Nostr Biweekly Review ( 1-14 August 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 increased to 330,101. New user growth rose, as profiles with bios also increased by about 847.53%. Events totaled 11.8 million and zap volume increased to 12.1 million sats.
Additionally, 7 pull requests were submitted to the Nostr protocol. A total of 114 Nostr projects were tracked, with 12 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 330,101, reflecting an increase of 31.15% compared to the previous period’s 251,701. The highest daily activity was recorded on August 14th, 2026, with 35,777 active users, representing a 7.25% increase compared to the previous record of 33,357.
The number of new users overall experienced significant upward acceleration. In particular, the number of profiles with bios rose to 1,376,540, marking a massive increase of about 847.53% compared to the previous record of 145,276. Furthermore, the number of new profiles with contact lists also increased to 194,880, a 248.30% jump from 55,952. Meanwhile, pubkeys writing events fell to 171,402 within this period, representing a 1.29% drop from the previous 173,638.
In terms of content publishing, network volume increased slightly as approximately 11,805,226 total events were published during this period, representing an increase of about 1.23% compared to the 11,662,285 from the previous cycle. Among them, Reposts reached a total of 481,413 within this period, marking a 91.26% expansion compared to the previous 251,701.
For zap activity, the total zap amount is about 12.1 million, showing an increase of over 16.35% compared to the previous period.
Data source: https://npub.world/stats , https://stats.andotherstuff.org/
NIPs
NIP-94: file encryption
alexgleason
@Alex Gleason
This PR adds file encryption capabilities to NIP-94, enabling encrypted file uploads to public Blossom servers while keeping their contents private from server operators.
Core Concept:
The proposal copies NIP-17 encryption properties into NIP-94 so encryption can be used in imeta (image metadata) tags. This allows files to be encrypted before upload, with the server storing only ciphertext without knowing what the files contain.
Privacy & Security Benefit:
The encryption requires two pieces of information to view a file:
- The encrypted blob itself (stored on the server)
- The decryption key/nonce (embedded in the event)
This means files aren’t viewable by direct URL alone, making it harder for third parties (like DMCA takedown issuers) to access files without additional information. It provides plausible deniability for server operators who can claim they don’t know what content they’re hosting.
forum threads as djot
fiatjaf
@fiatjaf
This PR proposes that forum thread content (kind 11) should use Djot markup format instead of Markdown, with the goal of preventing Markdown “degeneracy” in the Nostr ecosystem.
Rationale:
fiatjaf argues that if the format remains unspecified, people will inevitably implement Markdown and “we’ll be dead” (stuck with Markdown’s proliferation). Djot is presented as a superior alternative that’s simpler and more robust than Markdown.
Existing Support:
The PR author notes this format is already supported in dtonon’s squalk implementation.
NIP-F6: Sticker Packs
vincenzopalazzo
@Vincenzo Palazzo
A comprehensive NIP specification for sticker packs, defining two event kinds for publishing, sharing, and installing named collections of image stickers.
Event Kinds:
- kind 30031 (addressable) — Sticker pack definition
- kind 10031 (replaceable) — User’s installed pack list (optional, for public signaling)
Core Design:
- Stickers are content-addressed by metadata: shortcode + SHA-256 hash + MIME type
- Image bytes stored on NIP-B7 (Blossom) servers, never in events
- Format marker sonar-sticker-pack-v1 declares the tag layout
- Follows NIP-30 (custom emoji) and NIP-51 (list patterns) structures
- Storage-agnostic (any HTTPS/Blossom host)
NIP-XX: Post-Quantum Identity Keys
ConorClancy89
This PR proposes a mechanism for Nostr identities to commit to post-quantum public keys derived deterministically from an existing NIP-06 mnemonic.
Problem Statement:
Responds to issue #1971, which identified two unsolved problems:
- How to generate post-quantum private keys
- How to bind them to an existing identity
Key Innovation:
The proposal avoids a circular dependency problem in prior approaches. Previous proposals derived post-quantum keys from the nsec (secp256k1 private key), which is vulnerable — an adversary who recovers the nsec can run the same KDF to obtain the post-quantum key.
Instead, this approach derives both secp256k1 and post-quantum keys as siblings from the BIP-39 seed, never deriving one from the other. Both derivations are one-way, so:
- Recovering secp256k1 private key → reveals nothing about the seed → reveals nothing about post-quantum keys
- Mutually protective key derivation
Scope:
Deliberately narrow, defining only:
- Identity layer (key derivation)
- kind:10203 attestation event
- Message envelope using those keys
What It Does NOT Do:
- Does not define post-quantum signature formats
- Does not change event validation
- Does not require relay changes
- Does not protect clients that don’t opt in
- Explicitly states limitations: an adversary with a quantum computer can still forge events and publish replacement attestations. Past messages remain permanently confidential (the only harm that cannot be mitigated retroactively).
Test Vectors:
Derived from NIP-06’s published mnemonic and verified against NIP-06’s published secp256k1 key for consistency.
Reference Implementation:
Available at nostr-wot/nostr-wot-extension#13
Source: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pulls
Notable Projects
Divine Mobile - 1.0.19 (Pre-release)
@rabble
mbradley, Alex Frei, Meylis
- Divine Mobile is a decentralized short-form mobile video app built on Nostr, bringing back Vine-style 6-second looping videos with a focus on human-made content. This pre-release adds on-device captions, crossposting, improved video editing and immersive viewing, stronger Nostr relay and NIP-17 handling, multi-account improvements, faster publishing, expanded language support, and numerous fixes across the app.
Stash Bookmark - New Tool
@laoc42
- Stash Bookmark is a lightweight Nostr app for Android that lets users bookmark and highlight content they find on Nostr, making it easy to save and revisit important posts.
Earthly - v0.1.0
Schlaus Kwab
- Earthly is a collaborative map editor built on Nostr that lets people turn local knowledge into shared, useful maps. In v0.1.0, the release adds map callouts, making it possible to highlight or annotate specific locations and information on shared maps.
- Amber is a Nostr event signer for Android that securely handles signing requests from Nostr applications. In v6.4.0, the release redesigns the multi-request approval screen with clearer Approve/Deny controls for individual requests and groups, adds support for 113 additional event kinds with localized labels, and improves handling of denied bunker requests. It also adds light/dark previews for approval screens, improves relay subscription stability, and updates translations across supported languages.
- Jumble is a user-friendly Nostr client for exploring relay feeds. This release adds image saving, PoW difficulty badges with an option to remember preferred difficulty, and link previews for external content. It also improves profile bio handling and default relay settings, while fixing media autoplay conflicts, unsupported reaction notifications, and unnecessary relay disconnection messages.
WaveFunc Radio - v0.1.10
Schlaus Kwab
- WaveFunc Radio is a Nostr-based internet radio directory and player with full-text search capabilities. In v0.1.10, the release focuses on improving the mobile listening experience with a polished mobile player and refinements to the radio signal charts. Although this was the latest, there were a few more releases last week (v0.1.9, v0.1.7, v0.1.6, v0.1.5 & v0.1.4).
- Nostur is a Nostr client for iOS. This release improves name and tag autocomplete, private replies, and direct-message media handling with per-conversation cache controls. It also enhances live chat by showing replied-to messages and stream or room titles in notifications. The update fixes crashes, feed loading, video picture-in-picture behavior, GIF search, content expansion, and nested reply layouts, along with updated translations.
- Nostrord is a Nostr client focused on NIP-29 group communication. This release adds private groups through NIP-51 kind:10009 lists, introduces browserless Google sign-in on Android, and updates NIP-46 handling by removing the nip44_decrypt_batch extension. This was the latest, and there were also the releases of v2.7.0, v2.6.0 & v2.5.1 last week.
- NoorNote is a Nostr client for the decentralized social protocol, focused on reading and publishing content. This release improves the article feed by using a friend-of-a-friend network, prevents repeated backlog messages from generating excessive notifications, and fixes Android log exporting from Settings.
Mostro Core - v0.14.2
@negrunch
- Mostro Core is a Rust-based library that provides peer-to-peer functionality for decentralized applications and serves as the foundation for building the Mostro daemon. In v0.14.2, the release updates the chat protocol by replacing gift-wrapped messages with kind 14 envelopes using K_conv/K_sign, along with the corresponding chat implementation and changelog updates.
- ZSP is a fast CLI tool for publishing Android apps to Nostr relays, used by Zapstore. In v0.4.17, the release improves package publishing by cleaning up downloads on exit, preferring forge releases, excluding unsigned APKs, and handling unparseable remote configurations more gracefully.
Buzz Desktop - v0.5.8
Wes, Tyler, Paweł Karniej, Taylor Ho
- Buzz is a workspace where humans and AI agents build together on a relay you own. This release unifies the agent-adding workflow and improves agent task handoffs by separating the summarizer’s reasoning budget while also adding a development infrastructure change to bind services to loopback. While this was the latest, there were also the releases of v0.5.7, v0.5.6, v0.5.5 & v0.5.4 last week.
Long-Form Content Eco
In the past two weeks, approximately 39,322 kind 30023 events have been tracked (long-form articles), with over 40% being Bitcoin related articles and 60% related to Nostr and other topics across the Nostr Ecosystem.
The digital landscape is moving incredibly fast, and the conversations happening across the network perfectly capture the push for a decentralized future. We are seeing a brilliant mix of deep technical security debates, macroeconomics, and even some real world treasure hunting. Here is a quick overview of what has everyone talking.
Reclaiming the Web and Digital Sovereignty
A massive theme right now is the realization that the traditional free internet is struggling, but Nostr stands as living proof that open protocols can save it. Users are actively discussing how to replace Google Workspace with open source alternatives, pushing for self-hosted and privacy first tools to take back control of their data.
There is also a very spicy debate around privacy happening. A trending topic points out that early Nostr encrypted DMs are essentially plaintext waiting to be read if the metadata and client vulnerabilities are not handled properly. It is pushing developers to rapidly adopt better encryption standards like NIP-17 to keep conversations truly private.
Bitcoin and True Financial Freedom
When it comes to money, the community is not pulling any punches. Bitcoin continues to be heavily discussed as the definitive currency of the future. People are sharing the latest financial freedom reports and contrasting the devaluation of traditional fiat with the concept of “Worthless Money, Timeless Art.”
Security is front and center. Conversations around why self custody matters are paired with stark warnings about the “enshitcoinification” of the industry and how bad actors try to steal Bitcoin. The message is clear: hold your own keys and trust the math.
Human Rights and Offline Adventures
The ecosystem is also tackling the heavy impact of AI on human rights, questioning how new technologies will affect global privacy and freedom. It is not all serious technical and philosophical debate though. The timelines are currently sprinkled with fun highlights from International Geocaching Day, proving that the community loves a good decentralized treasure hunt in the physical world just as much as in the digital one.
Trying to build an entirely new censorship resistant financial and social internet is exhausting work. Honestly, finding a hidden plastic box in the woods sounds like the perfect break from figuring out if your private messages are actually private.
Thank you,
@HRF
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.
- Nostr London Meetup (2140) — July 2026 - Took place Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at (TBA)
- Digital Freedom with Nostr & Bitcoin - Took place Sunday, August 02, 2026 at Jives Coffee Lounge, 16 Colbrunn Ct, Colorado Springs, CO, United States
Here are the upcoming Nostr and Bitcoin events that you might want to check out.
- Digital Freedom with Nostr & Bitcoin - Takes place Sunday, September 06, 2026 at Jives Coffee Lounge, 16 Colbrunn Ct, Colorado Springs, CO, United States
- Munich Nostr Meetup (newbies & nerds welcome) - Takes place Thursday, September 17, 2026 at Munich.
Organisers: Munich Nostr Meetup
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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