Nostr Bi-weekly Review ( 1-14 May 2026)
GM, Nostriches! The Nostr Review is a biweekly newsletter focused on protocol updates, exciting programs, the long-form content ecosystem, and key events happening in the Nostr-verse. If you’re interested, join me in covering updates from the Nostr ecosystem!
Quick review: In the past two weeks, daily active pubkeys decreased to 298,890. New user growth increased, while profiles with bios increased by about 36.79%. Events totaled 7.9 million and zap volume decreased to 9.9 million sats. Additionally, 8 pull requests were submitted to the Nostr protocol, with 0 merged. A total of 108 Nostr projects were tracked, with 11 releasing product updates. During this period, 2 notable event took place, and 2 significant events are upcoming.
Nostr Statistics
Based on user activity, the total daily active pubkeys reached 298,890, reflecting a decrease of 0.47% compared to the previous period’s 300,302. The highest daily activity was recorded on May 7th, 2026, with 24,221 active users, representing a 2.89% increase compared to the previous record of 23,541.
The number of new users overall showed significant growth from the last period. In particular, the number of profiles with bios rose to 869,686, marking an increase of about 36.79% compared to the previous record of 635,790. Furthermore, the number of new profiles with contact lists also increased to 206,952, a 28.90% rise from 160,552. Meanwhile, pubkeys writing events surged to 184,826 within this period, representing a 71.64% jump from the previous 107,681.
In terms of content publishing, approximately 7,904,437 total events were published during this period, representing an increase of about 28.89% compared to the 6,132,804 from the previous cycle. Among them, Reposts reached a total of 409,473 within this period, marking a 33.18% increase compared to the previous 307,447.
For zap activity, the total zap amount is about 9.9 million, showing a decrease of over 30.77% compared to the previous period.
Data source: https://npub.world/stats , https://stats.andotherstuff.org/
NIPs
NIP-11: add nip9b pointer for relay-enforced rules #2337
mstrofnone
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Summary: The PR proposes adding an optional top-level nip9b field to the NIP-11 Relay Information Document. This field will carry an addressable event coordinate (e.g., 34550:
: ) pointing to the NIP-9B (kind:34551) rules document that the relay enforces. -
Context/Renumbering: The related community-rules NIP was recently renumbered from 9A to 9B (in PR #2331) to avoid a collision. Consequently, this PR renames the pointer field from nip9a to nip9b.
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Rationale: While NIP-9B defines a signed, machine-readable rules document, it lacks a standard hook for clients to discover which kind:34551 applies to a given relay. This NIP-11 field solves that discovery issue by acting as the machine-readable companion to the terms_of_service and description fields.
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Reference implementation: There is a live deployment testing this via wss://relay.testls.bit/.
Editing chat messages #2336 fiatjaf
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Summary: The PR proposes a method for editing chat messages that is designed to be backwards-compatible so it can still be read by clients that don’t support the new feature.
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Mechanism: It suggests using a new message that acts as a “state update” (a text diff format) on the existing messages. The author argues that a diff approach keeps the “minimum implementation surface” small and allows clients without support for edits to display the update as a normal message (e.g., EDIT: [diff text]), rather than replacing the message out of context.
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Discussions: There is significant debate in the PR comments. Collaborators like vitorpamplona and pablof7z strongly disagree with using text diffs, citing that major chat apps (Matrix, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp) use full replacements because diffs are prone to parsing issues, Unicode tracking complications, and ordering dependencies. The conversation also touched upon restricting the time window for edits (e.g., a 5-minute window) and whether relays should block large edits or backdated messages.
NIP-BC: Onchain Zaps (kind 8333) #2332 alexgleason
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Summary: The PR proposes a new NIP introducing Kind 8333 for Bitcoin onchain zaps.
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Mechanism: It provides a standard to represent standard Bitcoin on-chain transactions as zap receipts on Nostr, operating alongside the existing Lightning network zap receipts (kind 9735).
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Implementation Detail: The event utilizes an amount tag containing a decimal integer that represents the transaction amount in satoshis (which clients/relays may convert to amount_msats for storage consistency with Lightning zaps when computing engagement statistics).
NIP-G6: OpenWyrd Capability-URL Inline Rendering #2329
DeltaClimbs
Background
- This is a successor to the withdrawn NIP-C6 (PR #2327), which was closed after two review objections. This new draft was specifically designed to address both of those objections before submission.
Source: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pulls
Notable Projects
- Tamagostrich is a decentralized virtual pet built on the Nostr protocol where your baby ostrich companion, Nori, evolves through your social activity such as zaps, reactions, mentions, and followers. Unlike traditional tamagotchi-style apps, your pet’s stats, levels, and achievements are stored directly on Nostr via NIP-78, allowing seamless syncing across devices and real-time interaction with the network.
Amber - v6.1.0-pre2 (Pre-release)
- Amber is an Android application used to securely sign Nostr events while keeping private keys isolated on the device, typically interacting with other apps via bunker/NIP-46 style remote signing flows. This Pre-release improves the connection and signing experience with better UI when pairing apps, crash fixes, improved bunker request handling, account display updates (name and npub), bulk permission selection, validation screens for invalid requests, rate limiting for intent-based signing requests, startup/boot behavior controls, service management improvements, and general stability and UX refinements across signing and authorization flows.
- Jumble is a user-friendly Nostr client designed for browsing, interacting with, and exploring relay-based feeds, supporting core social actions like posting, replying, liking, reposting, and notifications across the Nostr network. This release introduces a custom emoji picker with emoji pack tabs, improves video and Markdown rendering, enhances event lookup using relay hints, enables proper YouTube playback in Electron via local HTTP serving, improves notification reliability and state persistence, and includes several UI refinements such as updated icons, consistent button styling, and better navigation behavior. This was the latest, and there were also the releases of v26.5.3 & v26.5.2 last week.
- Nostria is a decentralized social platform built on the Nostr protocol, designed as a user-owned social network for communication, content sharing, and community interaction without centralized control or data exploitation. This release fixes layout issues in the fullscreen media player, improving playback experience and UI consistency, building on prior updates that addressed live streaming stability and other media-related functionality. This was the latest, and there were also 4 more releases last week. (v3.1.41, v3.1.40, v3.1.39, v3.1.38)
- White Noise is a privacy-focused decentralized chat app using Marmot, MLS, and Nostr for encrypted peer-to-peer messaging, with controls for blocking, muting, and media sharing. This release improves blocking behavior across the app, adds end-to-end video support, enhances offline handling, enables encrypted local storage, and includes security, performance, and UI improvements.
- Nymchat is a lightweight decentralized chat app on Nostr (bridged with Bitchat) for temporary, anonymous messaging. This release focuses on stability and UI fixes, improving reactions, avatars, media handling, haptics, and chat visibility behavior, while resolving multiple bugs in group chats, private messages, and dynamic interface elements. This release had the most hotfixes of the week, and there were also a lot more releases last week.
NosCall - v0.5.2 sana
- NosCall is a secure, cross-platform audio and video calling app built on Nostr with end-to-end encrypted communication. This release improves calling reliability and WebRTC behavior, strengthens signaling and event verification (NIP-AC support), unifies call handling, enhances group and favorites UI, improves connection lifecycle and authentication screens, and fixes multiple connectivity and device-handling issues.
- Divine is a dark-mode short-form video app built on Nostr for creating, watching, and interacting with loop-based video content, including comments, DMs, and social discovery features. This is the mobile app for it. This release restores and improves comments with reply notifications, enhances audio and video tools (searchable audio picker, reusable tracks, smoother looping playback), improves messaging reliability with offline DM queuing, refines navigation, feeds, and profile behavior, fixes multiple UI and notification issues, and strengthens privacy and security in the Nostr bridge across mobile platforms.
- Wisp is a lightweight Android client for browsing and interacting with Nostr social feeds, including posts, replies, zaps, and direct messages. The v1.0.3 release improves media handling and performance (thumbhash images, looping videos, smoother relay connection handling), enhances UI spacing and visibility, adds features like post undo timers and zap display improvements, optimizes background behavior such as encrypted DM persistence, and removes Tor support while refining overall stability and responsiveness. This was the biggest, and there were also the releases of v1.0.4 & v1.0.5 last week
- Nostrord is a Nostr client focused on NIP-29 group and community interactions across multiple platforms. The v1.0.2 release adds a new group sharing modal with support for nostr:naddr identifiers and direct links, making it easier to share and access Nostr groups and communities. This was the latest, and there were also the releases of v1.0.1 & v1.0.0 last week.
Clave - v0.2.0 build 71 - bunker pair-cap fix + AppState refactor
- Clave is an iOS remote signer that keeps Nostr private keys securely stored in the iPhone Keychain while allowing apps to sign events through encrypted push notifications without keeping the signer app open. This release fixes a bunker pairing limit bypass by enforcing stricter connection caps, improves same-device nostrconnect pairing guidance and UX, and prevents repeated QR-triggered approval prompts after cancelled scans. This was the latest, and there were also 3 more releases last week.
Long-Form Content Eco
In the past two weeks, approximately 107,727 kind 30023 events have been tracked (long-form articles), with over 52% being Bitcoin related articles and 48% related to Nostr and other topics across the Nostr Ecosystem.
The digital landscape is shifting rapidly, and the conversations happening right now are a great reflection of that change. We are seeing a brilliant mix of high-level philosophy and hard tech updates redefining how we think about money, communication, and security. Here is a brief overview of the topics keeping everyone busy.
Time Travel and Tech Evolution
- 21st vs. 80th Century: There is a highly visionary debate comparing our current 21st-century growing pains with the hypothetical ways of the 80th century. People are having fun dreaming up how ultra-advanced societies might view our early struggles with digital ownership, and they are trying to reverse-engineer those future solutions today.
Bitcoin: The Financial Anchor
- Financial Truth: Bitcoin is being discussed as much more than an asset. It is viewed as an absolute “financial truth.” In a world full of shifting policies, it serves as an immutable ledger that people can actually trust.
- Currency of the Future: The consensus remains strong that Bitcoin is the definitive currency of tomorrow. Conversations are heavily focused on integrations and making these transactions completely seamless alongside other tech updates.
The Power of Decentralization
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The Potency of Nostr: Nostr is proving to be way more than a simple social layer. Its true potency lies in its ability to support an entire ecosystem without masters, allowing developers to build everything from reputation networks to entirely new applications.
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Books Launched on Nostr: Publishing is getting a serious upgrade. Authors are now dropping their books directly on Nostr, bypassing traditional gatekeepers and connecting straight to their readers.
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Centralized vs. Decentralized Updates: The community is actively tracking the daily tug-of-war between old and new systems. By exposing the messy, restrictive “behind the scenes” realities of centralized messaging platforms, the argument for decentralized alternatives basically writes itself.
Security and Economics
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Autonomous Areas: A major talking point is the very real challenge of maintaining top-tier security in completely autonomous, decentralized areas.
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Uneconomical Effects: People are weighing the costs of running independent systems against the uneconomical effects of staying decentralized. Finding that sweet spot where digital freedom does not completely empty your wallet is a top priority.
We are essentially trying to build a hyper-secure spaceship while we are already in orbit, but hey, at least the decentralized Wi-Fi is finally starting to work!
Thank you,
and others, for your work. Enriching Nostr’s long-form content ecosystem is crucial.
Nostriches Global Meet Ups
Recently, two (2) Notable Nostr and Bitcoin events have been hosted.
- Digital Freedom with Nostr & Bitcoin - Took place on Sunday, May 03, 2026 at Jives Coffee Lounge, 16 Colbrunn Ct, Colorado Springs, CO, United States
- Nostr Nights #2 @ Bitcoin Park Nashville - Took place on Monday, May 11, 2026 at Bitcoin Park, 1910, 21st Avenue South, Nashville, Davidson County, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, 37212, United States
Here are the upcoming Nostr and Bitcoin events that you might want to check out.
- Murcia Meetup 2140 - Takes place Thursday, May 21, 2026 at Montessori British School Murcia, C. Ermita Vieja, 26B, 30006 Murcia, Spain
- Digital Freedom with Nostr & Bitcoin - Takes place Sunday, June 07, 2026 at Jives Coffee Lounge, 16 Colbrunn Ct, Colorado Springs, CO, United States
Thanks for reading! If there’s anything I missed, feel free to reach out and help improve the completeness and accuracy of my coverage.
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