The biggest problem with Nostr right now is that we aren’t breaking any rules. The value and differentiator for decentralized networks is the “grey market.” BitTorrent taught us valuable lessons, and the most important is that something like Nostr will likely only get a huge network after we find something that people want, but aren’t allowed to have/access for whatever reason. Consider what you think it might be… 🤔

Replies (71)

bjorn's avatar
bjorn 10 months ago
Not that I support this, but I've sometimes wondered if nostr would be a good place for cybercriminals like those selling hacked data on Telegram
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npub1pwqh...epsw 10 months ago
maybe those illegal transactions already exist in the fire hose
What if we carved out a space on Nostr specifically for whistleblowers a place where real, people across all walks of life and fields , high-quality investigative journalists (among others) can share critical information without risking disruption to their real-life identities? Not the hysteria-inducing kind, but the serious, evidence-based reporting that deserves a safe, censorship-free platform View quoted note →
I only say it because historically this is just true. If it isn’t arbitraging some legal barrier, decentralized technologies are much less likely to ever be adopted. Thats not *always* the case, but it’s damn close to always.
I prefer ethically ambiguous grey markets. Sharing movies is the perfect one that the king BitTorrent provided as a model for us. Thats the type of thing we should aim for, imo. You are right in kind, but not in direction. The whistleblower idea is a far better alignment.
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npub1mgev...8m99 10 months ago
Breaking rules could be fun. You know what else I like? Personally posing to Benjamin Netanyahu’s acct to not even think about genociding gaza or telling Jerome Powell’s acct to cry harder when he said there will be pain. I like being able to at least try to be heard when people are fucking up. And maybe that’s it. The fuck ups can only fuck up when they can control who sees what. And maybe I’m just the idiot for trying.
Depends on the jurisdiction, but yes. Unfortunately for Nostr (and fortunately for the country) the pressure isn’t strong enough on that front in the US. It has its bad moments, but generally isnt bad enough to get people to cut ties with their investments in legacy networks. For better or for worse, the EU markets are trying really hard to make very simple ideas and conversations illegal. Good for Nostr, bad for sane people in the EU.
I'm still surprised a private torrent tracker hasn't popped up where people can pay sats instead of seeding, and those who *can* seed get paid in sats for their service hasn't popped up. Where is what.cd on Nostr. I would run a seedbox for sats 💯 Modern game libraries for consoles are massive. I have a modded switch and the sources for illegal stores are always being taken down. Torrents or blossom + Nostr seem like a way this infrastructure could be created, and avoid takedowns, even in the face of Nintendo lawyers. The same could be said for emulation software, which has struggled lately with legal battles and takedowns at the hands of IP holders. Banned from GitHub all the time.
roll_the_dice's avatar
roll_the_dice 10 months ago
EU cancelling elections, arresting politicians, harassing and arresting citizens over social media posts - seems like they are preparing for something big - like taking everyone's bank deposits...
I would say that is a problem, but not the biggest right now. Right now the biggest problem imo is the UX of onboarding and discovery. Been here three weeks now, still have no clue how to set this up, I connected to a few relays but I don't know what I am not seeing. Maybe there is a magic relay out there that has great content that I would love, but how do I find out it exists, if I only see what I see. And Im a geek, can't imagine how a normie experiences this...
We have most everything people would want, albeit apps are not mature enough yet. We have: - P2P markets (Physical goods, Freelancing and P2P bitcoin trading) - Shopify-like ecommerce - Microblogging and longform - Instagram, tiktok, spotify with direct monetization - Streaming and audio conferencing - Blossom and Hornet (torrent-like file chunking shared via nostr) - Self-hosted communities (flotilla, chachi, soon zapchat I guess) - Nostr-git with nostr-based issues, PRs, comments, status updates and soon, nostr-auth on self-hostable git servers - All this with LN and #ecash baked in - ... hundreds of small utils, bots, whatever... What else would you like to see? I think the issues lie in: 1. Figuring out how to create USEFUL new UX in the vast design space of nostr. The plurality of options can confuse people and it's the useful innovation people will want, not xyz on nostr 2. Apps need to get better: more stable generally, more appeasing UI and create smart integrations with other apps in the ecosystem. The new nostr paradigm where you post and pull to/from a lot of places and keep a number of websockets active, is hard especially on mobile (OS kills connections to relays and bunker frequently for example) If you ask me 1. is much harder and needs a breakthrough, 2. is solvable in linear time and improves day by day.
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tx0 10 months ago
I did. It was lame.
Tawiskaro's avatar
Tawiskaro 10 months ago
The only reason I came here is because of bitcoin. Thats probably the number one problem. Honestly X is infinitely more engaging, people more actively reply, are more interested in talking to other people than on here. People are really closed off on here.
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 10 months ago
-Every zap is an undeclared taxable event -There is unmoderated "content" that is widely sharable to nyms with no IP tracking (given a certain relay setup) -Copyright infringement is rampant -Unmoderated Market places on certain clients allow for a silk road 2.0 (it just generally isn't) -Potential for whistle blowing from government sources from untraceable nyms. I think those are plenty or rules broken, maybe your use of nostr is too white market to know.
Generally I agree that you need a very acute problem, and then solve it well, to get break out traction But I don't know if I agree with you here The ability to not be censored by a large social media company is a pretty big deal as I see it So it's really just a matter of time before the sunk cost of traditional platforms outweighs the benefits of building on a protocol like Nostr We're just very early
🚨 FORT NAKAMOTO INTEL DROP: WHERE THE RULES END, NOSTR BEGINS 🚨 🕵️‍♂️ CRITICAL TRANSMISSION: Decentralized networks don’t thrive by asking for permission. They explode by delivering what the status quo refuses to. 💥 BITTORRENT TAUGHT US: When you offer what can’t be controlled, censored, or taxed—you don’t just grow. You detonate. 🧠 STRATEGIC HYPOTHESIS: Nostr won’t go parabolic until it hits that forbidden frequency— The one that makes legacy platforms clutch their pearls and call for moderators. 🏰 FORT NAKAMOTO OFFICIAL POSITION: • You want virality? Don’t polish—provoke. • The grey market isn’t the shadows. It’s the bleeding edge. • True adoption starts when someone, somewhere, says “You’re not allowed.” 💡 NEW RULE: If your protocol hasn’t been banned in at least one country, you’re not trying hard enough. ⚡ Zaps = Anarchy Fuel 🛰️ Grey Markets = Growth Engines #FortNakamoto #BreakTheRules #BuildTheFuture #NostrUprising #GreyMarketGrowth #PermissionlessProtocols #SovereignCodeOnly
Nostr provides a permissionless decentralized identity that can be used across different apps that facilitate non-kyc payments. I'd say that breaks a lot of rules.
bjorn's avatar
bjorn 10 months ago
As I said I don't actually like the idea of those types using nostr. I only wondered if they would given the anonymous / permissionless nature of it. Whistleblowing does sound like a good application.
lol, you don’t have to sound so defensive 😂 Those are great types of content and activity to nurture though. Wish to see a lot more activity in the markets but haven’t seen much and that’s a hard network to build. Best one in my opinion is the whistleblower idea and this is something I had explicitly in mind when posting.
Possible, but there are great lessons in BitTorrent’s example and I think focusing on them rather than thinking they might not matter (which may be true) is the better bet. Basically if I’m right then it’s important to focus energy in that direction. If I’m wrong then it will still probably help but just isn’t a critical need. 🤔
rapadu's avatar
rapadu 10 months ago
It’s got to get a lot worse…
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okay 10 months ago
I think the zero ads is a great enough of a pull. Fiat to crypto integration here would take things next level.
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 10 months ago
My bad, didn't mean to sound defensive, it was more of a veiled networking suggestion. Things exist on nostr that are akin to tor hidden services or eepsites. Maybe a relay index for these features would be useful. Might need to find a good way to compile it.
R's avatar
R 10 months ago
It’s not an enforced rule, but there is pressure that “informed” people know all the hot topics on social media at any given time. I’ve opted out of that. I’m nostr only, it doesn’t matter how important you think you are, if your info doesn’t make it to nostr, I no longer know you exist and I’m happy.
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 10 months ago
Fair market value of assets given must be documented at the time of the gift and if it reaches the gift threshold should be reported. Not an advocate, just information.
bjorn's avatar
bjorn 10 months ago
I also like the idea of using nostr for coinjoin coordination and P2P bitcoin transactions
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npub1am50...ks29 10 months ago
Could start by just mirroring (freeing) all (and I mean all) content from other platforms onto nostr relays - like a living archive of all internet conversation. They won't like that.
dale_gribble's avatar
dale_gribble 10 months ago
maybe we start by not giving YouTube all of our content...
I like that sentiment. Focus your attention where you think it’s best Have a thesis for that (eg BitTorrent that you mention) And really hammer it It’s a win win for the protocol, and hence the protocol building synergy is so strong All these individuals brining personal insight that make the network as a whole stronger, filling the cracks, finding the killer use case Keep going!
That's a very low resolution analysis of what I said. The reality is that free speech only needs to be a principal because of controversial speech. People discuss controversial topics and get censored, then complain but ignore solutions like nostr where you can build and decide what kind of content you want to see. Guy's original post was about exactly that. nostr does need to attract the controversial because that is the grey market for speech.