diff --git a/rust_dependencies/protocols/src/user_discovery/mod.rs b/rust_dependencies/protocols/src/user_discovery/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..68bccd63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust_dependencies/protocols/src/user_discovery/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,770 @@
+pub mod error;
+pub mod stores;
+#[cfg(test)]
+pub mod tests;
+pub mod traits;
+
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::u8;
+use blahaj::{Share, Sharks};
+use prost::Message;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use tokio::sync::{Mutex, MutexGuard};
+use crate::user_discovery::error::{Result, UserDiscoveryError};
+use crate::user_discovery::traits::{AnnouncedUser, OtherPromotion, UserDiscoveryUtils};
+use crate::user_discovery::user_discovery_message::{UserDiscoveryAnnouncement, UserDiscoveryPromotion};
+use crate::user_discovery::user_discovery_message::user_discovery_promotion::AnnouncementShareDecrypted;
+use crate::user_discovery::user_discovery_message::user_discovery_promotion::announcement_share_decrypted::SignedData;
+pub use traits::UserDiscoveryStore;
+
+/// Type of the user id, this must be consistent with the user id defined in
+/// the types.proto
+pub type UserID = i64;
+
+include!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/user_discovery.rs"));
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, Debug)]
+struct UserDiscoveryConfig {
+    /// The number of required shares to get the secret
+    threshold: u8,
+    /// Currently limited to <= 255 as GF 256 is used
+    total_number_of_shares: u8,
+    /// Version of announcements
+    announcement_version: u32,
+    /// Version of promotions
+    promotion_version: u32,
+    /// This is a random public_id associated with a single announcement.
+    public_id: i64,
+    /// Verification shares
+    verification_shares: Vec<Vec<u8>>,
+    // The users' id:
+    user_id: UserID,
+    // If others user should promote the promotion to other users
+    share_promotion: bool,
+}
+
+///
+/// The main struct to access the user discovery functionality.
+///
+/// As generic values it requires a UserDiscoveryStore and a UserDiscoveryUtils.
+///
+pub struct UserDiscovery<Store, Utils>
+where
+    Store: UserDiscoveryStore,
+    Utils: UserDiscoveryUtils,
+{
+    store: Store,
+    utils: Utils,
+    config_lock: Arc<Mutex<bool>>,
+}
+
+impl<Store: UserDiscoveryStore, Utils: UserDiscoveryUtils> UserDiscovery<Store, Utils> {
+    /// Creates a new instance of the user discovery.
+    pub fn new(store: Store, utils: Utils) -> Result<Self> {
+        Ok(Self {
+            store,
+            utils,
+            config_lock: Arc::default(),
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Initializes or updates the user discovery.
+    ///
+    /// This function will generate new verification shares and update the config.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `threshold` - The number of required shares to get the secret
+    /// * `user_id` - The owner's user id
+    /// * `public_key` - The owner's public key
+    ///
+    /// # Returns
+    ///
+    /// * `Ok(())` - If the user discovery was initialized or updated successfully
+    /// * `Err(UserDiscoveryError)` - If the user discovery was not initialized or updated successfully
+    ///
+    pub async fn initialize_or_update(
+        &self,
+        threshold: u8,
+        user_id: UserID,
+        public_key: Vec<u8>,
+        share_promotion: bool,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        tracing::info!("Protocols: initialize_or_update started, getting config from store");
+        let config = match self.store.get_config().await {
+            Ok(config) => {
+                let mut config: UserDiscoveryConfig = serde_json::from_str(&config)?;
+                config.threshold = threshold;
+                config
+            }
+            Err(_) => UserDiscoveryConfig {
+                threshold,
+                user_id,
+                ..Default::default()
+            },
+        };
+
+        let public_id = rand::random();
+
+        let signed_data = SignedData {
+            public_id,
+            user_id,
+            public_key,
+        };
+
+        tracing::info!("Protocols: signing data");
+        let signature = self.utils.sign_data(&signed_data.encode_to_vec()).await?;
+
+        debug_assert_eq!(threshold, config.threshold);
+
+        tracing::info!("Protocols: setting up announcements");
+        let verification_shares = self
+            .setup_announcements(&config, signed_data, signature)
+            .await?;
+
+        debug_assert_eq!(verification_shares.len(), threshold as usize - 1);
+
+        tracing::info!("Protocols: updating config in store");
+        
+        let config_lock = self.config_lock.lock().await;
+        let mut final_config = match self.store.get_config().await {
+            Ok(c) => serde_json::from_str(&c)?,
+            Err(_) => UserDiscoveryConfig {
+                threshold,
+                user_id,
+                ..Default::default()
+            },
+        };
+
+        final_config.public_id = public_id;
+        final_config.announcement_version += 1;
+        final_config.verification_shares = verification_shares;
+        final_config.share_promotion = share_promotion;
+        final_config.threshold = threshold;
+
+        self.update_config(final_config, config_lock).await?;
+
+        tracing::info!("Protocols: initialize_or_update finished");
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    ///
+    /// Returns the current version of the owner's user discovery state.
+    ///
+    /// The version is incremented every time the user discovery is initialized or updated.
+    /// It should be send contacts which participate in the user discovery, so they can
+    /// check if there is new data available for them using the `get_new_messages` function
+    /// on there side.  
+    ///
+    ///
+    /// # Returns
+    ///
+    /// * `Ok(Vec<u8>)` - The current version of the user discovery
+    /// * `Err(UserDiscoveryError)` - If there where errors in the store.
+    ///
+    pub async fn get_current_version(&self) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
+        let (config, _) = self.get_config().await?;
+        Ok(UserDiscoveryVersion {
+            announcement: config.announcement_version,
+            promotion: config.promotion_version,
+        }
+        .encode_to_vec())
+    }
+
+    ///
+    /// Returns all users discovery though the user discovery and there relations
+    ///
+    /// # Returns
+    ///
+    /// * `Ok(HashMap<AnnouncedUser, Vec<(UserID, Option<i64>)>>)` - All connections the user has discovered
+    /// * `Err(UserDiscoveryError)` - If there where erros in the store.
+    ///
+    pub async fn get_all_announced_users(
+        &self,
+    ) -> Result<HashMap<AnnouncedUser, Vec<(UserID, Option<i64>)>>> {
+        self.store.get_all_announced_users().await
+    }
+
+    ///
+    /// Returns all new user discovery messages for the provided contact and his current version.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `contact_id` - The contact id of the user
+    /// * `received_version` - The version of the user discovery the contact has received so far
+    ///
+    /// # Returns
+    ///
+    /// * `Ok(Vec<Vec<u8>>)` - The new user discovery messages
+    /// * `Err(UserDiscoveryError)` - If there where errors in the store or if the received version is invalid.
+    ///
+    pub async fn get_new_messages(
+        &self,
+        contact_id: UserID,
+        received_version: &[u8],
+    ) -> Result<Vec<Vec<u8>>> {
+        let mut messages = vec![];
+        let received_version = UserDiscoveryVersion::decode(received_version)?;
+
+        let (config, _) = self.get_config().await?;
+        let version = Some(UserDiscoveryVersion {
+            announcement: config.announcement_version,
+            promotion: config.promotion_version,
+        });
+
+        if received_version.announcement < config.announcement_version {
+            tracing::info!("New announcement message available for {}", contact_id);
+
+            let announcement_share = self.store.get_share_for_contact(contact_id).await?;
+
+            let user_discovery_announcement = Some(UserDiscoveryAnnouncement {
+                public_id: config.public_id,
+                threshold: config.threshold as u32,
+                announcement_share,
+                verification_shares: config.verification_shares,
+                share_promotion: config.share_promotion,
+            });
+
+            messages.push(
+                UserDiscoveryMessage {
+                    user_discovery_announcement,
+                    version,
+                    ..Default::default()
+                }
+                .encode_to_vec(),
+            );
+        }
+        if received_version.promotion < config.promotion_version {
+            tracing::info!("New promotion message available for user {}", contact_id);
+            let promoting_messages = self
+                .store
+                .get_own_promotions_after_version(received_version.promotion)
+                .await?;
+
+            let size = promoting_messages.len();
+            let mut filtered: Vec<Vec<u8>> = promoting_messages
+                .into_iter()
+                .filter(|x| !x.is_empty()) // filter ignored versions
+                .collect();
+
+            if filtered.len() != size {
+                // ensure the receiver will get the later version in case the last message was filtered out
+                filtered.push(
+                    UserDiscoveryMessage {
+                        version: Some(UserDiscoveryVersion {
+                            announcement: config.announcement_version,
+                            promotion: config.promotion_version,
+                        }),
+                        ..Default::default()
+                    }
+                    .encode_to_vec(),
+                );
+            }
+            messages.extend_from_slice(&filtered);
+        }
+        Ok(messages)
+    }
+
+    ///
+    /// Checks if the provided user has new announcements and a request of update should be send.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `contact_id` - The contact id of the user
+    /// * `version` - The current version of the user discovery from the contact
+    ///
+    /// # Returns
+    ///
+    /// * `Ok(bool)` - True if the user has new announcements
+    /// * `Err(UserDiscoveryError)` - If there where errors in the store or if the received version is invalid.
+    ///
+    pub async fn should_request_new_messages(
+        &self,
+        contact_id: UserID,
+        version: &[u8],
+    ) -> Result<Option<Vec<u8>>> {
+        let received_version = UserDiscoveryVersion::decode(version)?;
+        let stored_version = match self.store.get_contact_version(contact_id).await? {
+            Some(buf) => UserDiscoveryVersion::decode(buf.as_slice())?,
+            None => UserDiscoveryVersion {
+                announcement: 0,
+                promotion: 0,
+            },
+        };
+        tracing::debug!(
+            received.announcement = %received_version.announcement,
+            received.promotion = %received_version.promotion,
+            stored.announcement = %stored_version.announcement,
+            stored.promotion = %stored_version.promotion,
+            "Comparing version numbers"
+        );
+        if received_version.announcement > stored_version.announcement
+            || received_version.promotion > stored_version.promotion
+        {
+            Ok(Some(stored_version.encode_to_vec()))
+        } else {
+            Ok(None)
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    pub(crate) async fn get_contact_version(&self, contact_id: UserID) -> Result<Option<Vec<u8>>> {
+        self.store.get_contact_version(contact_id).await
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the latest version for this discovery.
+    /// Before calling this function the application must sure that contact_id is qualified to be announced.
+    pub async fn handle_new_messages(
+        &self,
+        contact_id: UserID,
+        public_key_verified_timestamp: Option<i64>,
+        messages: Vec<Vec<u8>>,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        for message in messages {
+            let Ok(message) = UserDiscoveryMessage::decode(message.as_slice()) else {
+                tracing::error!("Could not parse the message. Continue to the next message...");
+                continue;
+            };
+            let Some(version) = message.version else {
+                continue;
+            };
+
+            if let Some(uda) = message.user_discovery_announcement {
+                if let Err(err) = self
+                    .handle_user_discovery_announcement(
+                        contact_id,
+                        public_key_verified_timestamp,
+                        uda,
+                    )
+                    .await
+                {
+                    tracing::warn!("Ignoring: {err}");
+                }
+            } else if let Some(udp) = message.user_discovery_promotion {
+                if let Err(err) = self.handle_user_discovery_promotion(contact_id, udp).await {
+                    tracing::warn!("Ignoring: {err}");
+                }
+            }
+
+            // Always update the version...
+            self.store
+                .set_contact_version(contact_id, version.encode_to_vec())
+                .await?;
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    pub async fn update_verification_state_for_user(
+        &self,
+        contact_id: UserID,
+        public_key_verified_timestamp: Option<i64>,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        let (mut config, config_lock) = self.get_config().await?;
+        config.promotion_version += 1;
+
+        let Some(current_promotion) = self.store.get_contact_promotion(contact_id).await? else {
+            // User does not participate...
+            return Ok(());
+        };
+
+        let old_message = UserDiscoveryMessage::decode(current_promotion.as_slice())?;
+
+        let Some(old_promotion) = old_message.user_discovery_promotion else {
+            tracing::error!("A contact should only have a promotion message...");
+            return Ok(());
+        };
+
+        let message = UserDiscoveryMessage {
+            version: Some(UserDiscoveryVersion {
+                announcement: config.announcement_version,
+                promotion: config.promotion_version,
+            }),
+            user_discovery_promotion: Some(UserDiscoveryPromotion {
+                promotion_id: rand::random(),
+                public_id: old_promotion.public_id,
+                threshold: old_promotion.threshold,
+                announcement_share: old_promotion.announcement_share,
+                public_key_verified_timestamp,
+            }),
+            ..Default::default()
+        };
+
+        self.store
+            .push_own_promotion_and_clear_old_version(
+                contact_id,
+                config.promotion_version,
+                message.encode_to_vec(),
+            )
+            .await?;
+
+        self.update_config(config, config_lock).await?;
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    async fn setup_announcements(
+        &self,
+        config: &UserDiscoveryConfig,
+        signed_data: SignedData,
+        signature: Vec<u8>,
+    ) -> Result<Vec<Vec<u8>>> {
+        tracing::debug!(
+            "Initializing user discovery with {} total shares and with a threshold of {}",
+            config.total_number_of_shares,
+            config.threshold
+        );
+
+        let encrypted_announcement = AnnouncementShareDecrypted {
+            signed_data: Some(signed_data),
+            signature,
+        }
+        .encode_to_vec();
+
+        let sharks = Sharks(config.threshold as u8);
+        let dealer = sharks.dealer(&encrypted_announcement);
+
+        let mut shares: Vec<Vec<u8>> = dealer
+            .take(config.total_number_of_shares as usize)
+            .map(|x| Vec::from(&x))
+            .collect();
+
+        if shares.len() != config.total_number_of_shares as usize
+            || shares.is_empty()
+            || shares.len() <= (config.threshold as usize * 2)
+        {
+            return Err(UserDiscoveryError::ShamirsSecret(
+                "Invalid length of shares where generated".to_string(),
+            ));
+        }
+
+        tracing::debug!(
+            "Generated {} shares each with a size of: {}",
+            shares.len(),
+            shares[0].len()
+        );
+
+        let mut verification_shares = vec![];
+
+        let split_index = shares.len() - (config.threshold - 1) as usize;
+        verification_shares.extend(shares.drain(split_index..));
+
+        self.store.set_shares(shares).await?;
+
+        Ok(verification_shares)
+    }
+
+    async fn get_config(&self) -> Result<(UserDiscoveryConfig, MutexGuard<'_, bool>)> {
+        let mut lock = self.config_lock.lock().await;
+        *lock = true;
+        Ok((serde_json::from_str(&self.store.get_config().await?)?, lock))
+    }
+
+    async fn update_config(
+        &self,
+        config: UserDiscoveryConfig,
+        mut config_lock: MutexGuard<'_, bool>,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        self.store
+            .update_config(serde_json::to_string_pretty(&config)?)
+            .await?;
+        *config_lock = false;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    async fn handle_user_discovery_announcement(
+        &self,
+        contact_id: UserID,
+        public_key_verified_timestamp: Option<i64>,
+        uda: UserDiscoveryAnnouncement,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        tracing::info!("Got a user discovery announcement from {contact_id}.");
+
+        if uda.threshold as usize != uda.verification_shares.len() + 1 {
+            tracing::error!(
+                "UDA contains to few shares to verify: {} != {} + 1.",
+                uda.threshold,
+                uda.verification_shares.len(),
+            );
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        let sharks = Sharks(uda.threshold as u8);
+
+        let mut all_shares = uda.verification_shares.clone();
+        all_shares.push(uda.announcement_share.clone());
+        let shares: Vec<_> = all_shares
+            .iter()
+            .filter_map(|x| Share::try_from(x.as_slice()).ok())
+            .collect();
+
+        match sharks.recover(&shares) {
+            Ok(secret) => {
+                let asd = AnnouncementShareDecrypted::decode(secret.as_slice())?;
+
+                let Some(signed_data) = asd.signed_data else {
+                    return Err(UserDiscoveryError::MaliciousAnnouncementData(
+                        "missing signed data".into(),
+                    ));
+                };
+
+                if contact_id != signed_data.user_id {
+                    return Err(UserDiscoveryError::MaliciousAnnouncementData(format!(
+                        "contact_id ({contact_id}) != signed_data.user_id ({})",
+                        signed_data.user_id
+                    )));
+                }
+
+                if !self
+                    .utils
+                    .verify_stored_pubkey(contact_id, &signed_data.public_key)
+                    .await?
+                {
+                    return Err(UserDiscoveryError::MaliciousAnnouncementData(format!(
+                        "public key does not match with stored one",
+                    )));
+                }
+
+                if !self
+                    .utils
+                    .verify_signature(
+                        &signed_data.encode_to_vec(),
+                        &signed_data.public_key,
+                        &asd.signature,
+                    )
+                    .await?
+                {
+                    return Err(UserDiscoveryError::MaliciousAnnouncementData(format!(
+                        "signature invalid",
+                    )));
+                }
+
+                // Only add this user to the promotions if the users enabled this feature
+                if uda.share_promotion {
+                    let (mut config, config_lock) = self.get_config().await?;
+                    config.promotion_version += 1;
+
+                    let message = UserDiscoveryMessage {
+                        version: Some(UserDiscoveryVersion {
+                            announcement: config.announcement_version,
+                            promotion: config.promotion_version,
+                        }),
+                        user_discovery_promotion: Some(UserDiscoveryPromotion {
+                            promotion_id: rand::random(),
+                            public_id: signed_data.public_id,
+                            threshold: uda.threshold,
+                            announcement_share: uda.announcement_share,
+                            public_key_verified_timestamp,
+                        }),
+                        ..Default::default()
+                    };
+
+                    self.store
+                        .push_own_promotion_and_clear_old_version(
+                            contact_id,
+                            config.promotion_version,
+                            message.encode_to_vec(),
+                        )
+                        .await?;
+
+                    self.update_config(config, config_lock).await?;
+                }
+
+                let announced_user = AnnouncedUser {
+                    user_id: signed_data.user_id,
+                    public_key: signed_data.public_key,
+                    public_id: uda.public_id,
+                };
+
+                tracing::debug!(
+                    "NEW PROMOTION 3: {} knows {}",
+                    contact_id,
+                    announced_user.user_id
+                );
+
+                // User is known, so add him to thr users relations
+                self.store
+                    .push_new_user_relation(
+                        contact_id,
+                        announced_user.clone(),
+                        public_key_verified_timestamp,
+                    )
+                    .await?;
+
+                // As we no now the public_id from the user, all promotions up to this point are also known, so add these to the relations database as well
+                let promotions = self
+                    .store
+                    .get_other_promotions_by_public_id(uda.public_id)
+                    .await?;
+
+                for promotion in promotions {
+                    self.store
+                        .push_new_user_relation(
+                            promotion.from_contact_id,
+                            announced_user,
+                            promotion.public_key_verified_timestamp,
+                        )
+                        .await?;
+                    return Ok(());
+                }
+
+                Ok(())
+            }
+            Err(err) => Err(UserDiscoveryError::ShamirsSecret(err.to_string())),
+        }
+    }
+
+    async fn handle_user_discovery_promotion(
+        &self,
+        from_contact_id: UserID,
+        udp: UserDiscoveryPromotion,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        tracing::debug!("Received a new UDP with public_id = {}.", &udp.public_id);
+
+        if udp.announcement_share.is_empty() {
+            tracing::info!("Got empty announcement share. Ignoring it..");
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        self.store
+            .store_other_promotion(OtherPromotion {
+                from_contact_id,
+                promotion_id: udp.promotion_id,
+                threshold: udp.threshold as u8,
+                public_id: udp.public_id,
+                announcement_share: udp.announcement_share,
+                public_key_verified_timestamp: udp.public_key_verified_timestamp,
+            })
+            .await?;
+
+        if let Some(contact) = self
+            .store
+            .get_announced_user_by_public_id(udp.public_id)
+            .await?
+        {
+            tracing::debug!(
+                "NEW PROMOTION 2: {} knows {}",
+                from_contact_id,
+                contact.user_id
+            );
+            // The user is already known, just propagate the relation ship
+            self.store
+                .push_new_user_relation(from_contact_id, contact, udp.public_key_verified_timestamp)
+                .await?;
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        let promotions = self
+            .store
+            .get_other_promotions_by_public_id(udp.public_id)
+            .await?;
+
+        // Deduplicate shares by their raw bytes to prevent invalid Shamir's Secret Sharing recoveries.
+        // Multiple identical shares (e.g. due to contact resending promotions, or DB duplicate writes)
+        // will cause `recover` to interpolate incorrectly and return garbage bytes.
+        let mut unique_shares_set = HashSet::new();
+        let mut unique_promotions = Vec::new();
+        for p in promotions {
+            if unique_shares_set.insert(p.announcement_share.clone()) {
+                unique_promotions.push(p);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if unique_promotions.len() < udp.threshold as usize {
+            tracing::debug!(
+                "Not enough unique shares ({} < {}) to decrypt announcement. Waiting for next share.",
+                unique_promotions.len(),
+                udp.threshold
+            );
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        tracing::debug!("Enough shares decrypting announcement.");
+
+        let shares: Vec<_> = unique_promotions
+            .iter()
+            .map(|x| x.announcement_share.to_owned())
+            .filter_map(|x| Share::try_from(x.as_slice()).ok())
+            .collect();
+
+        match Sharks(udp.threshold as u8).recover(&shares) {
+            Ok(secret) => {
+                tracing::debug!("Could decrypt announcement.");
+                let asd = AnnouncementShareDecrypted::decode(secret.as_slice())?;
+                if let Some(signed_data) = asd.signed_data {
+                    if udp.public_id != signed_data.public_id {
+                        tracing::error!(
+                            "Mismatch of the announced public id and the signed public id "
+                        );
+                        return Ok(());
+                    }
+
+                    if !self
+                        .utils
+                        .verify_signature(
+                            &signed_data.encode_to_vec(),
+                            &signed_data.public_key,
+                            &asd.signature,
+                        )
+                        .await?
+                    {
+                        return Err(UserDiscoveryError::MaliciousAnnouncementData(format!(
+                            "signature is invalid",
+                        )));
+                    }
+
+                    tracing::debug!("Announcement valid.");
+
+                    let announced_user = AnnouncedUser {
+                        user_id: signed_data.user_id,
+                        public_key: signed_data.public_key,
+                        public_id: udp.public_id,
+                    };
+
+                    let (config, _) = self.get_config().await?;
+
+                    let user_id = config.user_id;
+                    for promotion in unique_promotions {
+                        // Do not store the announcement of the users itself.
+                        // Or in case the promotion promotes myself
+                        if promotion.from_contact_id == announced_user.user_id
+                            || announced_user.user_id == user_id
+                        {
+                            continue;
+                        }
+                        tracing::debug!(
+                            "NEW PROMOTION: {:x} knows {:x}",
+                            promotion.from_contact_id,
+                            announced_user.user_id
+                        );
+                        self.store
+                            .push_new_user_relation(
+                                promotion.from_contact_id,
+                                announced_user.clone(),
+                                promotion.public_key_verified_timestamp,
+                            )
+                            .await?;
+                    }
+                }
+                Ok(())
+            }
+            Err(err) => Err(UserDiscoveryError::ShamirsSecret(err.to_string())),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Default for UserDiscoveryConfig {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            threshold: 2,
+            total_number_of_shares: u8::MAX,
+            announcement_version: 0,
+            promotion_version: 0,
+            verification_shares: vec![],
+            public_id: 0,
+            share_promotion: true,
+            user_id: 0,
+        }
+    }
+}