Relay-as-a-Pointer with Decentralized Storage

What It Is: Instead of storing full copies of every event, relays only store tiny cryptographic hashes or pointers (like URLs) to the actual data, which lives on a decentralized storage system such as IPFS (InterPlanetary File System).

How It Works: When a client posts an event, it uploads the data to IPFS and sends the relay a hash. The relay keeps the hash and metadata (e.g., event ID, timestamp), while the heavy content (text, images) stays on IPFS. Clients fetch the data directly from IPFS using the pointer.

Why It’s New: While IPFS is used in other decentralized projects, pairing it with Nostr relays to offload storage entirely is unexplored territory.

Why It Helps: Relays need almost no storage—just a small database of pointers—making them cheap and easy to run on minimal hardware. Decentralization stays intact because IPFS is peer-to-peer, and no single relay holds all the data.