Is bitbay onchain or offchain? How is it different than openbazaar(off chain) and syscoin(on chain)?
The markets are definitely off chain. The way it works is it leverages Bitmessage channels with modified Bitmessage source. So nodes keep messages in their memory for 2 days. Every node tries to see if it can decrypt any message which basically makes it anonymous. Since you dont know who is decrypting what.
There is a header which requires POW. So unlike OB or other systems ddos or flooding is hard to do. And in theory, time locks can be used to circumvent pow altogether.
Also, correct me if im mistaken but we are the only markets to be in open beta. Templates will be coming soon. Performance could be speed up dramatically with some server nodes (so can tighter moderation).
I dont believe in bloating the blockchain and i think bitmessage chose the correct model for scalable serverless internet. Nodes can easily choose a network of nodes they trust, ports can be changed to subscribe to certain markets, network can route through Tor (and hopefully eventually i2p), and nodes can most likely even link adjacent networks. Reduce bloat at all costs and of course only download what you need to see. Of course i think more modifications can and should be done to Bitmessage. Blockchains are very unnecessary here, you cant download the internet.
Bitmessage natively will submit messages again if 2 days pass. Then follow by 4, 8 ,16 and so on. In Halo it might be prudent to make that more frequent while in escrow. Not sure yet, for now i tell people to use encrypted gmail accounts for increased speed during negotiations.