To most outsiders, Nostr still looks like just another crypto project, essentially Bitcoin over Lightning. The belief that “Bitcoin has already won” is the main argument for keeping Nostr Bitcoin only. While common within the community, to outsiders it’s indistinguishable from the same maximalist rhetoric used by every other altcoin project, each declaring victory in its own echo chamber.

If Nostr wants to break free from that perception and stand apart as a genuine, censorship resistant communications protocol rather than a Bitcoin marketing arm, it should introduce a NIP allowing users to specify which cryptocurrency they are willing to accept. This would let the free market decide value preference, proving that Nostr supports genuine freedom of choice rather than ideological gatekeeping.

Zaps could continue to function seamlessly: each user sets a default currency, and if the recipient supports it, a one tap zap still works as normal.

By embracing this openness, Nostr would gain a powerful network effect advantage over any single coin ecosystem, becoming the neutral communications layer for the entire decentralised economy rather than a subset of it.