Velum: speak behind the veil
Messages no one can read, not even the network that carries them. No phone number, no account: each message is encrypted on your phone, split into five fragments and carried through bridges opened by community nodes, which discover VEL with that work, like Bitcoin.
Frequently asked questions
What is Velum?
Velum is an anonymous, end-to-end encrypted messenger that runs on its own blockchain, velum-mainnet-1. Each message is encrypted on your phone, split into five fragments and carried over bridges, routes that independent community computers called nodes open and keep running; any three fragments rebuild it on the recipient's phone. With that verified work, nodes discover VEL, the network's coin. You sign up without a phone number or email.
Is Velum really private?
Yes, by design. Messages are end-to-end encrypted with a hybrid post-quantum scheme (X25519 plus ML-KEM-768, the same approach as Signal's PQXDH and Apple's PQ3). Every envelope is padded to a fixed size, mailboxes rotate every day and delivery receipts carry no recipient identity, so the network sees neither the content nor who talks to whom. Your account is a key on your own devices.
Can Velum nodes read my messages?
No. A node only holds fixed-size fragments of an encrypted envelope. Even with every fragment, the envelope cannot be opened without the recipient's device key. Nodes don't learn the sender (sealed sender) or the recipient (rotating mailboxes), and they delete each fragment as soon as a valid delivery receipt arrives, or after 7 days at most.
How do Velum nodes discover VEL?
Velum nodes discover VEL by opening bridges: routes they keep running to carry message fragments. Each delivered fragment produces an anonymous receipt that only the real recipient can create, and the network checks 16 random receipts per node every epoch, so traffic can't be faked. As in Bitcoin, the VEL discovered per epoch depends on time, not on how many nodes there are, so difficulty rises as the network grows. Tiers reward continuous service: New ×0.5, Active ×0.65, Veteran ×0.85 and Pillar ×1.0.
Is VEL inflationary?
No. VEL has a hard cap of 1 billion coins that can never be exceeded. 10% was created at genesis; the other 90% is discovered by nodes over time, and the amount per epoch halves roughly every two years, so about 99% exists after ~13 years. More nodes don't speed it up: they only raise the difficulty. VEL is never destroyed, and once issuance ends nodes live on fees and the Network Reserve.
How much does it cost to send money on Velum?
Almost always nothing. On Velum, payments worth less than 1,100 vUSDT (about €1,000) pay a 0 fee and carry a small proof of work against spam instead. Above that, the fee is 0.01% (1 basis point), so €5,000 costs about €0.50. Fees are never destroyed: 80% goes to the nodes that open bridges and 20% to the Network Reserve, a keyless account that returns 0.1% of its balance to nodes every epoch. Messages are free.
How is Velum different from Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram or Session?
Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram run on company-owned central servers and register you with a phone number; Telegram chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default. Session also avoids phone numbers and uses a decentralised node network. Velum adds hybrid post-quantum encryption, fixed-size fragments split 3-of-5 across different nodes, anonymous delivery receipts and its own chain, where nodes discover VEL with verified bridge work.
How do I run a Velum node?
Go to velumprotocol.org/en/descargar, copy the one-line installer and paste it into Terminal (macOS, Linux) or PowerShell (Windows); no admin rights are needed. You can also download the single-file binary for your system. The node creates its key, joins velum-mainnet-1 and starts opening bridges. It shows a local dashboard at http://localhost:7420 with its tier, streak and VEL discovered, and updates itself with signed releases.
Is the Velum protocol open?
Yes. The Velum protocol (@velum/core), the full node (velum-node), the integration SDK (@velum/sdk) and the specification with byte-level test vectors are open source under Apache-2.0, so anyone can build exchanges, wallets, hardware-wallet apps or a compatible implementation. The live explorer has a public read-only API. Only the messaging app is closed source.
Is Velum live? Does VEL have value?
Yes. Velum runs on its mainnet, velum-mainnet-1, and anyone can run a node. There is no faucet and there are no test tokens. VEL trades on the on-chain VEL/vUSDT market; vUSDT stands for 1 USDT held by a bridge that will open later. VEL is a risk asset and can lose all its value. Velum holds nobody's funds and is not a financial service. Desktop node binaries and the Android app are on the download page; the iPhone app comes to TestFlight soon.