Some accounts have a verification badge, how do you get one?
What do they mean in Nostr?
#asknostr #nostr
Discussion
research about NIP-05 verification on Google or your preferred AI chatbot, it will give you the step by step process and options you have to get verified!
Verification on Nostr actually means little to nothing.
You can get it if you want. It's free (at least for some providers), but I don't see the benefit.
Verification relies on the *centralized* DNS system and gives you a nickname in the form username@example.com. It's the owner of the domain that certifies your identity using the domain itself.
This really proves nothing to anyone who doesn't trust that domain owner and it can be subject to censorship. It seems to me something in between centralization and decentralization that have the disadvantages of both.
It does, however, mean that, if both you and a user wanting to reference you trust that domain, you can then be referenced as username@example.com, which is more mnemonic. That's the advantage.
I think it's possible to design a better verification system.
Ok, I understand, here in Nostr the verification does not make sense considering that when creating the account we do not register personal data that confirms that it is us?
Does it mean that there can be more users with my name and no one could check if it’s really me?
It's not really my point.
A verifier could do so under any policy, including asking enough information to be able to verify you correctly, even an ID, even to meet you in person, or whatever else.
In Nostr clients, however, the check appears next to the name of any user verified by anyone. And anyone can verify accounts if they own a domain. And anyone can buy a domain.
So, if you see a check it doesn't mean they aren't a spambot or an impostor because anyone can buy a domain and start verifying spambots and impostors.
> Does it mean that there can be more users with my name and no one could check if it’s really me?
On Nostr you have:
- A public key. This is unique and can be displayed in two ways: hex format or npub format. The public key is what actually identifies you.
- Optionally, a username. This is *not* unique.
- Optionally, a display name. This is *not* unique. There isn't much conceptual difference between usernames and display names and I'm not sure having both was a good idea.
- Optionally, a NIP-05 identifier in the form user@example.com. This is unique and it identifies you. The identifier is managed by the owner of the example.com domain trough a special file that contains the public key. The actual user, the owner of the public key, doesn't control that file (unless they own the domain).
NIP-05 is not pointless. It gives you an identifier which is much more mnemonic than a public key. But the "verified" check next to a profile only proves that the displayed identifier actually refers to that public key. It doesn't imply anything whatsoever about the "quality" or the authenticity of the account or whether you should follow them.
Hope that helps. Keep asking if you have any more questions.