Decred launches new social media platform Bison Relay

Decred (DCR/USD) has launched a new peer-to-peer social media and messaging platform dubbed Bison Relay.

In an announcement shared with Invezz, Decred said Bison Relay is a secure, private, and censorship-resistant platform where users will have custody over their personal data. The project is Decred’s latest, adding to its decentralised exchange DCRDEX and decentralised voting system Politeia.

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A censorship-resistant, no ads platform

Bison Relay users will not only have sovereignty over their data, but also enjoy complete freedom of expression, the Decred team noted. Users on the decentralised social media platform will also benefit from “zero knowledge communications,” while end-to-end encryption makes sure messages are protected from every possible surveillance threat.

The platform is also censorship resistant, and will allow users to monetize their content as opposed to this being done by a centralised entity. There are no ads.

The Lightning Network-enabled platform allows users to tap into things like tips or private subscriptions via micro-transactions directly from their crypto wallet.

Jake Yocom-Piatt, the co-founder and project lead at Decred, said in a statement:

“The web is broken and in desperate need of a reboot. The root of the problem is that the web and social media platforms are fundamentally custodial networks. When people have custody of your data, content, and metadata, they can record, sell or even manipulate it. Instead of arguing about who the custodian should be, the solution is to remove or minimise that custody.”

Decred’s Bison Relay is the latest in a trend that’s seeing more and more decentralised social media networks launched. While many of these networks, such as Minds or Mastodon are still limited in terms of reach compared to mainstream Web2 platforms, they are getting increased traction amid an explosion in Web3 adoption.

According to Yocom-Piatt, giving back control to users – in terms of privacy and data protection – will see platforms like Bison Relay become “full-on alternatives” to legacy web options.