Can I use Ethereum's Whisper protocol to transfer files?

Question

Here is an code example:

shh.post({
  "from": myIdentity,
  "topic": [ web3.fromAscii(appName) ],
  "payload": [ web3.fromAscii(myName), web3.fromAscii("What is your name?") ],
  "ttl": 100,
  "priority": 1000
});

What stops us from putting files in the payload i.e., large base64 encoded or hexadecimal string?

Answer 1

Currently for the proof of concept nothing prevents this. However the next version of the protocol will include:

• Hard limit on the payload size
• Proof of work proportional to Size_bytes*Time_to_live

Source