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fryorcraken
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Oct 28, 2025
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| ## Production Maturity | ||
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| ### libp2p |
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We already have a "libp2p" comparison here: https://docs.waku.org/learn/waku-vs-libp2p
Would be good to consolidate (eg delete old file)
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| **Waku** is a privacy-preserving messaging protocol built on top of libp2p, extending it with metadata privacy and zero-knowledge DoS protection. | ||
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| These protocols are complementary, Waku inherits libp2p's networking foundation and adds privacy-first messaging capabilities. |
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| These protocols are complementary, Waku inherits libp2p's networking foundation and adds privacy-first messaging capabilities. | |
| These protocols are complementary, Waku inherits libp2p's networking foundation and adds privacy-first messaging capabilities. | |
| Waku defines a number of libp2p protocol to enable peer-to-peer messaging on consumer devices, such as mobile and browser. Those protocols solve problems of peer discovery and messages routing on devices with battery, bandwidth or availability restrictions. | |
| It is a peer-to-peer communication stack with battery included, enabling developers to build decentralised application with minimum overhead. | |
| Waku also aims to resolve the infrastructure needs for decentralized communication with the introduction of financial incentivization (research in progress). |
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| | Aspect | libp2p | Waku | | ||
| |--------|--------|------| | ||
| | **Purpose** | General P2P infrastructure | Privacy-preserving messaging | |
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| | **Purpose** | General P2P infrastructure | Privacy-preserving messaging | | |
| | **Purpose** | General P2P libraries | Privacy-preserving, anonymouse, censorship-resistant messaging SDKs and infrastructure. | |
| | Aspect | libp2p | Waku | | ||
| |--------|--------|------| | ||
| | **Purpose** | General P2P infrastructure | Privacy-preserving messaging | | ||
| | **Metadata Privacy** | None (connection patterns visible) | Strong (no-signature relay, k-anonymity) | |
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| | **Metadata Privacy** | None (connection patterns visible) | Strong (no-signature relay, k-anonymity) | | |
| | **Metadata Privacy** | None (connection patterns visible) | Strong (no-signature relay, k-anonymity, message sending over mixnet) | |
| |--------|--------|------| | ||
| | **Purpose** | General P2P infrastructure | Privacy-preserving messaging | | ||
| | **Metadata Privacy** | None (connection patterns visible) | Strong (no-signature relay, k-anonymity) | | ||
| | **DoS Protection** | Peer scoring only | RLN (zero-knowledge proofs) | |
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| | **DoS Protection** | Peer scoring only | RLN (zero-knowledge proofs) | | |
| | **DoS Protection** | Peer scoring, no bandwidth capping, message inspection needed for validation | RLN (anonymous permissionless bandwidth capping) | |
| - Same transport encryption as libp2p | ||
| - **Strong metadata privacy**: no-signature policy prevents sender identification | ||
| - Content topic strategies provide k-anonymity | ||
| - **Formal privacy guarantees**: proven sender anonymity against single-node adversaries |
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| - **Formal privacy guarantees**: proven sender anonymity against single-node adversaries | |
| - **Sender anonymity**: sending messages through native mixnet (development in progress) |
| - **Strong metadata privacy**: no-signature policy prevents sender identification | ||
| - Content topic strategies provide k-anonymity | ||
| - **Formal privacy guarantees**: proven sender anonymity against single-node adversaries | ||
| - **Zero-knowledge DoS protection**: Rate Limiting Nullifiers (RLN) prevent spam without revealing identity |
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| - **Zero-knowledge DoS protection**: Rate Limiting Nullifiers (RLN) prevent spam without revealing identity | |
| - **Bandwidth capping**: Rate Limiting Nullifiers (RLN) prevent network flood in an anonymous and permissionless manner (smart contract gates memberships) |
| | Adversary | libp2p | Waku | | ||
| |-----------|--------|------| | ||
| | Casual eavesdropper | ✅ Protected (encryption) | ✅ Protected (encryption) | | ||
| | Network-level observer | ❌ Metadata exposed | ✅ Sender anonymity preserved | |
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| | Network-level observer | ❌ Metadata exposed | ✅ Sender anonymity preserved | | |
| | Network-level observer | ❌ Metadata exposed | ✅ Sender and receiver anonymity preserved | |
| | Casual eavesdropper | ✅ Protected (encryption) | ✅ Protected (encryption) | | ||
| | Network-level observer | ❌ Metadata exposed | ✅ Sender anonymity preserved | | ||
| | Compromised relay node | ❌ Can correlate traffic | ✅ Cannot identify sender | | ||
| | Global passive adversary | ❌ No protection | ⚠️ Timing correlation possible | |
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| | Global passive adversary | ❌ No protection | ⚠️ Timing correlation possible | | |
| | Global passive adversary | ❌ No protection | ⚠️ Timing correlation possible (application dependent | |
| ## When to Use Each Protocol | ||
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| ### Choose libp2p When: | ||
| - Building blockchain protocols or Layer 2 networks |
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| - Building blockchain protocols or Layer 2 networks | |
| - Building blockchain protocols, Layer 2 networks or other p2p systems with very specific requirements |
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Creates comparison section with waku vs xmtp and libp2p articles.