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 development appears to have stalled. The information means that exercise on Nostr has not solely flatlined however might have even declined, regardless of vital enhancements within the high quality of apps and purchasers constructed on the protocol.

I say that is an statement of the information, not a criticism, as a result of I would like this protocol to succeed and I’m excited about what’s occurred.

So… Why Has Nostr Not Lived Up To Its Potential?

I imagine there are two essential causes:

1. Competing for content material is troublesome: Content material creators wish to go the place the viewers is and content material customers wish to go the place one of the best creators are. This can be a very arduous 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 publish on “yet 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 large drop-off in retention we see on the Nostr stats).
2. The censorship resistance boat has sailed. The in need of 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 departments and might win the narrative conflict. Even Instagram has modified: It’s filled with memes and reality bombs that will 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 components might change.

If, for no matter cause, the incumbent merchandise degrade and their creator bases collapse, whereas Nostr apps concurrently turn into 10 occasions higher than the incumbents, then it would result in a mass migration of creators. Nevertheless, I discover this extremely inconceivable. The groups at X, Meta and ByteDance are too rattling good, their merchandise are too rattling partaking, their prime creators get approach too many advantages, and their audiences are approach too addicted for this to realistically occur.

How in regards to 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 study the arduous approach. 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 one of the best merchandise dries up because of stalled development? There was a golden window of alternative for this narrative, however in my view, it’s now closed.

As such, I imagine there have to be a greater, extra sly, roundabout approach to do that*.

*Not less than for us as a enterprise — as a result of whereas Nostr is a protocol and might survive lengthy sufficient for a superb product to come back alongside and revive it 10 years from now; we’re a enterprise and we function on a distinct 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 in all my favourite thinkers on community results. He was beforehand the pinnacle of Rider Progress at Uber and authored “The Chilly Begin Drawback” — among the best books on the subject of community results and market merchandise and platforms.

I’ve learn this e book twice, and each occasions it strengthened how difficult this downside is to unravel and the way highly effective the outcomes could be while you do.

In it, Chen discusses 4 essential methods for fixing the chilly begin downside and reaching preliminary crucial mass:

1. Invite-only / Waitlists (e.g., Raya, LinkedIn and Fb within the early days)
2. Come for the device, keep for the community (DropBox, Yelp, IG)
3. Shopping for the arduous aspect (Uber, Coca-Cola)
4. Flintstoning / Simulating Customers (DoorDash, Reddit)

I imagine Nostr, as a community, by chance employed the invite-only technique by capturing the Bitcoin neighborhood, creating a robust, concentrated early community (what Chen calls an atomic community). It was area of interest sufficient that it solely attracted particular sorts of individuals (with no need an specific invite-only method) 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 at present.

However, as I mentioned, as a result of the timing of the merchandise, the tradition and the protocol’s maturity had been barely misaligned, development 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 vitality state, and I imagine this requires a new method excessive of the present content-focused method (one should construct atop the opposite).

Come for the Device, 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 due to the AI revolution, however Nostr and Bitcoin can play a major function 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 fascinating 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 images to their telephones, which they might later publish to Fb.

Instagram not solely supplied related performance totally free but in addition enabled customers to share these edited images natively on their very own Instagram profiles whereas additionally making it simple to publish to different social media platforms (Twitter and Fb on the time), from the app.

It went viral as a device (images with cool filters shared off-platform) and remained sticky as a result of folks started constructing profiles and establishing networks on-platform.

I imagine the elements for the following Nostr unlock may lie on this technique (at the least for us and our product).

We’ve been constructing Satlantis as a type 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 obtained priceless consumer suggestions, analyzed utilization patterns and deeply thought-about 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 (creating a number of apps with distinct performance throughout each net and desktop) but in addition made it extremely troublesome to articulate our product in easy phrases.

Second, I imagine we made an error by prioritizing social options first, and particularly, content material creation. I noticed this late final 12 months, 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: Individuals 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 yet one more place to do it provides extra friction, not much less. When it’s a must to push all however probably the most devoted customers to have interaction (versus them being pulled towards it), you recognize it’s not true product-market match.

Nevertheless, it’s not all dangerous information! In any case, 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 might 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 arduous.

That is an space the place we’ve struggled to distinguish ourselves. I didn’t wish 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 a substitute 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 included a really light-touch algorithm that weights content material not solely by who you comply with but in addition 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, photographs 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 will additionally attraction to non-Bitcoiners, hoping to open the doorways to a brand new market. The objective was to make zaps the icing on the cake, not the draw card itself.

The consequence? Effectively, 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 usually completely satisfied to hitch 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 though 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 change? Working example:

As such, the feed recreation, at the least for us, is at the moment not value taking part in. On one hand, it’s an uphill battle in opposition to 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, might 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 beneath the entire feed, social networking and content material noise.

Enter… the Social Discovery Expertise

As a substitute of simply giving folks extra content material, what if we used the social relationships amongst them to assist floor info like “which of my buddies 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 a substitute of me explaining it, let me present you:

As you’ll be able to see, as a substitute of one other feed, this discovery method blends the “social graph intelligence” (I can’t consider a greater time period right here) into the precise device, 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 turn into our default expertise, will aid you immediately see who out of your connections goes to which occasion, really useful a spot, created a set, bookmarked a venue, and so on. What’s cool about that is that we are able to nonetheless have a feed, however as a substitute of a content material feed, we are able to 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 pals? 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 applying (the map and occasions) the main focus, however over time, extra priceless and sticky as extra folks be part of.

One other approach to say it: The instruments are helpful standalone, however made much more helpful due to the social info 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

Considered one of our guiding rules 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 a substitute of specializing in extra content material and thus incentivizing folks to spend extra time on their units, we are able to 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 broaden, however to start with, we’re going to deal with two major 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 help each type of place — be it a café or restaurant, a lodge, a lookout, a mountain climbing path or a monument — however at the moment, it helps the next six classes:

1. Cafes and eating places
2. Well being and wellness
3. Co-working and occasion areas
4. Sights (pure or man-made, like museums)
5. Native markets and specialty meals
6. 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, assessment summaries, imagery and, most significantly, wealthy interest-tagging (in the event you’re a Bitcoiner for instance, you’ll be able to simply discover locations that settle for bitcoin, or in the event you’re a seed oil disrespector, yow will discover locations which might be seed oil free, and so on). 

You can even 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 checklist of bitcoin-accepting and seed oil-free locations worldwide).

You can even add locations to the map. That is a part of why we’ve such a lot of listings. You click on the little floating button (storefront with a + image) and simply sort the title of the place you wish to add. We’re plugged into the Google API, so so long as it’s on there, it’ll come up and all it’s a must to do is say why you prefer it. Our AI pipelines will then go scour the online and create a wealthy profile for it, full with assessment summaries and pictures inside 24 hours.

Then… my favourite function of all is Collections. 

Collections are high-powered bookmark folders you can create, share and save. Consider them as curated lists — much like playlists on Spotify or temper boards on Pinterest — that you should use privately (like an itinerary of locations you wish to see) or publicly as a tastemaker or curator (i.e., prime 10 co-working cafés in Bali, prime 10 hikes in Boulder, and so on). 

Collections are designed to be social, so, like playlists on Spotify, they are often saved and shared, with one of the best ones trending on our discovery tabs. I might say a lot extra, however I already lined it in this text right here, so test that out.

Lastly, and really quickly, additionally, you will be capable of advocate locations. This can be a bit completely different to Google opinions as a result of we’re not doing star rankings however thumbs up or down and tagging.

That is very highly effective on Satlantis as a result of we are able to floor the social info (i.e., six of your pals really useful this place) to present you immediate insights. We will additionally make the invention expertise really feel extra magical by surfacing the types of Locations and Collections which might 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’ll all expertise maps and the world. See what I’ve circled within the photographs beneath.  

Occasions and Calendars

Occasions is self-explanatory, so as a substitute 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 offer you:

• Ticketing in each bitcoin and fiat (with Bitcoin being native, in-app, and intensely frictionless). This unlocks actually international ticketing in a approach that’s by no means been achieved earlier than.
• The flexibility to affiliate a spot or a set to an occasion (assume: instructed locations from the occasion organiser and even, 10% off these 10 locations throughout our convention/retreat in the event you use a particular code)
• Occasion discovery by way of our social market, which signifies that it’s not simply “what’s taking place close to me” however “what’s taking place close to me that my buddies 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 wish to have official satellite tv for pc occasions working. You’ll be able to create a calendar with a novel URL (e.g., satlantis.io/wob-2025) and have everybody who needs to host a aspect occasion create it by way of there. On this approach, all official aspect occasions are tied to the primary occasion. That is highly effective for a lot of causes — together with high quality management, ease of discovery, profile development for the organizer and related Nostr community development (each new attendee turns into a Nostr consumer and follower).

Sooner or later, we’ll tie off the product expertise with Golf equipment and Communities and full the three pillars of Satlantis: Individuals, Locations and Occasions.

However since there is sufficient to do with simply Locations and Occasions, and Individuals is considerably taken care of by the social component inherent within the app (you’ll be able to comply with folks, have interaction, chat [soon] and so on), we’ll fear about it later.

In Closing

Nostr has the potential to turn into the social layer of the web and beat the incumbents at their very own recreation, however that can take time. 

It is going to additionally require the “lead bullets” method, which means that nobody method shall be sufficient. Some apps will take the social angle, like Primal, Damus, and so on whereas others, like Satlantis, will take the utility-first method.

The great thing about Nostr is that every of those merchandise has a standard social layer and profile ID (nPub) so customers can accrue advantages throughout the entire protocol.

For Satlantis, this new method is about creating a completely new class of device that quietly turns into indispensable, the place the social graph enhances utility as a substitute of demanding consideration. We’re extra on the “different stuff” aspect of the equation, even when we’re not but able to suggest full-on NIPs for Occasions and Locations simply but (we’ll as soon as we’ve fleshed out the options extra). 

By shifting from feeds and content material to discovery and context, we are able to create a product that enhances actual life and real-world experiences, whereas purple-pilling everybody beneath 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’ll be able to obtain the app right here.