Notes from the Inaugural Muslim Bitcoin Summit Nostr Workshop.
04.06.25 Dallas, TX
What is Nostr?
“Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays” ~ fiatjaf
Nostr is an open protocol that is a censorship-resistant, global "social" network. It doesn't rely on any trusted central server (has resilient decentralization), and is based on cryptographic keys and signatures (so it is tamperproof).
The initial description of the idea can be found at https://fiatjaf.com/nostr.html.
Digital Sovereignty#
“The first step towards establishing any type of Digital Sovereignty is to consider migration away from infrastructure and networks that are saturated with malevolent surveillance… there must be a simple recognition that anything sustainable from an Islamic perspective cannot be built on the platforms of Meta, Google or Amazon.” ~ Ibn Maghreb
Palestine has become the litmus test for censorship in social media:
- X (formerly Twitter) - Musk openly supports Zionism
- Meta (FB, IG, WhatsApp) - Project Lavender
- Google (YouTube) - Project Nimbus
- Microsoft (LI) - BDS “No Azure for Apartheid” campaign
These are just a few examples of the barrier for a muslim narrative in fiat social media. To build unstoppable resistance we must move away from the platform and address the issue at the protocol level.
Nostr Protocol Explained#
- Relays: Backend servers that store and broadcast data. Anyone can run one. Currently over 1k relays across over 50 countries.
- Clients: Platforms built for graphical user interface with Nostr. Anyone can build these and most are interoperable.
- Key Cryptography: User public and private keys.
Nostr's Key Features:#
- No Ownership - No CEO, board of directors, foundation, etc.
- No Ads, No Big Data Collection - Users are not a product.
- No Algorithms - Less drama, less depressing content.
- Uncensorability - Not your keys, not your posts.
- SEO - clean
dofollowlinks for “Google Juice”. - Zaps! - BTC/Lightning integration.
“This is really really important in the age of AI where in a few years you are not going to know the difference between something that is real and something that is fake. We need technologies that you can actually sign and you have the authenticity to do so, and only you, to do that.” ~ Jack Dorsey
Getting Started On Nostr #
Nostr 101: A Beginners Guide To Nostr#
Top Recommended Client: Yakihonne
Other popular options: (web) Nostrudel (iOS) Damus (Android) Amethyst
Top Recommended Wallet: Coinos
Other popular options: Primal Wallet AlbyHub Zeus (pending NWC integration)
Highlights From The Nostr Ecosystem:#
Other Clients: Olas (photos) Habla (blogging) Zap.Stream (video)
Shopping: Plebeian Market Shopstr
Podcasting 2.0: Fountain Wavlake
Workspace Tools: Listr Formstr Docstr Nostr.Build
Footnote#
Appendix#
In the summer of 2025 the first Muslim relay was launched to help combat spam and provide a safe space for Muslims to develop community here on nostr. Follow 
NoorNode for project updates and check out this article for more details.
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