By Seha Islam in Internet — Mar 18, 2023

nostr 101

An overview of the nostr protocol and the future of scalable decentralized web applications.

nostrica banner by @nostrings

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

.@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

nostr events are simple (h/t @anilsaidso)

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.

Find me there. pic.twitter.com/B7JUHeeSdP
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 23, 2023

How does it work?

nostr overview h/t vmilty@nostrplebs.com (npub1n5fz9vzvzvezfeuju3hvyg3mtfalgsgw3eka0xxda20uewy2nn0srspk5e)

What can it do?

"Twitter" and other social media
Scalable decentralized apps without a blockchain or token
Check the math

early nostr applications (h/t @anilsaidso)

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