Nostr Biweekly Review ( 15-31 Oct 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 reached 256,043. New user growth increased, and profiles with bios increased over 337.81%. Note events totaled 15.4 million and zap volume had increased to 18.1 million sats. Additionally, 12 pull requests were submitted to the Nostr protocol, with 7 merged. A total of 88 Nostr projects were tracked, with 8 releasing product updates. During this period, 5 notable events took place, and 6 significant events are upcoming.

Nostr Statistics#

Based on user activity, the total daily active pubkeys reached 256,043, reflecting an increase of 22.92% compared to the previous period. The highest daily activity was recorded on October 20th, with 15,656 active users, representing a 0.46% decrease compared to the previous record of 15,728.

The number of new users overall has increased from the last period. In particular, the number of profiles with bios reached 192,057 marking an outstanding increase of about 337.81% compared to the previous record of 43,865. The number of new profiles with contact lists reached 223,497 and pubkeys writing events reached 580,519 within this period.

In terms of content publishing, approximately 15.4 million note events were published during this period, representing an increase of about 185.19% compared to the previous cycle. Among them, Repost reached a total of 386,076 within this period.

For zap activity, the total zap amount is about 18.1 million, showing an increase of over 16.03% compared to the previous period.

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

NIPs#

Clarifications to NIP-61 #2107 robwoodgate ⁠Rob Woodgate This PR tightens some of the language used in NIP-61. The specific clarifications include: Defining pubkey as a Nostr hex pubkey. Clarifying the interop requirement between Nostr and Cashu pubkeys. Specifying that the proof tag is one proof per tag, not multiple. Fixing the example proof Secret.data tag.

Clarify closed/private, add hidden to nip 29 #2106 staab ⁠hodlbod Proposes changes to NIP-29 (Simple Groups) to clarify group permissions. The PR specifically seeks to: 1) Redefine the closed tag to mean "unable to write" (making it read-only) and 2) Add a hidden tag, which would instruct relays not to serve metadata or member events to non-members.

add link to nip-17 trackerv #2103 alltheseas ⁠elsat A documentation update to add a link to the NIP-17 tracker. This is a maintenance change to improve access to the relevant resources for NIP-17 (Private Direct Messages).

Specify REQ update behavior to stop processing on the Relay #2089 vitorpamplona ⁠Vitor Pamplona Clarifies and standardizes how relays should handle updating a client's REQ subscription, specifically detailing the behavior required to stop processing the original request when a new one is received.

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

Notable Projects#

YakiHonne ⁠YakiHonne

YakiHonne Hot Fixes arrived: Reorder your post actions, browse more safely with default blur for non-followers, post directly inside Relay Orbits, and enjoy refreshed hashtags—plus focused fixes (protected-event auth, wallet-switch crashes, random 500s, layouts, YouTube Shorts) and stability boosts. Headline: Indian language support is rolling out on Mobile now and Web —welcoming even more creators.

YakiHonne latest hot fixes and improvements:

Web (v5.1.0):

Customize your post actions — reorder, enable, or disable them to match your style
Media blur for posts from non-followed users (enabled by default, adjustable in settings)
Post directly within Relay Orbits for each relay
Redesigned hashtags for a fresher look
Fixed layout issues on mobile devices
Fixed authentication errors when publishing protected events
Fixed YouTube Shorts not displaying properly
Fixed wallet switch crashes
Fixed occasional “Error 500” when browsing posts
Added support for Indian languages.
General performance and stability improvements

Mobile 1.9.2 (162):

Receive share intent in-app
Rearrange action buttons
Add Indian languages
Blur images for non-followers
Updated URLs (/r/notes, /r/content)
Better GIF sizing
Loading indicator in search bar
Paginated transactions list
Added DM loader & empty feed placeholder
Resolved note display, zap split, and nostr URL issues
Fixed QR scanning, redeem controller, and shareable links
Fixed unfollow button, mentions, and nip05 handling
Improved notifications sync and stats loading with WoT
Fixed nsec bunker setup, article markdown, and Blossom upload
Reset search scroll position and made suggestions scrollable

Coracle - 0.6.25 ⁠Coracle

Coracle is an experimental Nostr client designed to harness the full power of multiple relays, allowing users to browse, filter, zap, and build custom feeds for a personalized Nostr experience. This release, adds the display of “a” tags on highlights and disables imgproxy by default for improved performance and flexibility.

Mostro - v0.15.0 ⁠Mostro

Mostro is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange platform built on the Lightning Network and Nostr, enabling decentralized trading between users without intermediaries. This release introduces the removal of the OpenSSL dependency in favor of Rust TLS for improved security, adds manifest signature support, and refines order request handling. It also fixes issues related to trade index messaging and payment failure calculations, while improving dispute error messages and overall performance. This was the biggest release and the latest release was v0.15.1 last week.

Highlights

Lightning Address auto send
Real-time dispute chat system
Full desktop support (Linux, Windows, Mac)
Better UI for buttons, colors, and dialogs Bug fixes

Bitchat - v1.4.4 ⁠jack

Bitchat is a decentralized peer-to-peer messaging app that combines local Bluetooth mesh networks for offline communication with the Nostr protocol for global messaging, requiring no accounts, phone numbers, or central servers. This release focuses heavily on localization and modularization, adding new languages, unifying string handling, and refactoring modules like Tor and PeerID services. It also improves private chat deduplication, fixes stale messages and ghost peers, optimizes performance for location notes, enhances QR verification, and addresses various test and build issues to ensure a more stable, secure, and efficient messaging experience across platforms.

Nostr Ynstant Messenger - v2.13.25 ⁠Luxas

Nostr Ynstant Messenger is a lightweight ephemeral chat client built on the Nostr protocol, designed for anonymous and temporary messaging with Bitchat integration. In this release it added the ability to copy user public keys directly from context menus, introduced kind 10000 mute list support for blocking users and keywords, and fixed several bugs, including issues with blocked users’ nicks, geohash explorer resets, and nostr profile data preservation. This was the biggest release and there were also some multiple releases last week.

Gitplaza - v0.14.0 ⁠dluvian

GitPlaza is a desktop Nostr client specialized in handling Git-related activities within the Nostr ecosystem. In this release it added features to show repository topics, edit repository events, list maintainers, display all Git servers and websites in the repo view, include nutzap events in the inbox, and populate the hashtag filter with followed hashtags, while improving performance by preventing README.md requests from blocking subsequent actions.

Nostr-java - v1.0.1 ⁠398ja

Nostr-java is a Java SDK for the Nostr protocol that enables developers to create, sign, and publish Nostr events to relays with ease. This release refines event handling, adds Sonatype Central publishing credentials, and updates Maven configuration and settings for improved central publishing and API management. This was the latest release and there was also the release of v1.0.0 last 2 week.

Nosflare - v7.4.14 ⁠Luxas

Nosflare is a serverless Nostr relay built to run on Cloudflare Workers with support for Cloudflare D1 and R2 Object Storage, offering a scalable and efficient relay infrastructure for the Nostr network. The latest update, v7.4.14, introduces a stale session expiry mechanism to improve connection stability and lowers the REQ rate limit per minute to optimize performance and prevent excessive relay load.

Long-Form Content Eco#

In the past two weeks, more than 434+ long-form articles have been published, with over 45% being Bitcoin related articles and 55% related to Nostr and other topics across the Nostr Ecosystem.

The central discussion around Nostr has shifted to focus heavily on Nostr Lighting payment and relay integrations, emphasizing the role of ecash and ecash wallets in fortifying the protocol's utility. Key topics now revolve around enabling near-instant, low-cost microtransactions as a core feature of the protocol. This reflects a growing community emphasis on integrating a robust decentralization backbone for the future by ensuring that content creation and consumption are immediately monetizable, thereby overcoming the critical limitations inherent in centralized social protocols that lack native payment layers. The discourse frequently compares Bitcoin vs stable coins for Nostr movement, typically favoring Bitcoin's decentralized nature for long-term economic liberty within the open web.

The discussion around Bitcoin is now primarily focused on its efficacy as a foundational technology for global and personal well-being, specifically its role in enabling bitcoin for health and privacy within Nostr's ecosystem. The dialogue emphasizes why Bitcoin matters in the current macroeconomic climate, driven in part by global inflation and the need for economic tools independent of state control. Articles explore Bitcoin's critical role as a tool for the future, touching on themes of economic liberty, but also expanding into niche applications like bitcoin mining in Brazil with solar power as a model for sustainable, decentralized energy and financial sovereignty outside of traditional systems. This re-imagining of financial sovereignty connects directly to supporting a truly private and unconstrained digital life.

Other prominent articles were also published in relation to slice of Life, African and Western Countries economy, entertainment amongst several others.

Thank you, ⁠liminal 🦠 ⁠Dustin Dannenhauer ⁠Contra ⁠Comfort Ante ⁠highperfocused ⁠TwentyOne.Life ⁠Ross Ulbricht ⁠ManyKeys ⁠MartyBent ⁠Chey ⁠Sovereign Engineering

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

Nostriches Global Meet Ups#

Recently, five (5) Notable Nostr and Bitcoin events have been hosted.

Canadian Bitcoin Conference 2025 Took place from October 16–18th, Montreal, Canada. A conference with an emphasis on investment and institutional aspects of Bitcoin. Participants will explore the strategic role of the cryptocurrency in the North American economy.
BTC Balkans Was held on October 18–19, Sofia, Bulgaria. One of the largest regional conferences in Eastern Europe, dedicated to crypto adoption in local economies, with a focus on Bitcoin use in emerging markets.
NOSTRVILLE Took place on October 25, Nashville, TN, a dedicated celebration focused solely on Nostr and freedom tech.
Dakar Bitcoin Days III Took place from October 29–31, Dakar, Senegal. This conference focuses on financial inclusion and the social impact of Bitcoin adoption. Special attention will be given to Bitcoin’s role as a tool for economic independence in African nations.
Bitplebs summit Was held from October 28 - November 5, Goa, India. The BitPlebs Summit is a Bitcoin-focused conference that brings together developers, educators, and enthusiasts to promote open-source innovation and self-sovereign principles. Hosted by the grassroots group Bitshala, it aims to build India's Bitcoin ecosystem.

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

SatsConf 2025(November 7–8, 2025) Will take place in São Paulo, Brazil. The largest Bitcoin conference in Brazil, focusing on bringing a spotlight to global majority Bitcoin developments with keynotes, workshops, and networking.
Mining Disrupt (November 11–13, 2025) Will take place in Irving Convention Center, Texas, USA. Billed as the world's largest Bitcoin Mining Conference & Expo, this event focuses on the mining industry, hardware, and sustainable energy solutions.
Bitcoin Amsterdam (November 13–14, 2025) Takes place at SugarFactory, Amsterdam, Netherlands. A major European conference for Bitcoin enthusiasts, developers, and industry leaders to discuss technological advancements, global adoption, and policy.
Digital Freedom With Nostr & Bitcoin (November 02, 2025) the event features discussions on Nostr and Bitcoin. Also, newbies will be assisted to set up their free Nostr account, free Bitcoin Lightning wallet, etc.
Bitcoin Whitepaper Masterclass (6-8 November, 2025) This takes place virtually over a span of 3 days educating the attendees across all major areas of the Bitcoin ecosystem as well as introducing them to decentralised media on Nostr via Yakihonne ⁠YakiHonne
Nostrasia (November 22nd, 2025) Takes place at Crypto Lounge GOX(in Tokyo). Not just for Nostr users, anyone interested in decentralized social media is welcome! Talks, merch, and even a shrine where you can draw your fortune. Lots of fun content awaits!