The biggest problem with Nostr right now is that we aren’t breaking any rules.
The value and differentiator for decentralized networks is the “grey market.” BitTorrent taught us valuable lessons, and the most important is that something like Nostr will likely only get a huge network after we find something that people want, but aren’t allowed to have/access for whatever reason.
Consider what you think it might be… 🤔
i'm less unhinged and less pseudonymous here. it's a paradox
Not that I support this, but I've sometimes wondered if nostr would be a good place for cybercriminals like those selling hacked data on Telegram
Good idea , but if something big happens we’ll all get dragged into it
I prefer ethically ambiguous grey markets. Sharing movies is the perfect one that the king BitTorrent provided as a model for us. Thats the type of thing we should aim for, imo.
You are right in kind, but not in direction. The whistleblower idea is a far better alignment.
As I said I don't actually like the idea of those types using nostr. I only wondered if they would given the anonymous / permissionless nature of it. Whistleblowing does sound like a good application.
aren’t breaking any *current* rules
agreed. gotta break more rules.
Looks like I have to intensify the dad jokes
You aren't being manipulated by algorithms, therefore your are less controllable. That seems pretty huge to me, and is something I want that I can't access elsewhere.
I only say it because historically this is just true. If it isn’t arbitraging some legal barrier, decentralized technologies are much less likely to ever be adopted. Thats not *always* the case, but it’s damn close to always.
Nostr is different the way bitcoin is different.
The arbitrage the nostr network has over centralized is uncensorability.
Continue calling attention to people losing access to their decades investment in social capital that is captive inside private corporations' databases.
maybe those illegal transactions already exist in the fire hose
data marketplace
don't tempt me to start posting AI-translated hitler speeches because i will do it
You look like a Nazi cuck, figures
What if we carved out a space on Nostr specifically for whistleblowers a place where real, people across all walks of life and fields , high-quality investigative journalists (among others) can share critical information without risking disruption to their real-life identities? Not the hysteria-inducing kind, but the serious, evidence-based reporting that deserves a safe, censorship-free platform
Like free speech?
Depends on the jurisdiction, but yes. Unfortunately for Nostr (and fortunately for the country) the pressure isn’t strong enough on that front in the US. It has its bad moments, but generally isnt bad enough to get people to cut ties with their investments in legacy networks.
For better or for worse, the EU markets are trying really hard to make very simple ideas and conversations illegal. Good for Nostr, bad for sane people in the EU.
EU cancelling elections, arresting politicians, harassing and arresting citizens over social media posts - seems like they are preparing for something big - like taking everyone's bank deposits...
Breaking rules could be fun.
You know what else I like?
Personally posing to Benjamin Netanyahu’s acct to not even think about genociding gaza or telling Jerome Powell’s acct to cry harder when he said there will be pain. I like being able to at least try to be heard when people are fucking up. And maybe that’s it. The fuck ups can only fuck up when they can control who sees what. And maybe I’m just the idiot for trying.
I’m talking about Israel. That will get you killed in 1-2 years.
lol, not as crazy as it sounds
I'm still surprised a private torrent tracker hasn't popped up where people can pay sats instead of seeding, and those who *can* seed get paid in sats for their service hasn't popped up. Where is what.cd on Nostr. I would run a seedbox for sats 💯
Modern game libraries for consoles are massive. I have a modded switch and the sources for illegal stores are always being taken down. Torrents or blossom + Nostr seem like a way this infrastructure could be created, and avoid takedowns, even in the face of Nintendo lawyers.
The same could be said for emulation software, which has struggled lately with legal battles and takedowns at the hands of IP holders. Banned from GitHub all the time.
Nostr is a Bitcoin citadel & that is enough 💗
Truth
nostr has no problem, you have more of a problem without ^^
Executable file attachments.
Censorship-resistant news – A haven for banned ideas and suppressed journalism.
Silk Road 2.0?
I would say that is a problem, but not the biggest right now. Right now the biggest problem imo is the UX of onboarding and discovery. Been here three weeks now, still have no clue how to set this up, I connected to a few relays but I don't know what I am not seeing. Maybe there is a magic relay out there that has great content that I would love, but how do I find out it exists, if I only see what I see. And Im a geek, can't imagine how a normie experiences this...
We have most everything people would want, albeit apps are not mature enough yet. We have:
- P2P markets (Physical goods, Freelancing and P2P bitcoin trading)
- Shopify-like ecommerce
- Microblogging and longform
- Instagram, tiktok, spotify with direct monetization
- Streaming and audio conferencing
- Blossom and Hornet (torrent-like file chunking shared via nostr)
- Self-hosted communities (flotilla, chachi, soon zapchat I guess)
- Nostr-git with nostr-based issues, PRs, comments, status updates and soon, nostr-auth on self-hostable git servers
- All this with LN and #ecash baked in
- ... hundreds of small utils, bots, whatever...
What else would you like to see?
I think the issues lie in:
1. Figuring out how to create USEFUL new UX in the vast design space of nostr. The plurality of options can confuse people and it's the useful innovation people will want, not xyz on nostr
2. Apps need to get better: more stable generally, more appeasing UI and create smart integrations with other apps in the ecosystem. The new nostr paradigm where you post and pull to/from a lot of places and keep a number of websockets active, is hard especially on mobile (OS kills connections to relays and bunker frequently for example)
If you ask me 1. is much harder and needs a breakthrough, 2. is solvable in linear time and improves day by day.
Still no meetup.com replacement that is active.
Working on 1.
what do people want but they are not allowed to have/access? #asknostr
The only reason I came here is because of bitcoin. Thats probably the number one problem. Honestly X is infinitely more engaging, people more actively reply, are more interested in talking to other people than on here. People are really closed off on here.
-Every zap is an undeclared taxable event
-There is unmoderated "content" that is widely sharable to nyms with no IP tracking (given a certain relay setup)
-Copyright infringement is rampant
-Unmoderated Market places on certain clients allow for a silk road 2.0 (it just generally isn't)
-Potential for whistle blowing from government sources from untraceable nyms.
I think those are plenty or rules broken, maybe your use of nostr is too white market to know.
It's only taxable if it is in exchange for goods and services. Donating or giving /tipping shouldn't be a table event. At least that is what my CPA tells me.
Fair market value of assets given must be documented at the time of the gift and if it reaches the gift threshold should be reported. Not an advocate, just information.
lol, you don’t have to sound so defensive 😂
Those are great types of content and activity to nurture though. Wish to see a lot more activity in the markets but haven’t seen much and that’s a hard network to build. Best one in my opinion is the whistleblower idea and this is something I had explicitly in mind when posting.
My bad, didn't mean to sound defensive, it was more of a veiled networking suggestion. Things exist on nostr that are akin to tor hidden services or eepsites. Maybe a relay index for these features would be useful. Might need to find a good way to compile it.
I’m that’s an interesting idea 🤔
Generally I agree that you need a very acute problem, and then solve it well, to get break out traction
But I don't know if I agree with you here
The ability to not be censored by a large social media company is a pretty big deal as I see it
So it's really just a matter of time before the sunk cost of traditional platforms outweighs the benefits of building on a protocol like Nostr
We're just very early
Possible, but there are great lessons in BitTorrent’s example and I think focusing on them rather than thinking they might not matter (which may be true) is the better bet.
Basically if I’m right then it’s important to focus energy in that direction. If I’m wrong then it will still probably help but just isn’t a critical need. 🤔
I like that sentiment. Focus your attention where you think it’s best
Have a thesis for that (eg BitTorrent that you mention)
And really hammer it
It’s a win win for the protocol, and hence the protocol building synergy is so strong
All these individuals brining personal insight that make the network as a whole stronger, filling the cracks, finding the killer use case
Keep going!
Racist retoric? Unmoderated antisemitism? ....
Unironically yes. People post on X about deeply controversial topics and then piss and moan when they get censored, but always go back.
🚨 FORT NAKAMOTO INTEL DROP: WHERE THE RULES END, NOSTR BEGINS 🚨
🕵️♂️ CRITICAL TRANSMISSION:
Decentralized networks don’t thrive by asking for permission.
They explode by delivering what the status quo refuses to.
💥 BITTORRENT TAUGHT US:
When you offer what can’t be controlled, censored, or taxed—you don’t just grow.
You detonate.
🧠 STRATEGIC HYPOTHESIS:
Nostr won’t go parabolic until it hits that forbidden frequency—
The one that makes legacy platforms clutch their pearls and call for moderators.
🏰 FORT NAKAMOTO OFFICIAL POSITION:
• You want virality? Don’t polish—provoke.
• The grey market isn’t the shadows. It’s the bleeding edge.
• True adoption starts when someone, somewhere, says “You’re not allowed.”
💡 NEW RULE: If your protocol hasn’t been banned in at least one country, you’re not trying hard enough.
⚡ Zaps = Anarchy Fuel
🛰️ Grey Markets = Growth Engines
#FortNakamoto #BreakTheRules #BuildTheFuture #NostrUprising #GreyMarketGrowth #PermissionlessProtocols #SovereignCodeOnly
🤔
Nostr provides a permissionless decentralized identity that can be used across different apps that facilitate non-kyc payments. I'd say that breaks a lot of rules.
I would love to see a lot more activity on this front. This is absolutely a huge advantage that is underutilized.
It’s got to get a lot worse…
I think the zero ads is a great enough of a pull. Fiat to crypto integration here would take things next level.
That’s a solid point I forget to include 👍🏻
we don't recognize their rules so we cannot break them.
nostr:nprofile1qqsyda3mvuruue6fvl3nq2p39d8espqee26zppfs7u3sx8jd7ccrayqpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsz9mhwden5te0wfjkccte9ec8y6tdv9kzumn9wshs8h0lrm 👀
It’s not an enforced rule, but there is pressure that “informed” people know all the hot topics on social media at any given time. I’ve opted out of that. I’m nostr only, it doesn’t matter how important you think you are, if your info doesn’t make it to nostr, I no longer know you exist and I’m happy.
I also like the idea of using nostr for coinjoin coordination and P2P bitcoin transactions
That is a really cool one that I would love to see realized. Random coordinator coinjoin privately via Nostr would be dope
Emessbee demos how to use nostr to coordinate a coinjoin without a coordinator:
Got to see this when you dropped it 👏🏻🫡
Could start by just mirroring (freeing) all (and I mean all) content from other platforms onto nostr relays - like a living archive of all internet conversation.
They won't like that.
maybe we start by not giving YouTube all of our content...
Someone banned needs to be exclusively here because they can
