What if I propose that Nostr can be the trojan horse for building a network of P2P fiat on/off ramps? Think an open protocol for Bisq that can also be mobile friendly. Instead of building monolithically, (a Bisq stack & its own order book, a Robosat stack & its own order book, etc), a shared liquidity pool can be formed so that any new trading application can be additive to the liquidity of the shared global order-book, instead of fracturing it?
I have written the first working version of the n3xB protocol library, along with a fun demo implementation. Looking for feedback, and the special people/teams that will build the Damus to n3xB. Someday becoming the challenger to the Binances of the world, like how Nostr can is growing to be a viable challenger to Twitter, etc.
How about for discovering Bitcoin/Fiat open orders? Any interest?
Written the first working version of the n3xB protocol library, working atop of the #nostr relay network. Along with a demo implementation in the form of Rust/Swift/macOS app. Looking for feedback. Hoping it’ll one day reach the person that will write the ‘Damus’ of n3xB.
Things might have gotten a bit over-complicated. Let me try to untangle this once more:
- n3xB is an in-development open protocol for creating P2P Bitcoin exchanges & order book on top of the Nostr network. Think n3xB is to Coinbase, as Nostr is to Twitter.
- Fatcrab is a fictional sh!t coin simulating fiat, with a website simulating an online bank. This is created only for the purpose of this demo.
- Fatcrab trade engine is built with Rust on top of the n3xB protocol library to facilitate trading between Fatcrab and testnet/signet Bitcoin.
- OceanSea is an App built with Swift and compiled so far for macOS to provide a demo UX for using the Fatcrab trade engine.
The OceanSea macOS App, link to Fatcrab webbank, Video overview & demo, along with Github codebases can be found at
Got a landing page for the OceanSea x Fatcrab project, including the compiled & working macOS binary for the OceanSea Trading app. Check it out
Just made another video. Demonstrating how the OceanSea apps are used to make and take a Fatcrabs buy order using Signet Bitcoin.
Will have the actual OceanSea macOS app binary out in a few days
Just created a video overview of the Fatcrab demonstration project. Its mean to demonstrate how the n3xB Bitcoin exchange protocol library can be used to create a mobile friendly decentralized fiat on/off ramp around a Nostr based global order book. More collaterals (including the macOS demo app itself) to come over the coming days
Just created a video overview of the Fatcrab demonstration project. Its mean to demonstrate how the n3xB Bitcoin exchange protocol library can be used to create a mobile friendly decentralized fiat on/off ramp around a Nostr based global order book. More collaterals (including the macOS demo app itself) to come over the coming days
What is the computing resource need to run LSP? Higher than a Lightning routing node I presume, but less than a Nostr node?
nostr:npub1w27whyf6860xztr5pqtdn8fywkwj82evemcvktc6cm5dl7vypgkqp9cuc8
Has not been super active on nostr. It’s a big idea probably needing a lot of support.
It’s admittedly a lot more work than I expected. I’ve done first draft of the base protocol. And built an example trade layer, along with an iOS app on top for demonstration. Stuck at getting Apple Developer license. It’s close to a full KYC process over there and I don’t want to get doxxed….
Worst case I’ll post about what I worked on so far with a much inferior Mac only version of the demo app. The work can be see on GitHub real time tho.
Ultimately the hope is others build their own intercompatible projects on top of n3xB, or to port existing solutions on top to be intercompatible, instead of me building yet another exchange verticals app besides what’s already out there (Bisq / RoboSat / Mostro etc)
They are fighting you, have always been, no signs of slowing down. Chokepoints, Binance, ETFs, now Samurai. Are you going to sit there and pretend ‘we win’ is the inevitable next step? Are you going to stop LARPing and fight back? Or are you just gonna coil up and surrender? Your choice anon
Working on Bitcoin is thankless, profitless work. LARPers going to stack and leech off builders’ time. This incentive misalignment is one of the achilles heel of Bitcoin. Why so few projects around Bitcoin got big.
Don’t agree with this note? Go to the App Store or any sizable search engines (whichever one you want) and search “Bitcoin Wallet”. See how many non-custodial Bitcoin-maxi projects are there. And how much centralize shitcoin scams are there instead.
Don’t like this note? Stop LARPing and start building.
Haven’t been too active the past bit. But finally completed an entire revamp of the n3xB protocol write-up after various feedback and inspiration from other related projects. I consider this v0.2.
Will build the n3xB order book engine next. And then proceed to build the first trade engine on top, and finally a mobile client. Have not quite decided whether Lightning is better or on-chain is better. On-chain (similar to Bisq) has much lower counterparty risk as a Lightning escrow is a custodial trusted 3rd party (RoboSats/Mostro/CivKit).
Further explanations of the protocol itself, along with example implementation of trade engine and message flow can be all found in the n3xB GitHub repository. Would love to see constructive feedback!
Here is one such proposal requiring no NIP
Instead of going ahead and building yet another trade platform around this trade mechanics, I am going to do more protocol specification work in hope of making n3xB a shared language on a common order book between multiple P2P solutions. With the hope of getting Mostro (#[1]) to be the first platform that talks ‘n3xB’. And eventually others that wants to build different solutions, clients, or trade mechanics on n3xB without completely fracturing the network effect and the otherwise thin volumed P2P order book.
Just uploaded to Github a repro demonstrating the usage of a 2 of 2 multisig to lock-up trade and bond amounts atomically funded by both the buyer and the seller. The locked amount can be payed out (more going to the buyer than the seller) by both parties signing (after buyer paid seller fiat, for example). If both parties cannot reach an agreement to unlock the locked up funds, an arbitrator can sweep the funds only after a timeout on a fixed number of blocks. This trade mechanics is basically what Bisq is doing today, except implemented with less on-chain Txs (2, instead of Bisq still using 4). Also, this exercise also demonstrates that this can relatively easily be implemented using Block/Spiral’s Bitcoin Development Kit.
Several building order books on top of Nostr. Hoping to catch and unify them before they get walled into silos.
The goal is to have a single protocol for common trade offer discovery - creating deep liquidity pool. The competition should be on trade mechanics and client user experience, not by fragmenting into silo’ed order books. The latter would be more like Mastodon and former more like Nostr itself. We need to be more like Nostr itself.
The time to do it is now and there’s no time to wait, before many platforms get ossified into their own closed ecosystems. United we stand. Divided we fall.
I have been working on something similar, but feel like we should collaborate instead of compete. I have no interest in carving another solution out when there’s Bisq and Mostro and RoboSats, etc. Check your DM to further discuss. Thanks!
Just shared my super naive playground of using Nostr for some of the offer discovery and trade initiation flows onto Github. The purpose is just to derisk, and not meant to reflect too much on the actual implementation for the initial PoC. Still working on my other playground that tries to construct a multi-sig across multiple BDK powered wallets.
Will update the proposals once again with all my learnings once both of these are complete.
It seems Nostr based P2P marketplace is all the rage these days. And people are viewing it as if these are competing solutions.
My intention has always been to create a single open order-book on Nostr that no one owns. There is literally no money to be made in this. And I’m doing this anon so even repuation and glory upside is highly limited. The only reason to do this is to create ways for on-off/ramp into and out of Bitcoin. My stack gaining purchasing power is more than enough motivation for me.
When I started nobody was talking about this. Now it seems to be all the rage. I am more than happy to drop n3xB completely if someone already got this vision built.
The competition should not be at the protocol/order-book level. The competition should be competing clients, liquidity providers and arbitrators - NOT competing order books and protocols. If it’s the latter then we already have it in the form of Bisq and RoboSats, and would be zero reason to put this on Nostr. The only reason to put this on Nostr is to have an inter-operable, highly liquidity order-book, instead of having wall gardened orderbooks, albeit P2P, etc that we already got today.
If anybody is building ‘competing protocols’ that is also meant to be an interoperable order-book, we should talk. One of us should drop. I’m more than happy not building protocols and build mobile clients and UX instead. DM me.