Whereas Nostr was based in 2020/2021, it solely actually gained preliminary traction as soon as Will Caserin launched Damus and Jack Dorsey tweeted about it. A number of months later, the primary Nostr world convention was held in Costa Rica (Nostrica), and issues actually began to maneuver. Over the following 18 months, many — myself included — had been satisfied Nostr was going to take off.
Sadly, fast-forward to late 2025, and progress appears to have stalled. The info means that exercise on Nostr has not solely flatlined however could have even declined, regardless of important enhancements within the high quality of apps and shoppers constructed on the protocol.
I say that is an remark of the info, not a criticism, as a result of I would like this protocol to succeed and I’m taken with what’s occurred.
So… Why Has Nostr Not Lived Up To Its Potential?
I consider there are two foremost causes:
- Competing for content material is tough: Content material creators need to go the place the viewers is and content material customers need to go the place the very best creators are. It is a very onerous cycle to interrupt, particularly when TikTok, Instagram and X are so good at what they do. I’ve seen firsthand how a lot of a chore it’s for folks to put up on “one more platform,” even when it’s simply copy-pasting the identical content material. It’s too excessive friction for too little reward (therefore the huge drop-off in retention we see on the Nostr stats).
- The censorship resistance boat has sailed. The wanting it’s that not sufficient folks care. Those that do are on X, Substack and Rumble, not as a result of these platforms are extra censorship resistant, however as a result of they’ve higher advertising and marketing departments and might win the narrative struggle. Even Instagram has modified: It’s stuffed with memes and reality bombs that may have gotten you perma-banned solely 6 months in the past. The reality is that individuals’s reminiscences are quick and most of them simply don’t have the technical prowess to know why Nostr is superior on this division.
The situations for these elements may change.
If, for no matter purpose, the incumbent merchandise degrade and their creator bases collapse, whereas Nostr apps concurrently change into 10 instances higher than the incumbents, then it would result in a mass migration of creators. Nevertheless, I discover this extremely unbelievable. The groups at X, Meta and ByteDance are too rattling good, their merchandise are too rattling participating, their prime creators get method too many advantages, and their audiences are method too addicted for this to realistically occur.
How concerning the censorship resistance angle? Certain, the panorama may shift once more sooner or later. There might be one other wave of widespread web censorship, and people on Substack, Rumble and X may be taught the onerous method. However when may that happen? Two, 5, ten years from now, when the political local weather swings again? The place will Nostr companies and due to this fact Nostr be then — particularly if funding for the very best merchandise dries up on account of stalled progress? There was a golden window of alternative for this narrative, however in my view, it’s now closed.
As such, I consider there should be a greater, extra sly, roundabout method to do that*.
*At the least for us as a enterprise — as a result of whereas Nostr is a protocol and might survive lengthy sufficient for an excellent product to come back alongside and revive it 10 years from now; we’re a enterprise and we function on a special timeline. We should discover product-market-fit in a a lot shorter timeframe, or we’re toast.
The Chilly Begin Drawback
Andrew Chen is one among my favourite thinkers on community results. He was beforehand the top of Rider Development at Uber and authored “The Chilly Begin Drawback” — probably the greatest books on the subject of community results and market merchandise and platforms.
I’ve learn this e-book twice, and each instances it bolstered how difficult this drawback is to unravel and the way highly effective the outcomes may be if you do.
In it, Chen discusses 4 foremost methods for fixing the chilly begin drawback and attaining preliminary vital mass:
- Invite-only / Waitlists (e.g., Raya, LinkedIn and Fb within the early days)
- Come for the instrument, keep for the community (DropBox, Yelp, IG)
- Shopping for the onerous aspect (Uber, Coca-Cola)
- Flintstoning / Simulating Customers (DoorDash, Reddit)
I consider Nostr, as a community, by accident employed the invite-only technique by capturing the Bitcoin neighborhood, creating a powerful, concentrated early community (what Chen calls an atomic community). It was area of interest sufficient that it solely attracted particular varieties of individuals (while not having an specific invite-only strategy) and there have been sufficient of us there to make the connections and expertise significant. My guess is that that is additionally why it stays energetic right now.
However, as I stated, as a result of the timing of the merchandise, the tradition and the protocol’s maturity had been barely misaligned, progress has stalled out and for now it’s caught on the identical degree it was 12 months in the past — a bit just like the valence degree for electrons round a nucleus.
To increase the analogy, we now want to spice up this “valence” to unlock a brand new quantum power state, and I consider this requires a new strategy excessive of the present content-focused strategy (one should construct atop the opposite).
Come for the Instrument, Keep for the Community
We’re in a brand new period of tech, which is driving a renaissance in shopper purposes and instruments.
That is largely because of the AI revolution, however Nostr and Bitcoin can play a big position if utilized accurately as instruments within the stack.
Chen, in his e-book, highlights a few key community purposes that had been initially instruments and later grew to become networks, together with Instagram, DropBox and Yelp. The story of Instagram is especially attention-grabbing to me as a result of it was an inspiration for us at Satlantis. It displaced Hipstamatic, a $3.99/month photograph filter app that allowed customers to use filters to, and save photographs to their telephones, which they might later put up to Fb.
Instagram not solely supplied comparable performance totally free but additionally enabled customers to share these edited photographs natively on their very own Instagram profiles whereas additionally making it simple to put up to different social media platforms (Twitter and Fb on the time), from the app.
It went viral as a instrument (photographs with cool filters shared off-platform) and remained sticky as a result of folks started constructing profiles and establishing networks on-platform.
I consider the substances for the following Nostr unlock may lie on this technique (not less than for us and our product).
We’ve been constructing Satlantis as a form of travel-centric social community à la Nostr: based mostly on TripAdvisor, crossed with meetup.com and with an Instagram really feel.
Since releasing the beta at BTCPrague in June, we’ve acquired invaluable person suggestions, analyzed utilization patterns and deeply thought of the true worth of our product.
I have to admit, it hasn’t been a simple course of, because it revealed a number of uncomfortable truths.
First, we got down to construct an excessive amount of, too early. This not solely created an immense workload for ourselves (growing a number of apps with distinct performance throughout each internet and desktop) but additionally made it extremely tough to articulate our product in easy phrases.
Second, I consider we made an error by prioritizing social options first, and particularly, content material creation. I noticed this late final yr, however I used to be nonetheless considerably captivated by the attract of constructing a social app — as a result of, hey, Nostr is a social protocol, proper?
However right here’s the reality, and the massive breakthrough for us: Folks don’t really want one other social app, no matter whether or not it’s constructed on Nostr. Posting content material is a chore, and having one more place to do it provides extra friction, not much less. When you need to push all however essentially the most devoted customers to have interaction (versus them being pulled towards it), it’s not true product-market match.
Nevertheless, it’s not all dangerous information! In spite of everything, Nostr is not only about “notes,” is it? We additionally found that there was actual worth in two very distinct instruments amid the cacophony of options we’d constructed. Instruments that aren’t solely extra slender, clear and specific, however which can be additionally enhanced by their relationship to a social community.
Let’s discover what these are and what I imply.
Feeds are highly effective, however they’re additionally very onerous.
That is an space the place we’ve struggled to distinguish ourselves. I didn’t need to construct one other Nostr clone with the identical feed, crammed with the identical content material from the identical folks you already comply with.
So… as an alternative of replicating present fashions, we experimented. We began with media-only posts first, however discovered that missing so added again textual content, video and pictures. We then integrated a really light-touch algorithm that weights content material not solely by who you comply with but additionally by the pursuits you choose throughout onboarding. This supplies a mix of “for you” content material alongside content material from these you comply with, providing each discoverability and connection.
We additionally made our feed extra multifaceted — a bit like Fb. You’ll be able to share extra than simply textual content, photos and video on Satlantis, together with locations and retailers, occasions and exquisite collections in a carousel kind (extra on this beneath).
We even determined to keep away from zaps as a result of they aren’t a differentiator amongst Nostr apps, and we needed to create an expertise that may additionally attraction to non-Bitcoiners, hoping to open the doorways to a brand new market. The purpose was to make zaps the icing on the cake, not the draw card itself.
The outcome? Properly, it’s nonetheless early days, and whereas some customers respect the extra dynamic nature of our feed and the power to share various content material, if I’m being sincere, it hasn’t “popped.”
Our feeds are neither compelling nor differentiated sufficient. The incumbents are just too good at what they do: Individuals are typically pleased to affix and take a look at Satlantis, however they wind up again on IG, X and TikTok as a result of that’s the place all of the motion is. Then again, if we’re all being sincere, Nostr already has a transparent winner within the feed division with Primal, and two robust runners-up in Damus and Amethyst. So despite the fact that the Satlantis feed feels a bit completely different, it’s nonetheless simply too shut to each different Nostr-client feed — so why ought to anybody swap? Working example:
As such, the feed recreation, not less than for us, is at present not value enjoying. On one hand, it’s an uphill battle towards incumbents, and on the opposite, there isn’t sufficient differentiation. Primal, Damus and Amethyst are all doing this nicely and I want all of them the success of their endeavours. I hope they will slowly chip away on the legacy social networks.
So at Satlantis, the query stays: if we’re not going to do a feed, may we nonetheless use the social graph for one thing completely different and extra distinctive? After a very long time spent experimenting and iterating, it appears the reply isn’t solely “sure” however that it was there all alongside, buried underneath the entire feed, social networking and content material noise.
Enter… the Social Discovery Expertise
As an alternative of simply giving folks extra content material, what if we used the social relationships amongst them to assist floor data like “which of my associates went to or really useful Restaurant X” or “which ones bookmarked place Y” or “which ones are going to occasion Z?”
Ackshually, since an image says greater than 1,000 phrases, as an alternative of me explaining it, let me present you:
As you possibly can see, as an alternative of one other feed, this discovery strategy blends the “social graph intelligence” (I can’t consider a greater time period right here) into the precise instrument, making it extra helpful.
The result’s an expertise that’s much less like Instagram or X, and, curiously sufficient, extra like Spotify. The uncover tab, which can change into our default expertise, will assist you to immediately see who out of your connections goes to which occasion, really useful a spot, created a group, bookmarked a venue, and many others. What’s cool about that is that we will nonetheless have a feed, however as an alternative of a content material feed, we will make an “exercise feed.” Keep in mind when Fb was cool, and within the early days your wall had updates alongside content material from your folks? Issues like “Aleks simply checked in at ‘x’ place” or made ‘y’ motion.” That is in keeping with the transfer away from social media and again to social networks as I’ve written about beforehand.
By shifting the social component into the background we make the core options of the appliance (the map and occasions) the main target, however over time, extra invaluable and sticky as extra folks be a part of.
One other technique to say it: The instruments are helpful standalone, however made much more helpful due to the social data embedded into every of them.
And that proper there may be the unlock: The social graph is the GLUE, not the first materials.
Extra Than Simply Extra Content material
One in all our guiding ideas is to get folks off their telephones and again into the true world. This new shift in product technique helps us try this as a result of, as an alternative of specializing in extra content material and thus incentivizing folks to spend extra time on their units, we will drive the performance towards precise utility for curators, tastemakers and expertise or occasion hosts.
There are a number of items to this puzzle and it’ll develop, however to start with, we’re going to deal with two main areas since they’re the strongest options in our app:
1. Locations and Collections
A Place is something that may be pinned on a map. In time, our map will assist each form of place — be it a café or restaurant, a lodge, a lookout, a mountaineering path or a monument — however at present, it helps the next six classes:
- Cafes and eating places
- Well being and wellness
- Co-working and occasion areas
- Points of interest (pure or man-made, like museums)
- Native markets and specialty meals
- Nightlife
You’ll be able to already uncover 20,000+ locations in any of those classes, in over 300 cities world wide, every with wealthy profiles, evaluate summaries, imagery and, most significantly, wealthy interest-tagging (when you’re a Bitcoiner for instance, you possibly can simply discover locations that settle for bitcoin, or when you’re a seed oil disrespector, you’ll find locations which can be seed oil free, and many others).
You can too type and filter by class, by vibe, by weight loss plan and delicacies and a lot extra. (FWIW, we even have the biggest and most correct record of bitcoin-accepting and seed oil-free locations worldwide).
You can too add locations to the map. That is a part of why now we have such a lot of listings. You click on the little floating button (storefront with a + image) and simply sort the identify of the place you need to add. We’re plugged into the Google API, so so long as it’s on there, it should come up and all you need to do is say why you prefer it. Our AI pipelines will then go scour the net and create a wealthy profile for it, full with evaluate summaries and pictures inside 24 hours.
Then… my favourite characteristic of all is Collections.
Collections are high-powered bookmark folders which you could create, share and save. Consider them as curated lists — much like playlists on Spotify or temper boards on Pinterest — that you need to use privately (like an itinerary of locations you need to see) or publicly as a tastemaker or curator (i.e., prime 10 co-working cafés in Bali, prime 10 hikes in Boulder, and many others).
Collections are designed to be social, so, like playlists on Spotify, they are often saved and shared, with the very best ones trending on our discovery tabs. I may say a lot extra, however I already coated it on this article right here, so examine that out.
Lastly, and really quickly, additionally, you will have the ability to suggest locations. It is a bit completely different to Google evaluations as a result of we’re not doing star scores however thumbs up or down and tagging.
That is very highly effective on Satlantis as a result of we will floor the social data (i.e., six of your folks really useful this place) to offer you instantaneous insights. We will additionally make the invention expertise really feel extra magical by surfacing the types of Locations and Collections which can be most really useful by folks in your social community with whom you share tastes and preferences.
This really emulates actual life and is, in my view, a recreation changer for a way we are going to all expertise maps and the world. See what I’ve circled within the photos beneath.
Occasions and Calendars
Occasions is self-explanatory, so as an alternative of explaining it intimately, I’ll simply say that what we’re cooking goes to be as easy and polished as Lu.ma with the entire highly effective options that it has, however can even provide you with:
- Ticketing in each bitcoin and fiat (with Bitcoin being native, in-app, and very frictionless). This unlocks really world ticketing in a method that’s by no means been executed earlier than.
- The power to affiliate a spot or a group to an occasion (assume: advised locations from the occasion organiser and even, 10% off these 10 locations throughout our convention/retreat when you use a particular code)
- Occasion discovery by way of our social market, which signifies that it’s not simply “what’s occurring close to me” however “what’s occurring close to me that my associates and neighborhood care about.” That is the place the magic of social discovery lies.
- Calendars are collections of occasions. Think about you’re a big convention and also you need to have official satellite tv for pc occasions operating. You’ll be able to create a calendar with a novel URL (e.g., satlantis.io/wob-2025) and have everybody who desires to host a aspect occasion create it by way of there. On this method, all official aspect occasions are tied to the principle occasion. That is highly effective for a lot of causes — together with high quality management, ease of discovery, profile progress for the organizer and related Nostr community progress (each new attendee turns into a Nostr person and follower).
Sooner or later, we are going to tie off the product expertise with Golf equipment and Communities and full the three pillars of Satlantis: Folks, Locations and Occasions.
However since there is sufficient to do with simply Locations and Occasions, and Folks is considerably taken care of by the social component inherent within the app (you possibly can comply with folks, interact, chat [soon] and many others), we are going to fear about it later.
In Closing
Nostr has the potential to change into the social layer of the web and beat the incumbents at their very own recreation, however that may take time.
It’s going to additionally require the “lead bullets” strategy, which means that nobody strategy shall be sufficient. Some apps will take the social angle, like Primal, Damus, and many others whereas others, like Satlantis, will take the utility-first strategy.
The great thing about Nostr is that every of those merchandise has a typical social layer and profile ID (nPub) so customers can accrue advantages throughout the entire protocol.
For Satlantis, this new strategy is about creating a completely new class of instrument that quietly turns into indispensable, the place the social graph enhances utility as an alternative of demanding consideration. We’re extra on the “different stuff” aspect of the equation, even when we’re not but ready to suggest full-on NIPs for Occasions and Locations simply but (we are going to as soon as we’ve fleshed out the options extra).
By shifting from feeds and content material to discovery and context, we will create a product that enhances actual life and real-world experiences, whereas purple-pilling everybody underneath the hood.
That’s the sly, roundabout path ahead: constructing instruments folks really need, then letting the community emerge as a pure consequence of utilizing these superior instruments.
If you wish to see it in motion, you possibly can obtain the app right here.