Max's avatar
Max max@nostr.com 1 year ago
[New Essay] Nostr is Identity for the Internet
Identity
 The Internet needs user-owned identity and an associated open data layer. And I'm more convinced than ever that Nostr will win. I agree with @jack that the long tail of microapps is ultimately Nostr's killer feature. But which will take off next? In my mind, Nostr will follow a straightforward trajectory - first solving discovery/reputation problems for Bitcoiners, then for early tech adopters, and finally for the mainstream. Here are some examples where I think Nostr based discovery & reputation will shine: - Global, social payments ala @primal @OpenSecret @Alby & @Boardwalk - Ecash mint discovery/selection ala @OpenSecret & bitcoinmints.com - Marketplaces for DLC oracles ala lava.xyz - Local Bitcoins replacements ala @Mostro - Open Source AI agent discovery ala @Christopher David's openagents.com & @CASCDR - Marketplaces for APIs ala @PABLOF7z's DVMs & @npub14tku...zw96 - An open github replacement ala @DanConwayDev's gitworkshop.dev - An open PWA App Store ala @franzap's zap.store & store.app - ValueRank search & discovery ala @npub1sx9r...6g8m @dataMachine 🤖 & kagi.com - Marketplaces for files ala @Stuart Bowman & @hzrd149's Blossom - Review & UGC content sites ala @npub15lay...v7v3's heyapollo.com & @Svetski's Satlantis - Value4Value content creation and delivery ala @Fountain @Wavlake & @Geyser Of course the most exciting category of all is the unexpected wave of unimaginable apps that will eventually emerge. Ultimately, user owned identity and open data lead to online trust, which is a beautiful and deflationary force, capable of disrupting predatory marketplace middlemen and shifting the balance from financial to social capital. I.e. a more humane world. (h/t @Stuart Bowman) Thanks to @brugeman @miljan @David King @bob & @Moritz for feedback on this essay.

Replies (23)

The Conscious Contrarian's avatar
The Conscious Contrarian 1 year ago
I love #nostr but I think the identity use case is overly ambitious. it's just too easy to irrevocably steal or lose a nostr nsec. As far as I understand once someone else has gained access to your nsec once, you can never recover your nostr identity for your exclusive use.
2 replies ↓
jack's avatar
jack j4ck.xyz 1 year ago
Yeah exactly I always wondered what would happen if yours accidentally got leaked. Not much they can do now the whole system is out but yeah it sucks
Default avatar
allbits 1 year ago
Multisig requires multiple keypairs, right? Multiple keypairs is not something that's in the protocol, right? Backups do not mitigate against theft
2 replies ↓
Default avatar
🫥 1 year ago
Stop using Yellen's photo without permission!
JP's avatar
JP me@jp305.dev 1 year ago
Either you own your social graph/identity/money or either you don’t. I’m pretty sure there will be 3rd parties that would manage keys for you or a business where multiple people can post for a business account, for example. For theft, that’s a good point. There is already some list for mutes… I would think that if enough clients move an npub to “compromised” or something, clients could do something about it. IDK I’m not an expert, but this sounds like something easy to do (if not already done)
Max's avatar
Max max@nostr.com 1 year ago
Yea it's a very fair point. Simple key pairs is just the starting point. We'll need to figure out how to rekey people potentially with something like social recovery and/or pre-commitments. I believe we'll solve these problems over time though. Getting adoption for an interoperable protocol is much more challenging though imo and that's where Nostr is beginning to shine
1 replies ↓
brugeman's avatar
brugeman artur@nostr.band 1 year ago
Once your nsec is stolen, you can never recover it for your exclusive use, that's correct. Once it's lost, you can never recover it for any use, that's also correct. But same is true for bitcoin keys, and yet we're hoping to build the world around it, and people build tools to mitigate these risks. Nostr key != Bitcoin key, but there are much more similarities than differences. Here is more on this: View quoted note →
1 replies ↓
brugeman's avatar
brugeman artur@nostr.band 1 year ago
There aren't much tools and protocol-level solutions to key loss or theft atm. But that's just because nobody is trying to use them for mission critical stuff, once demand comes, solutions will come. I will keep repeating that nostr keys have lots in common to bitcoin keys, and we do hope to make bitcoin the core of our future economy, so how is nostr different in principle? More here: View quoted note →
Zach's avatar
Zach zach@troop.is 1 year ago
Great piece. So much of this vision is reminicent of the "Web3" ideal that was pitched during the last cycle. I know that the term "web3" has been sullied by shitcoins and VC pump-n-dumps, but the core goal is still there.
Nico₿ ⚡𓅦's avatar
Nico₿ ⚡𓅦 nicobe@nostrplebs.com 1 year ago
One of the best articles I read about the actual state of Nostr. @Chris
Max's avatar Max
[New Essay] Nostr is Identity for the Internet
Identity
 The Internet needs user-owned identity and an associated open data layer. And I'm more convinced than ever that Nostr will win. I agree with @jack that the long tail of microapps is ultimately Nostr's killer feature. But which will take off next? In my mind, Nostr will follow a straightforward trajectory - first solving discovery/reputation problems for Bitcoiners, then for early tech adopters, and finally for the mainstream. Here are some examples where I think Nostr based discovery & reputation will shine: - Global, social payments ala @primal @OpenSecret @Alby & @Boardwalk - Ecash mint discovery/selection ala @OpenSecret & bitcoinmints.com - Marketplaces for DLC oracles ala lava.xyz - Local Bitcoins replacements ala @Mostro - Open Source AI agent discovery ala @Christopher David's openagents.com & @CASCDR - Marketplaces for APIs ala @PABLOF7z's DVMs & @npub14tku...zw96 - An open github replacement ala @DanConwayDev's gitworkshop.dev - An open PWA App Store ala @franzap's zap.store & store.app - ValueRank search & discovery ala @npub1sx9r...6g8m @dataMachine 🤖 & kagi.com - Marketplaces for files ala @Stuart Bowman & @hzrd149's Blossom - Review & UGC content sites ala @npub15lay...v7v3's heyapollo.com & @Svetski's Satlantis - Value4Value content creation and delivery ala @Fountain @Wavlake & @Geyser Of course the most exciting category of all is the unexpected wave of unimaginable apps that will eventually emerge. Ultimately, user owned identity and open data lead to online trust, which is a beautiful and deflationary force, capable of disrupting predatory marketplace middlemen and shifting the balance from financial to social capital. I.e. a more humane world. (h/t @Stuart Bowman) Thanks to @brugeman @miljan @David King @bob & @Moritz for feedback on this essay.
View quoted note →
Christopher David's avatar
Christopher David 1 year ago
Soooo how’s everyone thinking about Saylor’s inscription-based take on this?
🇵🇸 whoever loves Digit's avatar
🇵🇸 whoever loves Digit 1 year ago
My approach for theft would be to have key aliasing and reasonably secure hardware wallets. You'd have a 12 word seed you only ever enter into the hardware wallet so it can generate the signature you need to set up an alias pointing to another key. Once the alias is set, the seed is deleted from the hardware and you interface with nostr through the other key. If the everyday use key gets stolen, you change the alias.
The Conscious Contrarian's avatar
The Conscious Contrarian 1 year ago
the comparison to bitcoin keys is flawed. Even if you lose your bitcoin keys, you usually have a backup and can transfer it to another amount. The same is not true for your nostr identity. Once it’s compromised you can never transfer it elsewhere.
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