Top Things You Should Know About Status (SNT)
In this piece I dive deep, divulging everything you need to know about the Status cryptocurrency project so that you can fundamentally understand the project and make an informed decision of whether or not you should invest.
This piece is similar to my latest articles on Ontology (ONT), VeChain (VET), and Decred (DCR), so if you havenât already seen those, be sure to check them out as well.
Hope you enjoy!
The list of Q&A is pretty long so first comes the list of questions that I have prepared the answers to:
- What is Status?
- Who and When Created Status?
- What is the main product of Status?
- What is Status SNT Token Used For?
- Did Status Have an ICO?
- What are some notable projects in the Status ecosystem?
- Where to Store Status?
- Where to Buy & Sell Status?
1. What is Status?
Status website homepage
Status is an open-source, secure and private messaging platform, decentralized crypto wallet, and mobile Web3 browser interface allowing users to interact with dapps built on the decentralized Ethereum network.
In other words, Status is a multi-purpose project enabling users to harness the power of Ethereum in their pocket (on a mobile phone).
The project is entirely open source with core contributions from developers, designers, creators, educators, enthusiasts, and more from around the world. Itâs built on the foundation of a solid mission statement, sound principles, and a clear vision for the future.
âStatus strives to be a secure communication tool that upholds human rights. Designed to enable the free flow of information, protect the right to private, secure conversations, and promote the sovereignty of individuals.â â Status mission statement
Statusâ Principles:
Status is built upon and follows a solid foundation of principles that act as tools for thinking, for communication, and for decentralized decision making. They keep the project honest and act as a guiding moral compass â which is something that sets Status apart from so many projects in the digital asset space.
I Liberty
Status believes in the sovereignty of individuals; which is why the Status platform aims to maximize social, political, and economic freedoms to stand for the cause of personal liberty.
II Censorship Resistance
Status enables the free flow of information. As such, Status is an agnostic platform for information that abides by the crypto-economic design principle of censorship resistance. No content on Status is under surveillance and no content can be censored or stopped.
III Security
Being built atop of Ethereum, Status benefits from the underlying security guarantees of the decentralized Ethereum blockchain. On top of this, Status uses state-of-the-art technologies and researches new security measures to make even stronger security guarantees.
IV Privacy
Status believes privacy is a basic human right. As such, the Status platform protects user privacy in both communications and transactions, as well as being a pseudo-anonymous platform. Additionally, Status strives to provide the right of total anonymity.
V Transparency
As much as Status believes in privacy, they believe in complete openness and symmetry of information within their organization. Statusâ operations are open and transparent with their core contributors and community of users.
VI Openness
Status is entirely open source. All of their developed software is made available via a free open source license to encourage permission-less participation.
VII Decentralization
Status minimizes centralization in every way the organization can. They maximize the number of physical computers composing the network and maximize the number of people who have control over the system(s) Status is building.
VIII Inclusivity
Status provides fair and widespread access to its software with an emphasis on ease-of-use and permissionless participation.
IX Continuance
Statusâ software is incentivized to continue to exist and improve.
X Resourcefulness
Status strives to solve problems in the most effective way possible at lower economic costs.
2. Who and When Created Status?
Status founders â Carl Bennetts and Jarrad Hope respectively
The Status (SNT) cryptocurrency project was founded and created by Carl Bennetts and Jarrad Hope and launched to market on June 20, 2017.
However, the project really began sooner.
1 year prior to the official launch of Status, Bennetts and Hope attended DevCon2, an annual Ethereum conference for developers, where they introduced Status to the world in a presentation:
In this presentation, they revealed that Status would be a new private and secure messaging platform and Web 3.0 browser that would act as a gateway to Ethereum dapps.
Fast Forward 4 years later to today, and this is exactly what Status is today. However, the project is no longer the sole brainchild of these Bennetts and Hope.
While these two tech entrepreneurs continue to have active roles in the development and management of Status, the projectâs development is largely led by teams of people distributed across all corners of the world. 
The Status project works in Swarms, which are small teams of 2-5 people with a very specific goal. Swarms follow a structured approach for feature and product development consisting of five phases:
- Research
- Specifications & Planning
- Implementation
- Communication and Post-mortem
In total, Status currently has 18 active swarms and 59 core contributors working on various aspects of the Status project.
3. What is the main product of Status?
Status App intro video
The main product of Status is the Status App.
The Status App is a multi-purpose decentralized application that combines a Private & Secure Messenger, a Non-Custodial Crypto Wallet, and Web3 Browser all into one accessible and user-friendly mobile application.
The Status app was designed from the ground up to provide its users with an exceptional user experience and drive mainstream crypto adoption.
Status App Features
Secure Messenger
(Source)
The Status app features a secure messenger that supports Public, Private, and Group Chats. Users can join any number of public channels or send private 1:1 or group chats. Also, users can even send and receive crypto payments directly within a private chat.
The private-messaging feature utilizes a peer-to-peer (p2p) messaging protocol, called Waku, which removes centralized chokepoints from your messages to enable a more private and secure messaging experience. Also, Status uses end-to-end encryption and the âDouble Ratchetâ algorithm on top of the messaging protocol to offer the highest grade of security and privacy.
Integrated Ethereum Wallet
(Source)
The Status app features a non-custodial Ethereum wallet that enables users to securely send, store, and receive Ether, ERC-20, and ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum network.
With the Status wallet, you and only you hold the private keys to your cryptocurrency as they are securely encrypted on your device. No middle man has access to your crypto and all transactions require a signing phrase to protect the user from phishing attacks.
In addition to security, the Status wallet is also very user-friendly and integrates with the secure and private Status messenger and Web3 browser so that users can safely interact with other peers and dapps.
Web3 Browser
(Source)
The Status App features a Web3 browser that enables users to access a growing ecosystem of Ethereum dapps directly from their smartphone. Users can browse and access the latest decentralized exchanges, marketplaces, games, social networks, and more. At the same time, users can also access the entire internet just like they normally do via ie. chrome browser.
Also, the Status Web3 browser implements the latest security standards and privacy measures to ensure users are safe and free from tracking and data collection.
4. What is Status SNT Token Used For?
The Status Network Token (SNT) powers and incentives participation in the Status Network. It is an ERC-20 token thatâs required to access and power certain application features and services in the decentralized Status Network Application.
Status (SNT) Use Cases Include:
- Network Incentivization
- DAO & Governance
- Acquisition Engine
- Dapp Curation
- ENS Use Name
- Tribute to Talk
- Voting DApp
- Teller Network
- Sticker Market
- + More as the Status Network Community Develops them
Network Incentivization
An SNT use case thatâs still in its research phase, is to create a framework and incentivization structure for people to deploy and use Status nodes.
The SNT token will be used to incentivize and reward network participants to run a node in order to further decentralize the network and ensure the app has 100% uptime, even if the Status-hosted cluster of nodes goes down.
DAO & Governance
Another SNT use case still in the research phase, is to provide SNT stakeholders with the ability to choose the direction of the project.
SNT would be used to make decisions on proposals, wherewith each decision, the SNT token would be cloned into a separate decision token (like a ticket or vote). A stakeholder's voting power would be dependent on how many SNT tokens they hold.
Acquisition Engine
Still in its research phase, the Acquisition Engine will see that SNT is used in design mechanisms for growth that have been tried and tested. This use case would provide a cryptographically provable and transparent means of growing the user base.
Dapp Curation
The Dapp Curation SNT use case is âliveâ at Dap.ps, which is a way for SNT stakeholders to find exactly the dapps they are looking for. Dapp developers who wish to attain greater attention to their DApp are required to deposit SNT to get better noticed.
ENS User Name
ENS user names like Jenny.ETH which points to a personal Ethereum account can be reserved with the cost of 10 SNT. The paid SNT is locked into a registry contract for 1 year and after the year is up, the name can be released to get the tokens back, or you can keep the tokens locked to hold on to it.
Tribute to Talk
This SNT use case introduces an economics-based anti-spam filter in the Status messenger app. SNT stakeholders can set a minimum amount of SNT that must be deposited in order for someone outside of their network to contact him/her directly.
This innovative feature will help the fight against unsolicited messages & spams and will be going live on the Status app soon.
Voting DApp
This SNT use case is live and is Statusâ first step towards community governance as it enables SNT stakeholders to influence the future of the network. Anyone can set up a community vote in the Voting DApp, where the amount of SNT in your wallet determines how many votes you can cast.
Teller Network
Teller Network is a community deployed dapp that enables people to exchange their cash for digital assets in a peer-to-peer, fiat-to-crypto âTeller Networkâ. The SNT token is required to become a seller in the network.
This dapp is developed and will be going live soon.
Sticker Market
SNT can be used to purchase sticker packs that can be used as a fun way to interact with friends and family in the Status messenger part of the app. Anyone can create and sell their own stickers on the sticker marketplace.
5. Did Status Have an ICO?
Yes, Status did have an initial coin offering (ICO) for its SNT cryptocurrency that launched on June 20, 2017.
The Status (SNT) ICO was initially intended to run for weeks but the sale reached its cap within just 1 day. In fact, within the first 3 hours of the sale, Status raised over $100 million selling SNT at a rate of 10,000 SNT per 1 ETH. By the end of the ICO sale, Status raised a total of $275 million making it the most successful ICO at the time.
Status (SNT) Distribution:
Status (SNT) distribution (Source)
Status (SNT) launched as an ERC-20 token and remains one today. The total supply of Status is 6,804,870,174 SNT and the circulating supply is 3,470,483,788 SNT.
Out of the total supply, SNT distribution is as follows:
- 41% to public contributors
- 29% to a reserve for future stakeholders
- 20% to the Status core team
- 10% to Status genesis token holders
Out of the supply held by the Status Foundation, SNT allocation is as follows:
- 50% of the SNT cryptocurrency is allocated to core development
- 15% to security
- 10% to marketing
- 10% to legal
- 15% is held by the founding team
6. What are some notable projects in the Status ecosystem?
Some notable projects in the Status ecosystem include:
Keycard
Keycard is a secure, contactless, open-source hardware wallet. Itâs a physical smartcard that integrates with crypto wallets and hardware through a contactless API and itâs designed to allow you to safely send, store, and receive cryptocurrencies.
Dap.ps
Dap.ps is a comprehensive Ethereum-based dapp store that lists all the dapps supported by the Status App. Some of the more popular app categories include: DEXes, Marketplaces, Games, Collectibles, Social Networks, Utilities, and more.
Teller
Teller is a secure and simple marketplace that enables people to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with fiat currency with other people in their area. Teller is Secure and Private, Peer-to-Peer, Worldwide, and Permissionless.
Assemble
Assemble is an open and transparent funding platform Web3 Project creators and funders. The Assemble platform helps to bring Web3 projects to life.
Embark
Embark is an all-in-one developer platform for building and deploying Ethereum-based decentralized applications. Embark offers its clients a modular dapp development framework with smart contract management, easy-to-use debugger and testing, end-to-end dapp development, and more.
Subspace
Subspace is a reactive dapp development platform for building dApps in your favorite framework. Some of Subspace's stand out features include: Event Tracking & Event Sourcing, Tracking State, Tracking Balances, React Integration, and more.
Vac
Vac is a modular, peer-to-peer messaging stack for private, secure, censorship-resistant communication. Vac is designed to help developers create the best messaging dapps possible.
Nimbus
Nimbus is a research project and a client implementation for Ethereum 2.0. The project is designed to perform well on embedded systems and personal mobile devices such as smartphones with resource-restricted hardware.
7. Where to Store Status?
Official Status Cryptocurrency Wallet
The Status (SNT) cryptocurrency is an ERC-20 token. Therefore, you can store SNT on a wide variety of reputable cryptocurrency wallets because Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens are among the most popular types of crypto tokens.
However, the most popular place to store the Status (SNT) cryptocurrency is the Integrated Ethereum Wallet in the Status App.
Popular Status (SNT) Cryptocurrency Wallets:
- MyEtherWallet (MEW) (Web Wallet)
- MyCrypto (Web Wallet)
- Ledger Nano S (Hardware Wallet)
- Trust Wallet (Mobile Wallet)
- Atomic (Desktop Wallet)
Apart from the above-listed wallets, Status (SNT) holders have a wide variety of other reputable ERC-20 cryptocurrency wallets to choose from including:
- MetaMask
- Keepkey
- Coinomi
- Lumi Wallet
- Coinbase Wallet
- Parity
- Mist
- Guarda Wallet
- Eidoo
- Enjin Wallet
- imToken Wallet
- Exodus
- Jaxx
- Bread Wallet
9. Where to Buy & Sell Status?
Status (SNT) can be bought and sold on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis but the most popular way to buy, sell, or trade Status is through cryptocurrency exchanges.
You can buy SNT with cryptocurrency or fiat at the following top exchanges. In most cases, you will have to fund your account with fiat, buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, and then use BTC or ETH to buy Status (symbol SNT).
- Binance - BTC, ETH, USDT
- Kucoin - BTC, ETH
- Bitfinex - BTC, ETH, USD
- Huobi Global - BTC, USDT
- OKEx - BTC, USDT
In addition to the exchanges listed above, Status (SNT) is also traded on a wide array of other exchanges and platforms that enable people to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies.
Hope you enjoyed that read, Let me know if I have missed something in the comments.
Cryptocurrency Ethereum Dapp ERC-20 Token Status (SNT)
