the reasons you need encrypted messages stored on the server are: * to synchronise them between multiple devices * if you lose your device, to have a hope of

the reasons you need encrypted messages stored on the server are: * to synchronise them between multiple devices * if you lose your device, to have a hope of recovering your history * to be able to search them (either homomorphically or via a search bot you run) however, we're adding message retention configuration currently to let you limit how long your messages get persisted for (whether they're encrypted or not): https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/matthew/msc1763/proposals/1763-configurable-retention-periods.md https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/matthew/msc176...