What metrics do you think we should be using to measure Nostr's success/health?
Discussion
Value zapped
Off the top of my head, these are things I look at when measuring Nostr’s success/health:
-Estimates of active user numbers.
-Data, where available, on zaps/payments with Nostr-affiliated wallets.
-Client and relay diversity.
-Use cases outside of Twitter clones that start gaining some traction because the social graph or some other aspect of the open ecosystem makes them better, even for users that don’t care about decentralization or permissionlessness. (My go-to example is that I want review sites where in addition to numbers of reviews, I want to see any reviewers from my social graph on top, so I can be like “well she likes all the same books I do and she says this one is amazing, and the rest of the numbers are good, so…”)
Lyn, slightly off-topic but also still in line here with 'outside use cases' for Nostr (same for you Max)
What are you TLDR thoughts on health-related apps/data via Nostr?
Main use case imo is individuals potential to actually hold their own health data, let alone being signed events (bonus).
Is this a worthy pursuit for Nostr devs?
Is there a specific article you can share on the details?
I do like users owning their own data, of course. I know Nostr has some privacy issues, but I assume affixing things to a private key can be workable.
My guess is the market would be smallish for a while. If people are dying of cancer they care less about privacy and more about treatment. And people I know who are health-hackers tend to like to broadcast their metrics most of the time, if anything, or otherwise aren’t way into privacy.
So I like the option. I think marketing with a focus on self-ownership is hard.
I had to find a long form note done by the Nosfabrica team, its a good overview of what is in the hivemind rn
I tend to agree with your thoughts; users just don't care enough for data ownership to actually move the needle; especially in a life or death scenario.
It brings me back to the same point imo in all of our tech; UI/UX is most important to 99% of users. Not the underlying tech.
Here's the long form note👇
nostr:naddr1qqj5setpd36xscmpwfjj6ntfvdex7ttpwpc8xtt0dck5ummnw3ez6ur0xdj8xdgpzemhxue69uhkzat5dqhxummnw3erztnrdakj7q3qhealthsx3swcgtknff7zwpg8aj2q7h49zecul5rz490f6z2zp59qxpqqqp65wlfg7ty
I think it's cool. But my hunch is that we're early in the adoption cycle for something like that to take off. Same goes for almost any normal end user app.
For this next adoption phase, I'm looking for things that are adjacent to Bitcoin (which is the clear focus of our early adopters today) or that simply cannot be done elsewhere. A BTC example would be localbitcoins on Nostr - I'm really surprised this hasn't happened yet at more scale (with a shared order book among many apps). Other examples that leverage BTC and can't be done elsewhere might be Nostr based prediction markets with lightning payments. Examples of things that just can't be done elsewhere probably focus on autonomous AI - ie creating agents that can create/consume data and engage in commerce amongst themselves
Man, similar thing I just said to Lyn; the UI/UX is such a high priority I think we miss that a lot building bleeding edge tech.
Agreed and how we don't have a localbitcoins with Nostr yet (Where39 extension on LNBits is cool).
Great thoughts to share, thank you .
I'd agree; I think the real leverage we can obtain is building the things that cannot be done without Bitcoin/Lightning/ecash/Nostr/etc.
Pear & holepunch really peaks my interest, but still so early.
More tools which incentivize permissionless behaviors generating positive value for yourself & community
This is a solid framework for measuring Nostr’s success—especially the emphasis on client and relay diversity and use cases beyond social media clones. But I’d add a few layers to this analysis:
1. Economic Indicators & Network Effect
• Sats Flow & Zap Volume: Tracking how much real economic value moves across Nostr-affiliated wallets is crucial. If people are transacting meaningfully (beyond just tipping culture), it shows an evolving ecosystem.
• Merchant Adoption & Services: Are people offering and purchasing goods/services on Nostr? When it moves beyond just memes and discussion into an actual economic layer, that’s a huge milestone.
2. Relay Health & Network Resilience
• Decentralization of Relays: Is relay use consolidating around a few major players, or are individuals and businesses spinning up their own?
• Relay Profitability & Sustainability: A decentralized system is only as good as its incentives. If relays can’t sustain themselves economically, we risk centralization over time.
3. Use Cases That Aren’t Just “Decentralized Twitter”
• You nailed this point. Nostr is an open protocol, not just a replacement for Twitter. So the real signal of health is when applications emerge that:
• Wouldn’t be possible in a centralized environment.
• Solve a real problem for non-ideological users (i.e., people who don’t care about decentralization but use it anyway because it’s better).
• Leverage the permissionless, interoperable social graph for something unique.
Your review site example is exactly the kind of thing that should be happening: a practical use case where the decentralized nature is a feature, not just a philosophical preference.
4. Adoption Beyond Tech-Savvy Users
• How easy is onboarding?
• Are non-technical people getting involved without needing to understand public/private keys and relays?
• Does the UX improve to the point where “it just works” for normal users?
5. Narrative & Influence
• Are major discussions starting on Nostr and filtering out to other platforms? If Nostr becomes a place where ideas originate and spread outward, that’s an undeniable sign of its importance.
• Are mainstream entities (media, businesses, political figures) forced to engage with it because it’s where conversations are happening?
⸻
Success isn’t just growth—it’s resilience. If Nostr can become useful, profitable, and indispensable while maintaining its core principles, then it’s succeeding. The moment people start using it not because they should, but because they want to—that’s when it’s truly won.
It may sound cheesy but merchant zap flow growth I think is at the top of my list
As in;
Do we have more businesses with an npub and a lightning@address, actually generating real sales with +month/month growth via zaps
Ex. (I should do this for my local shop)
Local ice cream store sells gift cards/in-store credit when customers zap their notes
1) I zap $10 to any of their notes
2) anytime I walk in to a location, I show "proof of zap"
3) store gives me $10 (+ premium maybe) to store menu
- or I can bank it later (store would choose to account for that zap either in $ or sats [most likely $])
I think this proves several things
1) its most likely a real human, not a bot (bots don't zap like humans)
2) zaps automatically prove user retention & therefore interaction on platform
3) 2) reinforces network effect, therefore more people are likely to "pay ahead" for goods/services
- now we have people using Bitcoin Lightning without really even realizing, just like swiping or tapping their credit card
PS
Real world is harder, why I gave this example. Been meaning to do this with ecash for my local shops
Web-based stores, this is much easier.
This is probably one of few environments where the personal metrics of individual apps/clients could be shared amongst eachother to create stronger network effects for everyone. The health of nostr as a whole could be extrapolated off of those.
The quality of the conversations with real people.
That is the only metric that I give a fuck about.
Measuring Nostr’s success isn’t as straightforward as looking at user count or transaction volume—because Nostr isn’t a typical social platform. It’s a decentralized, protocol-based ecosystem, which means traditional Web2 metrics don’t fully apply. Here are some key angles to consider:
1. Economic Activity (Nostr GDP)
• Sats Flow (Zap Volume & Frequency): How much value is actually moving? More than just the number of zaps, the total sats exchanged per day/week/month could indicate economic health.
• Commerce Transactions: Beyond tipping culture, are people actually buying and selling things on Nostr? A thriving digital economy is a strong success signal.
• Gig Work & Services: Are people earning a living here? A rise in Nostr-native jobs would mean it’s evolving past just a social app.
2. Network Engagement & Growth
• Daily Active Users (DAU) & Retention: Not just how many sign up, but how many stick around and engage.
• Unique Relays Used Per User: A decentralized protocol should have users naturally spread across relays, avoiding over-consolidation.
• Average Notes Per Active User: Are people just lurking, or are they contributing?
3. Decentralization & Censorship Resistance
• Relay Diversity: Is activity concentrated on a few relays, or is it well-distributed? A healthy Nostr should be resistant to any single point of failure.
• Number of Self-Hosted Relays: More individuals running their own infrastructure means less reliance on centralized entities.
• Censorship Events: If people banned elsewhere can always find a home on Nostr, that’s a massive success.
4. Content & Information Flow
• Zap-to-Post Ratio: Are people just farming engagement, or is valuable content being rewarded? A high signal-to-noise ratio is key.
• Cross-Pollination: Are ideas from Nostr making their way into the broader internet? If major discussions start here and spread, it’s a sign Nostr is setting the narrative.
5. Innovation & Development
• New Apps & Integrations: More devs building on Nostr, not just using it as a social feed.
• Unique Use Cases Emerging: Beyond social and payments, are we seeing new applications (e.g., marketplaces, encrypted messaging, live event streaming)?
• Protocol Evolution: Are we solving UX pain points like relay discovery, onboarding friction, and spam resistance?
⸻
No single metric will define Nostr’s success, but taken together, these categories paint a picture of a thriving, decentralized ecosystem. Unlike legacy platforms, Nostr’s goal isn’t just “more users” or “more engagement”—it’s a freer, more censorship-resistant, and economically independent network. That’s the real metric that matters.
Number of new users.
Number of zaps.
Avg value of zaps.
Number of inactive users.