X Is Fiat

In his Take from yesterday, Frank invited bitcoiners to join Nostr: “The world’s biggest bitcoin circular economy.” I fully endorse this invitation; Nostr aligns much better with Bitcoin’s original values than — specifically — Elon Musk’s X.

In much the same way that the money in your bank account isn’t really yours, your posts on X aren’t either — in contrast, your Nostr posts are connected to your own public key. Like PayPal blocking money transfers, X can decide to censor what you have to say, but no single entity has that power on Nostr. And while X manipulates its algorithm to steer the conversation like the Fed’s manipulation of interest rates to steer the economy, Nostr gives this power back to the users. Now that “President Musk” is de facto entering the White House, you could even argue X is becoming part of the government. X is fiat.

Perhaps even more importantly — at least for me personally — my experience on Nostr is by now superior to what I encounter on X… admittedly a low bar. Whereas I sometimes find interesting insights on Nostr, most of what I see on the platform formerly known as Twitter these days are generic TikTok-style memes, rage-bait, and shit takes from Kekius Maximus himself.

I do still post on X sometimes, but I’ve increasingly disengaged from the conversation over there and will likely continue to do so. Meanwhile, I’ve found myself spending more time on Nostr (specifically through Damus and Amesthyst), and I expect this to only increase.

Sure, Nostr is still niche for now, and perhaps it will remain niche. Judging by the hype around ETFs, MicroStrategy and Strategic Bitcoin Reserves, trusting central parties is pretty hip among many bitcoiners nowadays, anyways.

But I will gladly take Nostr’s niche signal over X’s noisy masses.

This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.