Video conferencing app Zoom, the undisputed titan in an era of social distancing, has acquired stop-to-stop encryption start-up Keybase.

The acquisition, appear May seven, follows multiple privacy and security-related scandals — including the ascent of video conference gatecrashing ("zoombombing"), controversial data sharing with Facebook, false claims that video calls were encrypted, and revelations that nefarious actors were peddling half a million Zoom accounts on the darknet.

Nether the terms of the new deal, Keybase will get a subsidiary of Zoom and its team will atomic number 82 security engineering science piece of work to develop an end-to-end encryption characteristic available for paying customers.

Founded in 2022, Keybase has received funding from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz and Reddit's co-founder Alexis Ohanian, likewise as the Stellar Development Foundation, with which it as well launched a $120 million Stellar (XLM) airdrop in fall of last twelvemonth.

Keybase's secure messaging and cloud-based file-sharing services use public-key cryptography and offering a publicly-auditable directory for verifying digital identities.

As part of its 90-day security program to mitigate the bug exposed in recent scandals, Zoom says it plans to publish a detailed draft cryptographic design on May 22 and will host discussion sessions to solicit feedback from stakeholders, cryptographic experts and the public.

In its own proclamation on May 7, Keybase said in that location are as of still no specific plans for the Keybase app post-obit the acquisition only that ultimately its future is at present "in Zoom's hands."

Blockchain alternatives to the platform

As reported, concerns over Zoom's privacy and security drawbacks have spurred the evolution of blockchain-based video conversation solutions, including a new decentralized awarding (dApp) from Vox Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) pioneer Vonage co-founder Jeff Pulver.

Beyond privacy, limitations with integrating payment methods into Zoom take fostered the development of 3rd-party cryptocurrency paywall solutions such as 2key Network's SmartSessions.