nostr 101
An overview of the nostr protocol and the future of scalable decentralized web applications.
![nostr 101](/content/images/size/w1200/2023/03/8364320C-C72D-45E7-9BF0-FEAA7AB16CCE.png)
An overview of the nostr protocol for discussion on March 20, 2023.
Why did we need it?
- Decentralize the web: resist censorship, regain privacy, avoid the algos
- Blockchains can't do this: the web is 175 zettabytes = 350 bitcoin nodes x 8 billion people with no redundancy
- Free speech: rights of the consumer vs. rights of the platform
![](https://cdn.cms-twdigitalassets.com/content/dam/blog-twitter/official/universal-assets/Generic_BlogShare.jpg.twimg.768.jpg)
![](http://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/libery_logo.png)
.@YouTube have taken down the speech I gave in Parliament today. I am an elected member of the UK Parliament. The speech was given in the Chamber of the House of Commons and responded to by a Government Minister, what chance has anyone else got of putting their views on YouTube? pic.twitter.com/mJWFuVaOhy
— Andrew Bridgen (@ABridgen) March 17, 2023
What is it?
- Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relay
![](https://seha.cc/content/images/2023/03/AA7EBA8F-CBD8-4FCF-BDFF-081C283268AA.jpeg)
14 BTC deployed to @fiatjaf for #nostr
— jack (@jack) December 15, 2022
Nostr promotion is now forbidden on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/aOmcQfxzpo
— fiatjaf (@fiatjaf) December 18, 2022
One of the cool things about Nostr ("Notes and other stuff transmitted by relays", a new decentralized protocol that replaces things like Twitter and Instagram)—beyond censorship resistance—is that you aren't limited to 280 characters.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 23, 2023
Find me there. pic.twitter.com/B7JUHeeSdP
How does it work?
![](https://seha.cc/content/images/2023/03/38005DCD-3D2B-44D8-BD64-46EAF9519BA8.jpeg)
What can it do?
- "Twitter" and other social media
- Scalable decentralized apps without a blockchain or token
- Check the math
![](https://seha.cc/content/images/2023/03/E59C0BA0-FA31-48F3-9A86-F959DCE7F52C.jpeg)
What can't it do?
- Trustless prevention of double spends
- Consistency: no single global state
- Identity:
12) For example, when @jack first joined Nostr, he put his public key on https://t.co/339l359AUh, which allowed anyone to see it was him. However, this approach is permissioned. If a user doesn't own the domain hosting their identifier, it can be easily deplatformed. pic.twitter.com/XJriB9xkaR
— Level39 (@level39) March 5, 2023
https://cash.app/.well-known/nostr.json?name=jack
How is it going?
![](https://nostr.band/android-chrome-192x192.png)
How do I join?
![](https://seha.cc/content/images/2023/03/6DFC75F0-D45D-41C6-8D6E-F2578EEE958E.jpeg)
What comes next?
- Zaps (NIP-57): Micropayments and content monetization
- Badges (NIP-58): "NFT" use cases like "access", "community", "accomplishment" without a speculative token
- Nostr 2.0?
- purple pill -> orange pill