​How Web3 could end spam email

Did you know crypto pretty much got its start in the world by trying to stop spam email?

​Adam Back originally designed the Hashcash system to limit spam email, by charging users to send messages to one another.

But the use case was never really utilized.

Instead, Hashcash's technology, known as 'proof-of-work,' was later used by Satoshi Nakamoto to create Bitcoin.

(Wild, right?).

Now, an Indian based start-up, HashMail, are trying to bring Hashcash's original vision to life.

If you're thinking 'I'm fine with using gmail's spam filter and continuing to send emails for free' - we hear you!

But here's how we could have the best of both worlds:

A whitelist system...hear us out!

The system would work by allowing anyone added in your 'address book' to send you email for free.

And anyone outside of that would have to pay for their messages to be forwarded to you (meaning they'd never actually have a saved record of your email address).

Paying .50c, to cold email someone isn't too costly if you're going to build a relationship with them and quickly be whitelisted.

Whereas having to pay $500K to bulk send a million emails about, say, a Nigerian prince?

That's enough of a roadblock to stop it all together.