Finally tried @Zapstore for the first time today. Very cool. The way an app store should be: #permissionless Powered by your social graph. Supports making direct payments to developers, with zero fees taken by the app store. Some days (most days?) using Nostr feels like living 10-20 years in the future. #grownostr

Have you ever bought or sold something for #cashu ecash? #asknostr

You could ask a broligarch for permission to speak. Or not. #grownostr

Not your keys, not your voice. #grownostr

The way to offer your customers robust #privacy is not by promising to protect their data, but by proving to them that you don’t - or even better, can’t - collect it. No accounts. No centralised servers. No pixels. No secretive, proprietary code. Allow self hosting. Accept private payment methods (like #Monero).

No I would *not* like to sign up for an account, thanks. #privacy #freedom #grownostr

Talk is cheap. So is code. Nice rant you did there. Nobody cares. Congrats on all that code you “shipped.” Nobody cares. Identifying valuable problems to solve and solving them requires much talking and much coding. So: Spend twice as much time listening as you do building. Invest more time in writing shorter, clearer messages. Quit being the devil’s advocate and start being your user’s advocate. Your customers and your community will thank you for it. #grownostr #ux

If you get value from my posts, please consider: * reposting my notes * sending me a zap * sending me #Monero (see profile for address) * following me Any of the above are greatly appreciated, and show me that I’m delivering something useful to you. Thank you! 🫡 #v4v #valueforvalue #grownostr

A great example of how to leverage network effects when building something new is the Kotlin programming language. It was a new programming language, with a clean, simple syntax, and an elegant programming model. And it’s 100% interoperable with Java. Even if you are the only person on Earth using Kotlin, you immediately get access to the most industrial strength programming tools that exist - any Java library, build tools, profiling tools, etc. - while gaining the advantages of cleanliness and simplicity offered by Kotlin. If Kotlin were an island, instead of fully interoperable by design, it would have remained a marginal curiosity. Instead it has become the preferred language for Android applications. All because it used the network effect to its own advantage, rather than fighting against it. #grownostr View quoted note →

Freedom of speech cannot be protected by law. Indeed, those who claim to protect your freedom of speech will be the first ones to take it away when you say something they don't like. Freedom of speech is an engineering problem. Only technology - open source, decentralised, supported by a strong community - can protect it. #freedom #privacy #opensource #fediverse #community

Nostr won't win by being an island paradise trying to convince others to join us doing pushups in the jungle. Nostr will win by the degree to which it can seamlessly plug into and expand the already-existing constellations of the #fediverse. Nostr will win if it offers value to you, even if you're the only person on earth who uses it. Why? Because it offers something most of that existing infrastructure can't: full data sovereignty, free speech, a platform through which to communicate ideas across multiple channels - without asking for permission to do so. Nostr will win if plugging into it immediately gives you the entire fediverse (Bluesky, Lemmy, etc.) *plus* all the insanely cool benefits that come from an open protocol driven by a relay-based architecture. It needs to leverage an existing network effect, not work against it and try to win people away from the #freedom tools they already use and enjoy, or hope they'll walk away from communities they are already part of. Am I suggesting that you, dear Nostr developer, should keep this organising principle (expand the fediverse, don't try to out-compete it) in mind when building? Yes and no. It's your time and your energy. Do what you want. But if you care deeply about expanding Nostr's reach, don't fight the network effect. Leverage it. #grownostr

What are your favourite news sources? Npubs, fediverse communities, traditional media outlets, and any other ways you stay informed. I prefer these, to cover a reasonably broad spectrum of left and right viewpoints: - FT - Economist - Guardian - Spectator - @FLASH #asknostr

Predicitions for 2026: The fragility of centralised systems (not only tech-wise, but NATO, USD reserve currency, etc.) will continue to rear its ugly head. The participants in those systems will either reconfigure themselves to decentralise, or accelerate their already rapid decline. #Bitcoin maxis will get even more wrecked this year than last. So many pinned their hopes of orange-coloured fiat riches on an orange-coloured president. That was their touch-the-stove moment. Some learned. Some didn't. Nobody cares. The market is a harsh mistress. Finally: Economic energy will continue to flow towards #freedom, #privacy, ease-of-use, low fees. #Monero merchant adoption will continue to expand. Other community-driven privacy projects will continue to grow. It will be a very bumpy ride, but we've got better tools than ever to weather the storm.

It amazes me how much money services like @Maple AI are willing to leave on the table by not accepting #Monero. Over 50% of #NanoGPT’s revenue comes from Monero, in spite of choosing their name after the currency they love most (Nano). And #Bitcoin usage continues to plummet. The market wants private, cheap, fast, easy payments. Monero listened. https://nano-gpt.com/blog/november-2025-payment-stats

Fuck their “privacy policy”. It’s time to update *your* #privacy policy. View quoted note →

What’s your favourite Nostr podcast? #asknostr

To write better Nostr posts: Ask: What do I want the reader of this post to get out of it? Your message must deliver that. Be helpful. Nobody cares what you ate for brunch. Leave the reader slightly better off than before they read your post. Teach in the direction you want to move the world. Be concise. Make every word essential to your point. Use hashtags so your target audience can find it. Take responsibility. Unlike centralised, algorithmic platforms, you own your Nostr presence 100%. Say what you feel moved to say, unapologetically. Of course, you can just shitpost. But remember: Nostr gives you a voice - your voice. If you’ve got something to say, don’t waste this opportunity. #grownostr #freedom #sovereignty #writing

For those who seek #freedom, #privacy, and #sovereignty, #Monero is inevitable.

Every media source is heavily biased. Every podcaster. Every news outlet. Every algorithmic feed. Every “content creator”. (Fuck “content creators”.) Every journalist. Every influencer. There’s no avoiding bias. MAGA bias. Liberal bias. Centrist bias. Radical left/right bias. To say that XYZ source is biased is to say nothing at all. Of course it is. Every perspective comes prepackaged with a set of beliefs about right and wrong, good and evil. The key is to ensure you consume a range of biases - especially those you disagree with - and use your own senses, your own knowledge, your own mind to triangulate the truth.

What are your #freedom-related goals in 2026? Mine: Onboard one merchant to #Monero every month. Brick and mortar, local, or online. If we use it, we win. #asknostr