ObsidianObsidian
01Obsidian

DecentralizedMessaging

No central authority

No company controls Obsidian. Validators are distributed. No one can flip a switch to delete your content or ban your account. True decentralization for true free speech.
How it works→Read docs→
02Section 02

The censorshipProblem

Centralized platforms have complete control over your content. They can, and do, exercise that control in ways that affect billions of users.

What platforms can do

  • Delete your posts without notice.
  • Ban your account permanently.
  • Shadow-ban your content invisibly.
  • Comply with takedown requests.
  • Shut down entirely, erasing everything.

Even decentralized has chokepoints

  • Mastodon instances can defederate.
  • IPFS data disappears when unpinned.
  • DNS can block access to frontends.
  • API providers can deny service.
  • Centralized gateways are single points of failure.
03Section 03

ReservedCapacity

Obsidian architecture makes censorship economically irrational and technically difficult through reserved lane capacity.

Cannot censor via fees.

Standard messages (SM) are feeless. Just compute a small VDF proof. No one can price you out of sending messages.

Cannot crowd out.

Both lanes have reserved block space. PM messages cannot crowd out SM, and vice versa. Guaranteed capacity for everyone.

Cannot censor via ordering.

SM is strict FIFO. PM is bid-ordered. Both are deterministic. No subjective message filtering.

Cannot censor via fees:     SM is feeless (just compute VDF)
Cannot crowd out:           Both lanes have reserved block space
Cannot censor via ordering: SM is strict FIFO, PM is bid-ordered
04Section 04

ValidatorLimits

Even validators have limited power over your messages. The blockchain decentralized nature provides strong anti-censorship guarantees.

ActionPossibleWhy
Refuse your messageYes, one validator canIndividual validators can skip messages.
Permanently censor youNoOther validators will include it next block.
Delete after inclusionNoIt remains part of finalized chain history.
Modify your messageNoSignature would break, consensus rejects.

A majority of validators would need to collude to censor messages. The same security model as any proof-of-stake blockchain.

05Section 05

EconomicBackstop

Priority messages.

PM creates an economic guarantee. If you really need your message included, bid high enough and rational validators will include it for the fee.

This creates a market-based backstop against censorship. Even if some validators do not like your message, others will include it because it is profitable.

Standard messages.

SM ensures feeless access for everyone. Compute a VDF proof (proof-of-time), and your message gets included in FIFO order.

Reserved block space means priority messages can never crowd out feeless messages. Everyone gets fair access to the network.

06Section 06

What thisMeans

Obsidian guarantees

Your signed data, finalized on-chain and retrievable through archives, on a neutral protocol.

What Obsidian does

  • Finalizes message ordering and preserves archive-backed retrieval.
  • Proves cryptographic authorship.
  • Prevents deletion or modification.
  • Provides equal access via reserved lanes.

What Obsidian does not prevent

  • Legal consequences of your speech.
  • Social consequences.
  • Apps filtering what they display.
  • Frontend applications blocking content.

The data layer is neutral. The protocol does not judge. It just stores and serves what you signed.

Speak freely. publish on-chain.

Join a messaging network that no single entity controls.

Get started→Learn more→