Hello,
As I've registered with Alby a few months ago I told a friend (who complained about the current toxicity of twitter/X) about this new social media Nostr and told him he could get rewarded for posting.
The deal was that I would help him to create his nostr account and get a wallet, https://guides.getalby.com/user-guide/alby-account-and-browser-extension downloading the extension, creating the nostr account was a breeze, and then .... As I wanted to send him a few sats to get started that is when the whole thing went down.
Alby is now forcing its users to get a hub (and a channel), this was not my experience when I started back in March 2024 and I was surprised of this new direction Alby is taking. Opening a channel costs ~25K sat -- and that was not expected, for a brand new user Now my friend thinks that this whole new social media and bitcoin stuff is all a big scam.
What can I do? Is there a way to open a wallet (compatible with Nostr) elsewhere?
Please read here and run your OWN Alby Hub. Getalby custodial accounts are no longer available. https://darth-coin.github.io/wallets/getting-started-alby-hub-en.html
Additional guides for your noob friend:
Thanks for the link, this was a big disappointment yesterday, my friend told me this whole thing feels like a "Freemium Trap" scam.
Where a company initially offers the service for free or with a "limited, exclusive" appeal to build a user base. Once users are invested and reliant on the service, they introduce substantial fees, trapping users.
No. Is not a scam. In fact they help you be sovereign and not using a custodial account.
When too many people are using a custodial solution it can generate a huge centralization of funds and shit could happen.
Bitcoin means be responsible for your own money.
thanks again, I told him to sign up for walletofsatoshi.com he is happy about the solution and I understand now the difference between a custodial wallet and the point of this transition made by Alby. All in all, it was a good experience.
Did he manage to use Wallet of Satoshi with Nostr and Alby Extension? ;)
After messing around in the setup, he setup a primal wallet, and was happy (no need of wallet of Satoshi anymore)
We are not forcing anyone sir!
Tell your friend to try now, there is a small update - your friend should be able to receive sats without the Hub ;)
I didn't know they were forcing it. Is this true, @Alby?
No, it's not true. We are however reducing the limits on free custodial wallets, coming to zero by the end of 2024.