I have been lurking around nostr because it seems really powerful. I have a (likely stupid) question.

My understanding is that nostr is signed notes, so why is it not possible to have a "social credit" system that can be used as a payment system?

The concept would be a relay that maintains a ledger of the bitcoin blockchain as well as "you owe me's" from the users of the clients.

A nostr client, potentially a mobile app, allows users to sign in with their nsec and sign an UTXO contract as well as published a signed note stating how many bitcoin they deposited into this contract. This client would also allow users to redeem "you owe me's" from the server. The smart contract would recognize redemption of tokens and release bitcoin back to the user. Users would also be able to send "you owe me's" from one to another. A small tax on transactions could be paid in the form of "you owe me's" to node operators.

A nostr client that acts as a node to secure the relay. This node would transcribe transactions from the user's trusted bitcoin node and publish the blockchain's transactions to the relay as well as contain the programs that validate users' creation and redemption of "you owe me's.". A signed balance sheet that correlates Bitcoin transactions to npubs.

I think this could be popular because it could replace zaps. Liking or disliking a post could cost one "you owe me."

Happy #bitcoin day and I hope to see many more #grownostr!