While the technology behind nostr has been around for multiple decades, with the concept of private and public keys being so eloquently described by Hal Finney in 1993, as the sending of encrypted information, it was not until February 2023 that a more user friendly touch point appeared in the Appstore (Damus). Having begun to journey into bitcoin through the gateway drug of bitcoin Twitter, at the time this felt like an interesting addition, that I could maybe cross post and see if it was worth learning more about. Initially, there were a few people I’d heard of there, then a few new ones and then a few people moving over completely and effectively burning their old handles and significant follower counts (respect @ODELL, @jeffbooth, @HODL and @erikCason). For a little while, I was also intrigued by the ability to link a lightning wallet to the account and if by any chance what I posted was not complete garbage, someone might send me a few sats, and I might also return the “value forward” practice.

Even though I continued to live my dual, centralised and decentralised social media lives (both carefully wrapped in a dog profile picture), the nature of my “X” posts were always more politicly correct, just in case, while the nostr posts, given hardly anyone was following me were allowed a little more latitude. However, in 2024 there were some events that ended this platform agnostic approach, “to keep hold of my 2k followers”, was when my relationship with X changed, as any (personally) identifying information associated with my account could be harvested and linked to my IRL identify. Foolishly, along the way, I used to post material to my students through some work platforms (even if I doubt any of them actually looked that the posts). During the summer of 2024, just as the new Labour government took hold of the reins of power, when some horrific events took place in the UK (always use an emergency), they put it upon themselves to determine what free speech consisted of. They then began to apply the law as a means of preventing the sharing of information they deemed “dangerous”, although exploring this, it was quickly possible to see how maintaining narratives and backroom deals were their primary purpose. (Apologies for the lack of evidence here, although @petermccormack’s podcasts have been quite illuminating in this regards). Basically, it felt like the government were willing to enforce their interpretation of laws so that their interesting cross section of newly elected MPs would at least have a chance of getting re-elected in 2029 (because they were so reliant on their wages much bigger than they’d be able to secure in the private market). If only this hadn’t completely backfired, combined with the economic cliff the UK is charging towards, they might have been able to plug leaks in the ever more cracked dam of negative public opinion.

So, here I was, watching in horror, as the cradle of free speech and civilised public discourse, gradually descended into a police state of officers appearing at people’s doors in the middle of the night due to words that incited little and were even difficult to describe as “hurty”. While staying away from exploring the details of more sensitive topics, even in the UK there appears to be legal precedence from Scottow -v- CPS judgment that while harassment is a crime, speech that “offends, shocks and disturbs” is protected by article 10 of the Public Protection of Harassment Act 1997.

“Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having”

Although the balance between this and harassment clearly creates tension, it states harassment must “reach a level of seriousness passing beyond irritations, annoyances, even a measure of upset”. But saying that, I’m neither a lawyer, nor someone who wants to spend my hard earned sats on defending myself, and that what I said was only meant to annoy and I did not intend to harass anyone. To be honest, at the time, the government’s actions had the desired effect on me, in September 2024, I deleted by X account, even if I had no intention to act irresponsibly. But saying that, I was sufficiently annoying to have been blocked by CSW, and given his proclivity for spending Calvin Ayres’ legal funds, I may have already pushed my luck far enough.

The Nostr Eco-System

Nostr is very different to the centralised social media platforms, by its very nature it is a protocol, with signed messages being Transmitted by Relays; there is no company promoting engagement, no central organization benefiting from increases in user activity or ad revenue. There is no one behind the scenes pulling strings, learning about what you like or don’t like, in order to feed you material that will get to you to interact more, respond with more vitriol, or even from a positive perspective, boost more sats to a post they think you might like. In the same way that bitcoin doesn’t care if you want to store the value of your time in it, NOSTR doesn’t care if after a little exploration into the world of decentralised social media, you get bored and go back to being enraged by the latest news coming out of today’s government approved talking head of choice. On the one side this means that it is not about preparing a post that will be picked up by the algorithm to go viral, it also means there is no one behind the scenes vetting what you share to determine whether or you’ll be allowed to pass go or instead, go straight to jail.

This lack of algorithm and rage on Nostr does mean engagement may be less, but also the dopamine hits and potential addiction is equally reduced. If you post a lot, people will begin to expect your posts, if you think about what you’re going to post before posting it, maybe people will learn something and benefit, they can then either follow you, boost your post, or both. While it may not be possible to “catch a wave” or use to “thumbnail wizardry” of Luke Mikic to explode your following and “youtube revenue”, it makes a more organic process of growing your audience (or Nostr crew). As a result, while the progress of growth is slower, it will liekly be more organic and long lived, as long as the good content continues.

Reflecting on bitcoin adoption, that at times appears to be “tracking internet adoption from the late nineties”, the rate of adoption is often associated with price spikes, where the associated Fear of Missing Out gets new users scrambling, these number spikes may also be short lived adoption. The new users buy in with promises of instant riches, but are instead greeted by price dumps. The similarities between Nostr and bitcoin are striking, where those bitcoiners more willing to play the long game, put in the effort to learn about what they were getting into would be willing to stick with the new system, even after the initial zap/price induced sugar high, appreciating the opportunity the lays before them.

But Bitcoin Pumps and Nostr Zaps are a lot of Fun……

I’m not going to fade either the bitcoin price highs that feel oh so close, or the smugness that comes along with a repost or fat zap from a nostrich I respect, but as with eating an icing covered donut, even if that sugar hit feels good, it is only short lived. To return to the start of this short musing, it is not about the monetary, net wealth all time high, or the euphoria (I assume, as it never happened to me) of having a post shared by Elon. It is actually more important for at least two reasons that fortunately and neatly map onto both bitcoin and nostr. The first is that if neither is about quick dopamine hits, we can move away from trying to get that next high, not being tempted by the next get rich quick scheme (engagement bating) and definitely no shitcoins or yield products (we should have learnt by now). If we’re not being tempted by high time preference behaviours, we won’t feel to need to sucker our followers into engaging with us, just so we can use them to harvest their reach, sats or discount codes. Without this drive or even addiction, we can instead work on ourselves, staying humble, stacking sats, posting notes and thinking carefully before doing so. While everyone can be part of nostr in their own way, I hope my own approach to sharing my thoughts, not always articulate or typo free, will help the reader gain greater lucidity on their own views of the world (or appreciate “steaks I’ve eaten” respect to Dave Bradley). For bitcoin, allow this to help you focus on what is important in your life, not spending all your gainz on the latest fad (or lambo), but helping you focus on what really means something to you.

So, this is the personal growth angle of both bitcoin and Nostr, use these protocols to help you be a better person, focus on the long game, share notes that will make the world a better place. But what is the value of this, if we’ve been locked away, either “at his Majesty’s pleasure” or unable to access the value of the money we have been saving, what freedom to we have? The second element of bitcoin and nostr is their ability to operate outside of the centralise system, operated by the users, either running miners and nodes, or hosting a relay (respectively). With bitcoin and nostr, there is no single organisation or person to attack, and no database that matches your posts with your home address that was necessary to get your little blue tick for the additional algorithm juiced reach (also see dopamine). The separation of both bitcoin and nostr from an established legacy systems is critical, that allow the individual to take control of their ability to communicate and their ability to exchange value, with no single entity giving permission for this to take place. While neither is anonymous, with care and attention, both can be pseudonymous, but more importantly, if used appropriately, neither can be stopped.

Take a Moment, Take a Deep Breath

Looking back, while the summer 2024 seemed like a wild and crazy time in the UK, free speech has definitely not returned, and with the presentation of a fully formed, non-election manifesto item of digital IDs, the worst it not behind us. While the threat of having our bank accounts shut for suspicious activities (sending you money to a bitcoin exchange) was a tail risk, digital IDs make the risk of your money being the next human right the government chooses to restrict, more likely and a lot easier. With the continued suppression of sensitive topics, the demand for censorship resistant mechanisms is likely to be increasing. Nostr provides a solution to that demand, so when people realise they are either the product of a centralise platform or the target for a government wanting to make an example of a dissenting voice, it is a few simple clicks away. When the government begin to further  encroach on our finances, such as taking owed taxes directly from individuals’ bank accounts, the value of unconfiscatable money will also become clearer, even to the most ardent critics of the bitcoin bubble. At this point, having been on Nostr for a little while, hopefully the new batch of users will have begun to appreciate some nuances of a bright orange coin and maybe they’ll have posted something that warranted a healthy zap to get them started.

In a way, I hope that that the continued and escalating actions of the British government regresses and don’t require its citizens to both run towards a means of freeing their speech and securing the value of their time, but I have no faith in this government to make the right choice. It has gone past the point where they can return to where they started and be forgiven for their misdeeds (I don’t think they ever meant well). It almost feels like they are having to double down on the bad decisions they have already made, in the hope there will be some miracle to turn it around and somehow save them from losing their seat (or worse). I don’t live in a land of make believe or miracles, as a result, I will be staying on nostr, attempting to add value where I can and will be exercising my ability to self-custody my bitcoin that I have allodial title over (cheers Princey for helping me sound smart). This approach may not be watertight or without risk, but compared to sharing my algorithm induced rage on my KYC’d Twitter account or hold my money in a government approved, inflation based thievery enabled, fiat banking institution, I’m going to stick with my choices.

While I’m hoping there won’t be a stampede, I’m here to help those realise the need for action, both in relation to taking control of the freedom to Transmit their ideas and value by  Relays/nodes. The rumbling across the country feels like foreshocks before something else major happens, I can’t predict when, but given the chancellor will be giving her next budget at the end of November, this may be something to keep an eye on, and also get your Notes, Other Stuff  and finances in order.