Derek Ross calls Nostr “The base of a more open internet”. For him, the bitcoiners who do not use Nostr are missing the point. Looking at his feed, you get Twitter vibrations in early 2010: the “microblogging” was the word used then. But what Ross sees in the future for this revolutionary communication platform WELL Beyond the images of food, travel updates and “good morning” messages. He is the co-founder of the Grow Nostr Initiative, does reports for developers for Soapbox.pub and is one of the most prolific posters (and Zapper!) On social media.
There is a joke about Nostr and Bitcoin – the orange pill and the purple pill – I saw it invoke, live on stage and on Nostr, many times; “The purple pill helps the orange pill go down. “
In the aftermath of the Bitcoin Btchel conference in Helsinki, in Finland, we sat for breakfast, to post-conference reflections until the maximum. Ross’s passion for Nostr is shining, the passion for purple that perfectly completes orange. (On the very very breakfast table, Ross Had Just convinced Samuel Kullman, Mp of the Swiss Canton Bern, as back to nostr.) Indeed, on the panel he Had moderate the day Before, he asked Martii Malmi, The Finnish Developer Who was one of the First Who Have Have Had Direct Corpo With Satoshi, A Trick Question About Bitcoin and Nostr, Knowing Full Well What Malmi would Answer:
“Bitcoin is the freedom of money; Nostr is the freedom of everything else.”
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JB: “The purple pill helps the orange pill to go down.” Tell me about this statement and why you say it so often.
Derek Ross: I think I have taken him from Cameri at the time, but everyone says it now. I published it the first time on February 24, 2023 and since then I have repeated it many times.
The idea is that Nostr, the purple pill, is the ideal companion of Bitcoin, the orange pill. I asked Martii yesterday on the stage, knowing that he would reply. And it’s true: you can’t even Have Freedom Money if you don’t have the freedom of communication. Think about it: if I can’t communicate freely with you, then how should I pay you? Nostr is the natural complement of Bitcoin.
JB: If you’re right, Venn diagrams should not be completely overlapping … or at least All Are bitcoiners on nostr? Why is Nostr not bigger than it is?
Derek Ross: Well, sometimes it is still a little buggy and difficult to manage – but the many excellent apps with a large user interface make it much easier.
But yes, every bitcoiner Should be on nostr. People will hate me for saying it, but it means that not everyone in Bitcoin are here for the right reasons. They don’t have the right ethics. I’m here for the number-up, for green candles, personal vanity and wealth … and not for freedom. Why if I understood decentralized money, then why shouldn’t you have a decentralized communication?
One of the reasons why Twitter or other platforms hold people around is that you created this huge audience and crowd over there. On Nostr, there is no algorithm to help you (or capture you); Now you have to re -enter how to get involved from your audience. So what? We Bitcoiner are all about the test of work; You built that audience once, you can do it again.
But I understand: it is difficult for some people to separate from that.
JB: You can also do both, though … as Lyn Alden does.
Derek Ross: Lyn is a fantastic example! Sometimes it publishes very different things on Twitter and Nostr and Nostr-Lyn is much more personal and reflective. On Twitter, it shares macroeconomic things and is all professional and so on, but on Nostr it is often personal, public memes and shit. It is a beautiful combination.
Another reason why Nostr feels so slow and Zaps are stagnant etc. – Even if the technology is there now – is that Bitcoin is in a bull market. In a bull market, everyone wants to be on Bitcoin Twitter. Perhaps Nostr and Bitcoin are opposed here: Nostr is in a bears market when Bitcoin is in a bull market – and the next time Bitcoin will be in a bear, Nostr will be in a bull!
JB: Tell me about your background, how did you enter Nostr?
I’m not really a programmer … well, for the average person, me I amBut I think I am only a system administrator: I manage systems and applications: I don’t create full -blown applications. Even if now, thanks to the vibrant coding, they are: I have some hack-chick skills and I’ve always wanted to build on Bitcoin. Create Nostr Plebs, the first activity Nostr, allowed me to realize the dream of building with Bitcoin. He was the first to build a business nostr and I can put things together.
I learned for the first time to Nostr from Jack Dorsey’s tweet in December 2022 and to the call to developers to how to repair social media.
I continued to publish, Zapping and construction, and somehow I was invited to Baltic Honey Badger in 2023; I used nostr for crowdfund my travel expenses. Basically, If the community wants to go to talk about Nostr, Zap this post. I’ve never been to Europe but I always wanted to go, so it was exciting. (The title of that speech? Have you guessed: “The purple pill helps the orange pill to go down.”)
Nostr has completely changed my use of social media: Amethista is the first app I open in the morning.
JB: Are you worried that Jack Dorsey is banking the developers and provides most of the funding for this space? A centralization problem?
No, Jack includes the importance of what Nostr is doing. Over time, once it is large enough and there are perhaps other ways to finance and monetize, and therefore perhaps the loan dries.
But if you think about it, it’s a good use for Jack’s money.