We learned something today, so let's compare a few benefits and drawbacks with onion routing networks and mixnets (both are for people who want privacy when using the internet).
Shoutout to the Oxen (Lokinet) discord group and in particular KeeJef, dog star and vikpat!
So, Lokinet is not a mixnet, it's an onion routing network. Nym is a "competitor" of Lokinet, but they use a different method of anonymisation...
With Nym, users have to PAY with locked coins to use their mixnet. Mixnets like Nym have a higher latency too (they're slow). Mixnets can have better protection against worldwide passive adversaries if built correctly, but that's not guaranteed.
Onion routing with Lokinet has a much lower latency (and WAY faster than Tor), but can have lower protection against passive adversaries (a mixmode option is being added tho). Lokinet is private, sybil attack resistant, enables you to stake your own Service Node (and earn $OXEN tokens for doing so), mobile-friendly, instant transactions and soon supports p2p voice/video calls and file transfers. Lokinet is free for anyone to use, and NO tokens are needed.
Want to audit the code or contribute your expertise?
Github:
github.com/oxen-io/lokinet
Chat with us!
Telegram:
t.me/Oxen_Community
Discord:
discord.com/channels/418355933161324545/418355933161324548
Matrix:
matrix.to/#/#Oxen:matrix.org
Oxen website: oxen.io
Why pay for VPN service, when you don't need to pay for privacy at all? 😎