Nostr: Decentralized Twitter & Bitcoin Lightning's Use Case

Nostr is similar to a decentralized Twitter, with Bitcoin Lightning payments built in. Zapping someone is the ultimate form of love. This is finally a use-case for lightning as putting something like 20 cents on the layer 1 blockchain is usually a waste in transaction fees.

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The purpose of Nostr is that no central entity should own the public “town square” of free speech. By having different nodes host data around the world, with interoperability for different clients, it is simply a protocol that allows for censorship resistant communication.

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The key to Nostr is the encryption based identity. Nostr (and the privacy messenger Session) both work by having the public key as a username and the private key as your password. And the open source nature of Nostr clients, allows them to clearly not have access to your private key when they post. In fact, even the web browser Nostr clients let you use browser extensions such as Flamingo to sign transactions without the website itself seeing your public key.

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And some extensions also function as Lightning wallets. For example Alby wallet lets you sign Nostr posts and sign Bitcoin lightning zaps.

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Some might dismiss Nostr as too new to actually spend time promoting on. But as social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk points out, when social media networks are new, that’s when you can get attention the most easily. It’s not the quantity of people, but the quality and relevance to your brand.

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Here’s some accounts you can follow:

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Michael Saylor

The biggest bull of all time, and discussing relevant Bitcoin news in this rapidly evolving space. Key:

npub15dqlghlewk84wz3pkqqvzl2w2w36f97g89ljds8x6c094nlu02vqjllm5m

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Simplified Privacy

Privacy enthusiasts promoting digital freedom through rejection of traditional institutions and big tech utilizing open source software and cryptocurrency. Key:

npub14slk4lshtylkrqg9z0dvng09gn58h88frvnax7uga3v0h25szj4qzjt5d6

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Fiatjaff

The creator of Nostr. Super useful to find out updates on what’s going on in the space. Key:

npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6