A recent conversation with fellow Bitcoiners prompted me to share this overview of Nostr tools. While you don't need to use everything, understanding the ecosystem helps paint a picture of where we're heading.

I often hear people say "I'm posting to the void" or "My feed is boring" or "I'm not earning any bitcoin" or "It's too complicated." Let me address these concerns with a comprehensive overview.

Primal and Amethyst are currently the best daily drivers. Theyre both valid twitter replacements with primal focusing on user friendliness and amethyst focusing on being more feature rich.

Both apps feature an algorithm marketplace (we call them DVMs) where you can choose from various feed styles. Soon, anyone will be able to create and share their own algorithms. For additional feed customization, Listr.lol lets you curate lists of npubs to further refine your experience.

Stacker News (SN) integrates beautifully with Nostr. Cross-post your SN content to appear as longform notes on platforms like Highlighter, Yakihonne, and Habla.news. SN's rewards system pays out satoshis for quality content, bridging their closed platform with Nostr's open network.

For zaps, I recommend CoinOS, or AlbyHub for a more sovereign alternative. CoinOS is non kyc and gives you a lightning address and NWC connection string to throw into your nostr clients. CoinOS supports e-cash and Bolt 12, Liquid, and can auto-withdraw earnings to cold storage. You can use coinOs as a PWA or input the connection string into Alby Go for a more minimal wallet alternative.

Android users should use zap.store for downloading Nostr apps. It verifies app authenticity and implements Web of Trust features, showing which trusted npubs use each app.

For managing multiple apps, Pokey provides a unified notification dashboard. Amber (Android) offers secure client login without exposing your nsec, while Citrine lets you run a relay on your phone for data backup.

The key to Nostr is understanding that nothing is force-fed. You're responsible for:

For best results, go all in:

Some ask if Nostr is truly decentralized, censorship-resistant, or profitable. My response: the user experience will become so good that most internet users will naturally gravitate here. The only barrier will be ideological resistance.

Nostr represents a new internet paradigm where users outpower platforms, identity persists across apps, and Bitcoin is the standard. We've practically already won.

I'm thinking the age of of the super nostr app will come to a close. We're probably going to enter an era of a thousand micro apps and client templates, which allow users to build their own client in 30 seconds. Some templates will be impermanent, one time use clients, others will be more robust for building a daily driver. You'll be able to share your completed piece on nostr for other people to use, and they'll zap you for building it. A marketplace of user created apps supported by thousands of micro apps and relays and templates, probably a user experience holy grail, made possible by nostr's open social graph, smooth monetization processes from bitcoin.

Daily Active Users doubling yearly: 2024: 20k → 2029: 640k

The beauty of Nostr isn't just in its decentralized nature or bitcoin integration – it's in the user experience that puts you in control. While traditional social media platforms force-feed you content through black-box algorithms, Nostr hands you the keys to your own digital kingdom. You choose your feed, your apps, your connections, and your level of engagement. Yes, there's a learning curve, but that's the price of digital sovereignty.

Think of where Twitter was in 2006 or Bitcoin in 2013. Those who saw the potential and jumped in early didn't just benefit financially – they helped shape the future. Nostr is at that same inflection point. The tools are here, the infrastructure is growing, and the community is building. Whether you're a creator, developer, bitcoiner, or just someone tired of traditional social media, Nostr offers a glimpse of what the internet should have been all along.

The question isn't if Nostr will win, but when. And when it does, you'll want to be able to say you were here when it all began.

Thanks, Hustle