I’m not an expert, and this gets confusing…but I think saying Status depends on “crypto” is misleading. It is my understanding Ethereum is a protocol, not a currency. Therefore Ethereum can be used in multiple ways (currency, wallets, network, web apps).
It would also seem to me that everything is a transaction. Messages are a transaction. Exchanging currency is a transaction. Getting a web page on my web browser is a transaction. The Ethereum protocol/network manages that instead of the typical web controlled by corporations and government.
I’m not saying Status is the holy grail, but I like the idea that I can easily run a node to decentralize the network, and hope the P2P concept becomes a reality. I’m still not 100% sure how running a node actually works, and all the potential problems.
I still think Session is more mature. While I wish I can run a Session node without staking, I think I might understand why its necessary for network durability.
Ideally I would like to see something where everyone (non-mobile) is both a client/server. Something more like bittorrent, DHT, mesh, I2P. But dealing with offline messages seems to be a challenge of a decentralized network.
I have doubts true P2P will be solved. But Status may have the next best solution.