What is Postage?

Postage provides a means of economic spam control that utilizes XMTP's native token.

Blockchain networks differ from mediums like email and SMS in that the addresses for participants are all publicly visible, making it trivial to identify potential spam targets. Given that public blockchains enable any party to view historical transactions of a given address, it’s reasonable to assume this information could be used to identify and message accounts of high value. Without a means to effectively throttle or otherwise deter unsolicited messages this could result in an unmanageable volume of spam for participants in the XMTP network. This is where the concept of postage comes in.

For messages between senders who have no established connection or prior relationship, the network may require a proof of postage for the message to be submitted. A proof of postage is generated client-side by fulfilling the criteria required to submit that particular message. Message submission may require direct fee payment using XMTP's native token, or that the user has staked a required amount of the XMTP token.

Note: At this time, the details surrounding postage and proofs of postage are still a work in progress.