I recently sat down with Vitor Pullona, creator of Nostr Client Amethyst, to discuss what Nostr in 2025 is like in 2012.
NoStr, a distributed protocol for social media and other forms of communication, is only four years ago, and developers are still thinking about how to create the best possible user experience within the client they have created. These clients include apps like Primal (comparable to X) (like Instagram) (Xgagram) to Yakihonne (like Substack).
However, what’s unique about NoSTR clients is that users can send each other “zap” (a small amount of) Bitcoin to each other to show their appreciation for the content they create.
And Pronna is optimistic that more and more Nostrol clients are beginning to gain traction, just as Bitcoin began doing so 13 years ago.
“We’re beginning to see communities being formed and more money being transferred,” Pamplona told Bitcoin Magazine in an interview.
Bitcoin-powered creator economy
Pullona acknowledged that part of the purpose of social media is to enable means of monetizing what users create in ways that they cannot do in a physical environment.
“(Some social media) users want to make a living,” Pullona says. “They want to be able to achieve more on social media alone or in a city.”
Pamplona believes it will help NOSTR clients turn that hope into reality, and it is his mission to help users do this.
“That’s our ultimate goal. If we can reach the point where creators can make a living, we will win as a platform.”
As the Nostr user base expands and continues to grow as the world’s largest Bitcoin circular economy, the chances that users are making a living with Nostr will grow every day.
amethyst
In creating Amethyst, Pamplona had the vision of a Nostr client that acted as an all-in-one app inspired by a plan similar to the one Elon Musk had for X (formerly Twitter).
“Amethyst came at the same time as Elon was talking about buying Twitter,” explained Pronna. “He’s like creating a Mega app from Twitter and I did the same thing.”
Pullona realizes that Amethyst didn’t achieve this entirely, but he is excited it will come to play a different role. It serves as a lab for those developing new NOSTR clients.
“Amethyst helps everyone kickstart their applications,” he said. “Olas came from amethyst.”
Nostr as a Bitcoin Onboarding Tool
Pullona thinks Nostr is a great way to put Nostr in Bitcoin, but it doesn’t think this should be the main goal of Nostr clients.
“The main goal of the (NOSTR) app is to let people do their own thing. Be creative with people, talk to friends, chat with their families,” Pullona explained.
“There’s no app talking about Nostor or Bitcoin. They should belong to them,” he added.
Pamplona believes that after some time, app users will begin to learn about Nostr’s self-powerfulness when users have control over their data.
“(They recognize that) the platform helps them manage their own data and helps them use the best payment protocols we have today.”
And he emphasized that most new users are coming to Nostr for the freedom and resistance to censorship it offers.
“In the past two years, most of the new Nostr users have come for freedom. “And they have since learned about Bitcoin.”
This post in 2025 is very similar to Bitcoin, written by Frank Colva, when Bitcoin was first featured in Bitcoin magazine in 2012.
