Bitcoin is not Nostr—far from it. How are you making this correlation, specifically?
Discussion
Criticizing Nostr for its niche adoption or limited user retention today is shortsighted — it’s the same mistake people made when declaring Bitcoin “dead” over a hundred times in its early years. Now, Bitcoin is recognized globally as a resilient, censorship-resistant store of value with institutional support and a \$1T+ market cap. History shows that paradigm-shifting technologies often begin in the margins, misunderstood and underestimated.
Nostr is in a similar place. It is not trying to be a copy of Twitter or a trendy app with quick growth hacks. It's an open protocol — a foundational piece of infrastructure — built to resist censorship, empower individuals with private keys, and enable interoperable, decentralized social communication. That mission isn't sexy for the average user right now, but it's vital in a world where speech is increasingly moderated by opaque corporate policies and geopolitical interests.
Yes, the user experience is still being refined. Yes, it feels like a home mostly for Bitcoiners and cypherpunks at the moment. But dismissing it for those reasons is like mocking the early internet because it was slow and required technical know-how. The real value of Nostr lies in what it enables, not where it currently stands.
Decentralized networks take longer to mature. They don't have the luxury of venture-fueled growth or centralized coordination. But what they build — when done right — is lasting. It’s not about hype or virality; it’s about sovereignty, resilience, and freedom.
People often want instant gratification — viral apps, mooning coins, dopamine hits. But the most important innovations demand patience. Just like Bitcoin did. And if Nostr stays the course, improves user experience, and keeps aligning with the ethos of censorship resistance and user empowerment, it will become more than just a niche — it will be necessary.
So don’t judge Nostr by its current size. Judge it by its principles, its trajectory, and its long-term potential to shift how we communicate in the digital age — just like Bitcoin changed how we think about money.
Bitcoin succeeded because it solved an immediate problem people have. Nostr is building the right solution for real censorship-resistance, but we're currently creating a free speech infrastructure with retention issues—dissidents need amplification, not just protection.
"Bitcoin succeeded because it solved an immediate problem.”
Yeah — and most people didn’t even see that problem at the time. It was nerd money, tulip mania, internet magic beans... until it wasn’t.
Now apply that to Nostr.
Censorship IS a real problem. People just don’t feel it yet or think it won’t happen to them. But when it does, it’s already too late. That’s why Nostr matters.
Yes, it’s early. Yes, it’s rough. So was Bitcoin in 2010.
And if you don’t get why censorship-resistant communication is worth building now, before it’s “needed”…
"If you don't get it, I don't have time to explain it to you.”
We’re not late. We’re early. Again.
Hardly anyone gets personally censored. That's why it's not a draw for the social feed use case. Different with the OtherStuff. Git repos, books, medical journals, media, store-fronts, etc. is the part where censorship-resistence is valuable.
But, like I said, you need the social feed hopping, to keep the relays going, as they provide the mass. Social feed and DMs.
You can advertise your other stuff off-Nostr, but you can't store the data off-Nostr.
lol, "Hardly anyone gets censored.”
You might think that, until it happens to you, or someone close to you.
I have friends who’ve been shadowbanned, deplatformed, and financially censored, not just on X or Facebook, but on dating apps, Airbnb, and banking platforms.
This isn’t hypothetical. It’s not rare. It’s just quiet. That’s how censorship works now, not dramatic bans, but silent removals and algorithmic suppression.
And sure, social feeds feel trivial — until they’re the only way you have to reach people. They’re the gateway layer. Without them, the "OtherStuff” doesn’t reach the world. You can't build a censorship-resistant ecosystem while relying on censored infrastructure for discovery and distribution.
Relays stay alive because people talk. DMs, shitposts, serious threads, they’re all part of the same defense: freedom to publish, to speak, to exist online without a gatekeeper.
If you still think “it’s not a problem,” that’s fine.
But as Satoshi said:
"If you don’t get it, I don’t have time to explain it to you.”
MAYBE YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN CENSORED, BUT DONT SPEAK FOR EVERYONE
BITCOINERS AND MANY OTHERS GOT CENSORED LEFT & RIGHT ON TWITTER DURING COVID, SO MUCH SO THAT PEOPLE HAD NUMBERS AT THE END OF THEIR NEW PROFILES TO SHOW THEIR # OF BANS ...
if bitcoin whales were nostr interactions, yeah, i guess bitcoin is dead too!
bitcoin succeeded? I didn't get that news
Spme corrections here. Bitcoin hasn't succeeded, it is captured & the price is highly manipulated. And it fails when it comes to privacy.
Nostr is only cencorship resistance when yiu run your own relay, otherwise not as any relay can delete your content anytime.
Let's be very clear: Bitcoin succeeded as in becoming the first real globally accepted cryptocurrency.
And yes, it is also being co-opted by the powers that be and failing in its original cypherpunk mission as a currency as laid out in the white paper as far as I'm concerned. This includes its ongoing challenges with privacy and functioning as a truly peer-to-peer electronic cash system, as originally envisioned.
So, "success" is a relative term here.
I have written much on the subject that you have read, liked, and agreed with over the years about Monero and Bitcoin, privacy vs open ledger, store of value vs digital currency etc.
It was not my intention to respond to the OP in great detail on things I have posted about countless times before on this account.
And because I only like to repeat myself when I'm being redundant... ;)
And since you mentioned this twice in a post and this comment... I will say again...
I did not say, "Nostr is real censorship resistant."
My exact words were, "Nostr is building the right solution for real censorship-resistance."
By "right," I mean permissionless and decentralized. By "building," I mean it's a work in progress.