as an asset for its success.
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That we should not limit outreach, marketing, documentation efforts to the web, but target all platforms.
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From a market perspective, we identified several actors:
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- platforms: Projects that uses Waku to handle communication,
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- operators: Operators run Waku nodes and are incentivized to do so,
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- developers: Developers are usually part of a platforms or solo hackers learning Web3,
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- contributors: Developers and researchers with interests in decentralization, privacy, censorship-resistance,
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zero-knowledge, etc.
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# Waku for All Decentralized Applications and Infrastructures
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In 2022, we shifted our focus to make the various Waku implementations **usable and used**.
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We made Waku [multi-plaform](https://github.com/status-im/go-waku/tree/master/examples).
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We shifted Waku positioning to leverage all Waku implementations and better serve the user's needs:
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- Running a node for your projects and want to use Waku? Use [nwaku](https://github.com/status-im/nwaku).
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- Going mobile? Use [Waku React Native](https://github.com/status-im/waku-react-native).
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- C++ Desktop Game? Use [go-waku's C-Bindings](https://github.com/status-im/go-waku/tree/master/examples/c-bindings).
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- Web app? Use [js-waku](https://github.com/status-im/js-waku).
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We are consolidating the documentation for all implementations on a single website ([work in progress](https://github.com/waku-org/waku.org/issues/15))
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to improve developer experience.
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This year, we also started the _operator outreach_ effort to push for users to run their own Waku nodes. We have
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recently concluded our [first operator trial run](https://github.com/status-im/nwaku/issues/828).
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[Nwaku](https://vac.dev/introducing-nwaku)'s documentation, stability and performance has improved. It is now easier to
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run your [own Waku node](https://github.com/status-im/nwaku/tree/master/docs/operators).
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Today, operator wannabes most likely run their own nodes to support or use the Waku network.
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We are [dogfooding](https://twitter.com/oskarth/status/1582027828295790593?s=20&t=DPEP6fXK6KWbBjV5EBCBMA)
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[Waku RLN](https://github.com/status-im/nwaku/issues/827), our novel economic spam protection protocol,
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and looking at [incentivizing the Waku Store protocol](https://github.com/vacp2p/research/issues/99).
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This way, we are adding reasons to run your own Waku node.
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For those who were following us in 2021, know that we are retiring the _Waku Connect_ branding in favour of the _Waku_
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branding.
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# Waku for Your Project
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As discussed, Waku is now available on various platforms. The question remains: How can Waku benefit **your** project?
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Here are a couple of use cases we recently investigated:
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## Layer-2 Decentralization
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Most ([[2] [3]](#references) roll-ups use a centralized sequencer or equivalent. Running several sequencers is not as straightforward as running several execution nodes.
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Waku can help:
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- Provide a neutral marketplace for a mempool: If sequencers compete for L2 tx fees, they may not be incentivized to
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share transactions with other sequencers. Waku nodes can act as a neutral network to enable all sequences to access
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transactions.
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- Enable censorship-resistant wallet<>L2 communication,
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- Provide rate limiting mechanism for spam protection: Using [RLN](https://rfc.vac.dev/spec/32/) to prevent DDOS.
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## Device pairing and communication
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With [Waku Device Pairing](https://rfc.vac.dev/spec/43/), a user can setup a secure encrypted communication channel
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between their devices. As this channel would operate over Waku, it would be censorship-resistant and privacy preserving.
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These two devices could be:
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- Ethereum node and mobile phone to access a remote admin panel,
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- Alice's phone and Bob's phone for any kind of secure communication,
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- Mobile wallet and desktop/browser dApp for transaction and signature exchange.
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Check [js-waku#950](https://github.com/waku-org/js-waku/issues/950) for the latest update on this.
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# Get Involved
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Developer? Grab any of the Waku implementations and integrate it in your app: https://waku.org/platform.
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Researcher? See https://vac.dev/contribute to participate in Waku research.
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Tech-savvy? Try to run your own node: https://waku.org/operator.
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Otherwise, play around with the various [web examples](https://github.com/waku-org/js-waku-examples#readme).
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If you want to help, we are [hiring](https://jobs.status.im/)!
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# Moving Forward
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What you can expect next:
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- [Scalability and performance studies](https://forum.vac.dev/t/waku-v2-scalability-studies/142/9) and improvement across Waku software,
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- [New websites](https://github.com/waku-org/waku.org/issues/15) to easily find documentation about Waku and its implementations,
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- New Waku protocols implemented in all code bases and cross client PoCs
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([noise](https://rfc.vac.dev/spec/35/), [noise-sessions](https://rfc.vac.dev/spec/37/),
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[waku-rln-relay](https://rfc.vac.dev/spec/17/), etc),
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- Easier to [run your own waku node](https://github.com/status-im/nwaku/issues/828), more operator trials,
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- Dogfooding and Improvement of existing protocols (e.g. [Waku Filter](https://github.com/vacp2p/rfc/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc++12%2FWAKU2-FILTER)),
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- Continue our focus Waku portability: Browser,
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[Raspberry Pi Zero](https://twitter.com/richardramos_me/status/1574405469912932355?s=20&t=DPEP6fXK6KWbBjV5EBCBMA) and other restricted-resource environments,
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- More communication & marketing effort around Waku and the Waku developer community.
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---
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## References
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- <a id="footnote1">[1]</a> Waku is modular; it is a suite of protocols; hence some Waku protocols may be mature, while
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new protocols are still being designed. Which means that research continues to be _ongoing_ while
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Waku is already used in production.
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- [[2]](https://community.optimism.io/docs/how-optimism-works/#block-production) The Optimism Foundation runs the only block produce on the Optimism network.
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- [[3]](https://l2beat.com/) Top 10 L2s are documented has having a centralized operator.
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