Derek Ross calls Nostr “the foundation of a more open internet.” For him, bitcoyer, which does not use Nostr, lacks points. Looking at his feed, you will find Twitter Vibes from the early 2010s. “Microblog” was in use at the time. But what Ross is looking at in the future for this innovative communication platform goes far beyond food images, travel updates and a “good morning” message. He is a co-founder of the Grow Nostr Initiative, deploys developer relationships for Soapbox.pub, and is one of the most prolific posters (and Zappers!) on social media.
There are quips about Nostr and Bitcoin (orange pills and purple pills). “The purple pills help the orange pills go down.”
In the aftermath of the Btchel Bitcoin Conference in Helsinki, Finland, we sat for breakfast and meditated on the post-meeting of Max. Ross’ passion for Nostol shines. Purple passion is a perfect complement to the orange that complements it. (At the exact same breakfast table, Ross had just convinced Swiss Cantonbern MP Samuel Kurman to return to Nostor.) In fact, he asked Marti Marmi, a Finnish developer, one of the first to communicate directly with Satoshi.
“Bitcoin is money freedom. Nostr is all other freedom.”
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JB: “Purple pills help orange tablets go down.” Please tell me this statement and why you say it so often.
Derek Ross: I think I got it from Camellia in that era, but everyone is saying it now. I first posted it on February 24, 2023, and have been repeated many times since.
The idea is that Nostr, the purple pill, is the ideal companion for Bitcoin, orange medicine. I asked Marti on stage yesterday. And that’s true: if you don’t have freedom of communication, you don’t even have freedom money. Think about it – if I can’t communicate freely with you, how am I supposed to pay you? Nostr naturally complements Bitcoin.
JB: If you’re right, shouldn’t the Venn diagrams of Nostr and Bitcoin be completely overlapping? Why is Nostr not bigger than that?
Derek Ross: Well, it’s still a bit buggy and sometimes difficult to manage, but many good apps with a good user interface make it very easy.
But yes, all bitconnor should be in Nostr. People will hate me by saying this, but that means that not everyone in Bitcoin is here for the right reasons. They do not have the right mind. They are here not for freedom, but for green candles, for personal vanity and wealth, for the few candles. If you understand decentralized money, why not get decentralized communication?
One of the reasons Twitter and other platforms keep people up is that they built this massive audience and crowd over there. In Nostr, there is no algorithm that will help you (or catch you). Now you need to relear how to get engaged from your audience. But what? We at Bitcoiner are all about proof of work. You’ve built that audience once, you can do it again.
But I get it: it’s hard for some people to leave it.
JB: But you could do both, as did Lynn Alden.
Derek Ross: Lynn is a great example! She sometimes publishes very different things on Twitter and Nostr, and Nostr-Lyn is much more personal and reflective. On Twitter, she shares something macroeconomic and she is all professional. It’s a beautiful combination.
Another reason why Nostr is feeling very slow and Zaps is stagnant is that Bitcoin is in a bull market despite the technology currently being there. In the bull market, everyone wants to join Bitcoin’s Twitter. Nostr and Bitcoin are opposites here. Nostr is in the bear market when Bitcoin is in the bull market.
JB: Tell us about your background, how did you get into Nostr?
I’m not really a programmer…well, for the average person, I think I’m only a system administrator: I manage systems and applications – I don’t create full-fledged applications. But now, thanks to the atmosphere coding, I am: By creating my first Nostr business, Nostr Plebs, I was able to make my building dream come true with Bitcoin. I was the first person to build a Nostrol business and I can put things together.
I first learned about Nostr from a Jack Dorsey tweet in December 2022 and called on developers to see how to fix social media.
I continued posting, zapping and building, and somehow I was invited to the Baltic Honey Badger in 2023. I used Nostr to crowdfund my travel expenses. Basically, if the community wants me to go and 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 lecture? You guessed it: “The purple pills help the orange tablets fall off.”)
Nostr has completely changed its use of social media. Amethyst is the first app to open in the morning.
JB: Are you worried that Jack Dorsey bankrolls developers and provides most of the funding for this space? A problem of centralization?
No, Jack understands the importance of what Nostr is doing. Over time, it may become large enough and there may be other ways to raise funds and monetize them.
But if you think about it, it’s making good use of Jack’s money.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/conference/a-bitcoiner-must-be-on-nostr
