only your group can read it
Messages, calls, photos, files, names, avatars, typing and read receipts are end-to-end encrypted with MLS. Nodes, Apple and we see ciphertext only.
security
nothing to read.
nobody to trust.
- 1,024: ML-KEM-1024 on every key exchange, the strongest post-quantum level1,0241,024
- 5: Hops through the mixnet, across operators, networks and countries55
- 0: Servers that can read a message, a contact or a payment00
- 5 min: Longest any key lives: a new key for every message, every device refreshed at least this often55min
Every protection is always on. There is no setting that turns encryption, the mixnet or stealth off.
Most apps ask you to trust the company that runs the servers. khėnsu.ñü is built so there’s nothing to trust. Your devices hold the only readable copies. The network carries sealed packets it can’t open or trace. Even we can’t read it or hand it over.
protections
six layers.
all on, for everyone.
safe from quantum computers
Every key exchange is ML-KEM-1024 and every signature ML-DSA-87, exactly the NSA’s CNSA 2.0 suite. Nothing recorded today can be opened later.
nobody sees who talks to whom
Every message crosses five hops. No packet carries a sender, each hop knows only the next one, and fixed-size packets with cover traffic hide when you’re talking.
heals after a break-in
Every message is sealed with its own key, deleted after use, and every device refreshes all its keys at least every 5 minutes or 1,000 messages. A device that was compromised and recovered is safe again within 5 minutes.
your phone, locked down
Keys live in the Secure Enclave and history is unreadable while the phone is locked. App lock, a duress passcode, hidden profiles and panic wipe are built in.
private money
Shielded payments hide the amount, the sender and the recipient, and are sent through the mixnet. The wallet is yours; we never hold keys or funds.
threat model
who we defend against.
including ourselves.
Each attacker, what they can do, and what they get. The full threat model is public.
| Attacker | What they can do | What they get |
|---|---|---|
| A node operator, or a group of them | Reads, delays, drops and replays anything passing through, up to 20% of the network | Content and identity stay safe. A full path is controlled at most 0.03% of the time. |
| An internet-wide observer | Watches every link, like an ISP coalition or an intelligence agency | Messages, receipts and typing stay hidden in the crowd. Live call timing is a stated limit. |
| A future quantum computer | Records everything today and decrypts it later | Nothing to decrypt. No classical cryptography protects anything. |
| Us, Elliott Wave LLC | Runs the push gateway, credential issuer, transparency log and the first nodes | We can’t read, redirect or link your messages, contacts or payments. |
| Apple | Runs notifications, App Attest and the App Store | Sees that a device uses khėnsu.ñü and a fixed “New message” alert. Never content or contacts. |
| Someone with your locked phone | Has the device but not the passcode | Everything is unreadable, with keys held in the Secure Enclave. |
| Someone who forces you to unlock | Has your phone and your face or passcode | Duress passcode wipes, hidden profiles stay hidden, panic wipe erases keys first. |
| A malicious group member | Is legitimately in your group | Can’t impersonate others or read history from before they joined or after they left. |
| Spammers and fake accounts | Creates accounts or nodes in bulk | First contact needs a zero-knowledge rate-limit proof; node weight needs stake and reputation. |
| A censor | Blocks domains, addresses and protocols | Connections look like ordinary web browsing, with bridges and seed lists built in. |
known limits
stated, not hidden.
No system is perfect. These are the edges of what khėnsu.ñü protects, and what to do about each.
authorship provable for up to 7 days
Until a retired signing key is revealed, a recipient could show someone that your device signed a message. After 7 days they can’t. Use disappearing messages if that matters.
anonymity grows with the network
You hide among the people sending at the same time. The app shows an Early network notice until there are enough nodes, operators and countries.
phones mask activity while the app is open
iOS pauses background apps, so cover traffic runs while khėnsu.ñü is open. A Mac node or suñůlink.shield keeps it running around the clock.
live calls can be timed
Calls can’t wait in a mixnet. Two relays run by different operators, constant-rate media and random padding hide most of it, but an observer of both ends can match start and end times.
releases
every build, checkable.
every change, archived.
- Reproducible builds. Anyone can rebuild the node, firmware and Raspberry Pi image and get the same bytes.
- Every release in the log. App and node release hashes go into the transparency log, so an unexpected release is visible to everyone.
- Archived on every change. Every code push, release and upgrade is archived on the network automatically. A release that isn’t archived won’t install.
- Signed by more than one key. Releases need an offline release key and locked-down CI, with hardware security keys on every account.
- A founder switch. If the founder misses six weekly check-ins, the trusted committee nodes take over release signing and every line of private code is released to everyone.
report a vulnerability
found something?
tell us first.
Email security@elliottwave.studiowith what you found, how to reproduce it and what an attacker could do with it. Please don’t open a public issue.
We acknowledge every report within three working days and keep you updated until it’s fixed. We won’t take legal action against good-faith research that avoids harming people and gives us time to fix it. Actively exploited vulnerabilities are reported to ENISA within 24 hours, as the EU Cyber Resilience Act requires.