Nostr Biweekly Review ( 15-31 Dec 2025)

GM, Nostriches!

The Nostr Review is a biweekly newsletter focused on protocol updates, exciting programs, the long-form content ecosystem, and key events happening in the Nostr-verse. If you’re interested, join me in covering updates from the Nostr ecosystem!

Quick review:

In the past two weeks, daily active pubkeys dropped to 144,202. New user growth decreased, while profiles with bios increased by over 72.20%. Note events totaled 9.1 million and zap volume had an increase to 18.7 million sats.

Additionally, 9 pull requests were submitted to the Nostr protocol, with 0 merged. A total of 100 Nostr projects were tracked, with 9 releasing product updates. During this period, 0 notable events took place, and 3 significant events are upcoming.

Nostr Statistics#

Based on user activity, the total daily active pubkeys reached 144,202, reflecting a decrease of 17.03% compared to the previous period. The highest daily activity was recorded on December 18th, 2025.

The number of new users overall has shown mixed trends from the last period. In particular, the number of profiles with bios rose to 249,765, marking a significant increase of about 72.20% compared to the previous record of 145,045. The number of new profiles with contact lists dropped to 75,801, while pubkeys writing events increased to 514,115 within this period.

In terms of content publishing, approximately 9.1 million note events were published during this period, representing an increase of about 42.19% compared to the previous cycle. Among them, Reposts reached a total of 370,535 within this period.

For zap activity, the total zap amount is about 18.7 million, showing an increase of over 16.88% compared to the previous period.

Data source: https://stats.nostr.band/

NIPs#

NIP-XX: Quorum for decentralized decision-making #2179 taylorphillips The PR introduces a "sketch of a new concept for organizing decentralized decisions" which the author notes is uniquely possible on the Nostr protocol.

NIP-63: Physical Space Rentals #2174 btcjt ⁠Josh

This PR proposes a new standard (NIP-63) for managing rentable physical spaces on the Nostr network. It defines several new event kinds to support this functionality:

33001: Space Class
33002: Space
33003: Availability Snapshot
33012: Pricing Configuration
33013: Rental Policy

Profile hypercustomization #2165 fiatjaf ⁠fiatjaf

This PR proposes a new standard or set of extensions to allow for detailed customization of user profiles on Nostr. It appears to be based on or related to another pull request (#2164).

The discussion indicates that the proposal involves:

Adding "custom fields" to profiles (a feature also discussed in PR #1593).
Defining preferred colors and potentially other rendering options for when a profile is viewed as its own page or screen.
Debate around whether these customization options (like custom fields vs. color preferences) should be bundled into a single event kind or separated into different kinds to optimize for different client use cases (e.g., rendering mentions vs. full profile views)

NIP-32: describe use of Wikidata properties in labeling #2161 darashi ⁠darashi

The PR proposes expanding NIP-32 (Labeling) to standardize how Wikidata properties are used within l and L tags.

Source: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pulls

Notable Projects#

YakiHonne ⁠YakiHonne

YakiHonne latest hot fixes and improvements:

Introducing Media on YakiHonne. This release brings full NIP-71 uploads; images and videos with trimming, filters, and playback controls; plus a Media feed on mobile for reels/short-style viewing. Profiles level up with pinned notes and a dedicated Mentions section, while a slimmer loading bar, smarter notifications, and RTL auto-detection make everything feel faster and cleaner. Add QuickTime support, better routing, and a wave of fixes, and you’ve got a smoother, more expressive YakiHonne.

web :[5.5.0]

Media support for images and videos across the app, including dashboard, notifications, note previews, relay feeds, search, and user profiles.
Display of pinned notes on user profiles.
Ability to pin and unpin notes.
Added a dedicated mentions section to user profiles.
Muting state for videos is now properly saved across media views.
Media publishing now supports images and videos with filtering, trimming, and additional controls.
Replaced the loading screen with a minimal loading bar for a smoother experience.
Comment inputs now auto-adjust height based on content.
Relay encodings are now included in notification URLs for more accurate routing.
Articles can now be browsed on a standalone page.
Automatic language direction detection in the article editor (LTR/RTL).
Fixed incorrect hashtag parsing.
Fixed markdown link syntax issues when selecting text.
Improved markdown link parsing in the previewer.
Added helpful hints to the link toolbar for better usability and clarity.
Added support for displaying QuickTime videos.
Fixed timestamp randomization issues related to NIP-17.
Updated default image placeholders for profile pictures and thumbnails.
Fixed message decryption issues to prevent multiple parallel popups when using extension signers.

mobile:[1.9.7]

Added

Introducing Media feed (videos, images).
Added profile pinned notes.

Changed

Add RTL directionality in Articles’ editor.
Profile sections reworked.
Added mentions section in profile.
Load latest selected sources on startup.
Re-scroll to the top of feed when changing options.

Fixed

Fix Amber encryption syncing & Amber nip44 event decrytion issue.
Fix messages not being fetched from dm relays.
Fix “” not working in search.
App stability improvements.
Bug fixes & performance improvements.

[1.9.6]

Fixed

Fix scrolling stuck behaviour.
Fix nostr scheme decoding issue.
Fix audio controller not being dismissed properly.

Zapstore - 1.0-rc1 ⁠franzap

Zapstore is a decentralized app marketplace powered by Nostr, letting users discover, install, and update apps through their social network. This release introduces a refreshed UI, a rewritten package manager for more reliable installs, curated app stacks, background update checks, improved security prompts, and better performance and stability, making app discovery and updates smoother, safer, and more user-friendly.

Servus - v0.1.12 ⁠ibz

Servus is a minimalist, self-hosted social media server packaged as a single executable, making it easy to deploy and run without complex infrastructure. This release improves theme support by allowing theme customizations to be stored and reused, and enhances the site creation process with optional imports of Instagram and Twitter archives as well as automatic keypair generation, making setup faster, personalization easier, and onboarding more convenient for new users.

Amber - v4.0.6 ⁠Amber

Amber is a Nostr event signer for Android, designed to securely handle key management and event signing for Nostr apps without exposing private keys. This version improves reliability and performance by adding signer-side caching, fixing multiple crashes (including permission screens, invalid Nostr Connect URIs, and decryption errors), improving UI recomposition, and making relay connections more robust by retrying failed connect events, resulting in a smoother, safer experience for end users and developers who rely on Amber as a secure signing backend for their Nostr applications.

Aegis - v0.3.4 ⁠npub179e5z…0zj8

Aegis is a simple, cross-platform Nostr event signer that allows users to securely create and manage Nostr events across multiple connection methods. In version 0.3.4, it adds support for the nip55 nostrsigner scheme, enables importing and exporting local relay data, fixes potential local relay socket errors, optimizes the application creation process, and refines the local relay user interface, improving reliability, usability, and overall user experience.

Monster - v0.0.8-monstr-alpha-android

Monstr is a Svelte + Vite Nostr client with Android support via Capacitor, offering timeline feeds, posting, replies, reposts, Lightning zaps, Monero tipping, wallet management, and accessibility features. In this version, it fixes an initialization hang, tweaks the Composer modal, and ensures Nsec Android logins are persisted, improving stability and usability for end users.

Keychat - v1.38.1+6489 ⁠Keychat

Keychat is a secure chat app built on Bitcoin Ecash, Nostr, Signal, and MLS protocols, designed for private messaging across multiple platforms. In this version, it adds UnifiedPush support on Android and Linux for push notifications, introduces biometric authentication for privacy-sensitive operations, and refactors app directory initialization and reset logic, enhancing security, reliability, and user convenience.

Nostur - v1.25 ⁠Fabian

Nostur is a Nostr client for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, designed for end users to access feeds, DMs, bookmarks, and media across multiple accounts. Version 1.25 introduces a new desktop multi-column mode (via Nostur Pro) with customizable columns, enhanced private DM and group chat support, dedicated voice message and short video feeds, improved audio compatibility, Relay Autopilot toggle for custom feeds, and better handling of quoted posts, alongside numerous bug fixes and performance improvements, making the app more versatile and user-friendly.

nostr-java - v1.1.1 ⁠398ja

nostr-java is a Java SDK that helps developers create, sign, and publish Nostr events to relays from Java applications. This release focuses on refactoring WebSocket handling and improving integration tests, resulting in more reliable relay connections, better test stability, and a stronger foundation for developers building Nostr-based apps in Java.

Long-Form Content Eco#

In the past two weeks, approximately 430 to 480 long-form articles have been published, with over 39% being Bitcoin related articles and 61% related to Nostr and other topics across the Nostr Ecosystem.

The core discussion around decentralized technologies has shifted from theoretical utility to urgent economic necessity, focusing heavily on resilience against security threats on Centralized systems and the fragility of legacy financial structures.

The central focus on The Nostr Ecosystem has moved from infrastructure building to active engagement strategies, ensuring the protocol drives meaningful Nostr adoption through gamified and competitive incentives.

Key topics now emphasize:

Gamified Adoption & The Runstr Competition: A major push to onboard users through interactive events like the Runstr Competition, utilizing fitness and social challenges to demonstrate the protocol's versatility beyond simple microblogging.

Mobile Security & User Sovereignty: The development of robust mobile security standards to protect private keys on handheld devices, ensuring that decentralized identity remains secure even in a mobile-first world.

Expanding the utility of Nostr beyond text to physical activity and lifestyle.

Discussions about Bitcoin have shifted to reinforcing its fundamental value proposition against a backdrop of macro-economic instability, moving away from simple price speculation to deep economic theory.

Focus areas include:

Valuing Bitcoin & The Global Economy: Deep dives into valuing Bitcoin not just as a distinct asset, but as a hedge against the policies of the Federal Reserve and the uncertainties of the global economy, contrasting hard money against fiat inflation.

Cryptography & The Cyberpunk Ethos: A return to the roots of the Cyberpunk movement, emphasizing cryptography as a tool for liberty and privacy rather than just a mechanism for transaction, effectively separating money from state control.

Broader Cryptocurrency Dynamics: Analyzing how other cryptocurrencies interact with Bitcoin’s dominance and the regulatory landscape.

Broader topics continue to connect technology with personal belief and systemic risks:

Religion and philosophy exploring the intersection of faith, sovereignty, and the moral imperatives of sound money.
Security threats on Centralized systems highlighting the inevitable failures of trusted third parties and the need for trustless alternatives.

Thank you,

and others, for your work. Enriching Nostr’s long-form content ecosystem is crucial.

Nostriches Global Meet Ups#

Recently, Zero (0) Notable Nostr and Bitcoin events have been hosted. Though they are reports of few localized meetups on Bitcoin & Nostr around West African Countries such as Ghana.

Here are the upcoming Nostr and Bitcoin events that you might want to check out.

Digital Freedom with Nostr & Bitcoin- 4th January 2026 Takes place at Jives Coffee Lounge where Nostr and Bitcoin will be discussed. Also, attendees will be helped to set up your free Nostr account, free Bitcoin Lightning wallet, etc.
POSSE content with Drupal using Nostr at FOSDEM 2026 - 31st January 2026 Takes place virtually at https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/posse-content-drupal-nostr/
Nostr Nights #1 - 2nd February 2026 Nostr Nights is a quarterly meetup for anyone passionate about building, growing, and exploring the future of decentralized social technology. Whether you're brand-new to Nostr or already building on it, this event is designed to help you learn, connect, and go deeper. Each session features conversations with people building real projects on Nostr, hands-on onboarding for newcomers, educational deep dives into how the protocol works, and open discussions about emerging tools, use cases, and best practices. It’s an opportunity to ask questions, share what you're working on, and collaborate with others pushing the ecosystem forward.