Ethereum-based project Status has started an incentivization programme for node operators effectually its decentralized peer-to-peer messaging protocol, Waku.

In an declaration on Tuesday, Status said it would be rolling out the showtime phase of a programme to encourage people to ready and run nodes used by Waku, a private messenger based on the Whisper protocol. The project said information technology planned to offering upwards to $100 worth in its native token, SNT, to 100 people participating in a three-calendar month program.

The Status squad forked Whisper to create Waku in 2022. The protocol uses community-owned and -operated nodes to route messages through the network rather than the "traditional" customer-server model, with the project working on a peer-to-peer messaging service aimed at competing with major firms similar WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.

"Using peer-to-peer networks for personal communication is the only reliable manner to escape censorship," said former Cointelegraph reporter Andrey Shevchenko, who will be running 1 of the nodes. "Condition has clearly put a lot of attempt into this to go far technically viable and so I'k curious to meet where it goes."

According to the project, one of the pushes for the development of the protocol was Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently encouraging developers to "go further" in innovating beyond the typical boundaries of decentralized finance, or DeFi. Buterin said that non-financial applications for Ethereum, including decentralized social media, could serve this purpose.

Related: Status, an Ethereum Individual Messenger Goes Waku on Telegram

The Status rewards program provides a small incentive for participants who show they have set up and maintained 1 of the nodes. The project ran a pilot in South korea — where it plans to have 25 nodes up and running — but also aims for a large presence in Latin America.