diff --git a/src/app/chat/view.nim b/src/app/chat/view.nim
index 6873ca0866..34c1a9450d 100644
--- a/src/app/chat/view.nim
+++ b/src/app/chat/view.nim
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ QtObject:
 
   proc upsertChannel(self: ChatsView, channel: string) =
     if not self.messageList.hasKey(channel):
-      self.messageList[channel] = newChatMessageList(channel)
+      self.messageList[channel] = newChatMessageList(channel, self.status)
   
   proc messagePushed*(self: ChatsView) {.signal.}
 
diff --git a/src/app/chat/views/message_format.nim b/src/app/chat/views/message_format.nim
index dcc1aa7629..1afcf7c814 100644
--- a/src/app/chat/views/message_format.nim
+++ b/src/app/chat/views/message_format.nim
@@ -5,27 +5,32 @@ proc sectionIdentifier(message: Message): string =
   if message.contentType == ContentType.Group:
     result = "GroupChatMessage"
 
+proc mention(self: ChatMessageList, pubKey: string): string =
+  if self.status.chat.contacts.hasKey(pubKey):
+    result = ens.userNameOrAlias(self.status.chat.contacts[pubKey])
+  else:
+    result = generateAlias(pubKey)
 
 
 # See render-inline in status-react/src/status_im/ui/screens/chat/message/message.cljs
-proc renderInline(elem: TextItem): string =
+proc renderInline(self: ChatMessageList, elem: TextItem): string =
   case elem.textType:
   of "": result = elem.literal
   of "code": result = fmt("<span style=\"background-color: #1a356b; color: #FFFFFF\">{elem.literal}</span> ")
   of "emph": result = fmt("<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">{elem.literal}</span> ")
   of "strong": result = fmt("<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">{elem.literal}</span> ")
   of "link": result = "TODO: write safe link here: " & elem.destination
-  of "mention": result = elem.literal  
+  of "mention": result = fmt("<span style=\"color: #000000;\">{self.mention(elem.literal)}</span> ")
 
 # See render-block in status-react/src/status_im/ui/screens/chat/message/message.cljs
-proc renderBlock(message: Message): string =
+proc renderBlock(self: ChatMessageList, message: Message): string =
   # TODO: find out how to extract the css styles
   for pMsg in message.parsedText:
     case pMsg.textType:
       of "paragraph": 
         result = "<p>"
         for children in pMsg.children:
-          result = result & renderInline(children)
+          result = result & self.renderInline(children)
         result = result & "</p>"
       of "blockquote":
         # TODO: extract this from the theme somehow
diff --git a/src/app/chat/views/message_list.nim b/src/app/chat/views/message_list.nim
index 53c765a38e..62e4272811 100644
--- a/src/app/chat/views/message_list.nim
+++ b/src/app/chat/views/message_list.nim
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import NimQml, Tables
+import ../../../status/status
+import ../../../status/accounts
 import ../../../status/chat
 import ../../../status/chat/[message,stickers]
 import ../../../status/profile/profile
 import ../../../status/ens
 import strformat
-include message_format
 
 type
   ChatMessageRoles {.pure.} = enum
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ QtObject:
   type
     ChatMessageList* = ref object of QAbstractListModel
       messages*: seq[Message]
+      status: Status
 
   proc delete(self: ChatMessageList) =
     self.messages = @[]
@@ -33,14 +35,17 @@ QtObject:
   proc setup(self: ChatMessageList) =
     self.QAbstractListModel.setup
 
+  include message_format
+
   proc chatIdentifier(self: ChatMessageList, chatId:string): Message =
     result = Message()
     result.contentType = ContentType.ChatIdentifier;
     result.chatId = chatId
 
-  proc newChatMessageList*(chatId: string): ChatMessageList =
+  proc newChatMessageList*(chatId: string, status: Status): ChatMessageList =
     new(result, delete)
     result.messages = @[result.chatIdentifier(chatId)]
+    result.status = status
     result.setup
 
   method rowCount(self: ChatMessageList, index: QModelIndex = nil): int =
@@ -55,7 +60,7 @@ QtObject:
     let chatMessageRole = role.ChatMessageRoles
     case chatMessageRole:
       of ChatMessageRoles.UserName: result = newQVariant(message.alias)
-      of ChatMessageRoles.Message: result = newQVariant(renderBlock(message))
+      of ChatMessageRoles.Message: result = newQVariant(self.renderBlock(message))
       of ChatMessageRoles.Timestamp: result = newQVariant(message.timestamp)
       of ChatMessageRoles.Clock: result = newQVariant($message.clock)
       of ChatMessageRoles.Identicon: result = newQVariant(message.identicon)
diff --git a/src/status/accounts.nim b/src/status/accounts.nim
index b19ed6b391..73d7a8c09f 100644
--- a/src/status/accounts.nim
+++ b/src/status/accounts.nim
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import eventemitter, options
 import libstatus/accounts as status_accounts
 import libstatus/types
+import libstatus/utils
 
 type
   AccountModel* = ref object
@@ -44,3 +45,6 @@ proc importMnemonic*(self: AccountModel, mnemonic: string): GeneratedAccount =
 proc reset*(self: AccountModel) =
   self.nodeAccounts = @[]
   self.generatedAddresses = @[]
+
+proc generateAlias*(publicKey: string): string =
+  result = status_accounts.generateAlias(publicKey)
diff --git a/ui/app/AppLayouts/Chat/ChatColumn/Message.qml b/ui/app/AppLayouts/Chat/ChatColumn/Message.qml
index 3d3e4159bc..5a709da17f 100644
--- a/ui/app/AppLayouts/Chat/ChatColumn/Message.qml
+++ b/ui/app/AppLayouts/Chat/ChatColumn/Message.qml
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ Item {
         width:  parent.width - 120
         horizontalAlignment: Text.AlignHCenter
         anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
+        textFormat: Text.RichText
     }
 
     // Messages