Recently, I had a conversation with Vitor Pomplona, the founder of Nostr client Amethyst, to explore how Nostr in 2025 closely resembles Bitcoin in 2012 — somewhat unrefined yet thrilling to engage with.
Nostr, a decentralized framework for social media and other communication methods, is merely four years old, and developers are still working on enhancing the user experience within the applications they’ve built. These applications include platforms like Primal (akin to X) to Olas (similar to Instagram) to Yakihonne (resembling Substack).
What sets Nostr clients apart, however, is that users can “zap” (transfer small quantities of) bitcoin to each other in order to express gratitude for the content shared by their peers.
Pomplona remains optimistic that an increasing number of Nostr clients are beginning to gain momentum, much like Bitcoin did 13 years prior.
“We are observing the formation of communities and the movement of more funds,” Pomplona shared with Bitcoin Magazine during the interview.
A Bitcoin-Driven Creator Economy
Pomplona acknowledged that a significant aspect of social media is to provide avenues for users to monetize their creations in ways that are not feasible in their physical surroundings.
“[Certain social media] users aspire to earn a living,” Pomplona stated. “They believe they can accomplish more through social media than they can individually or within their localities.”
Pomplona is confident that Nostr clients can help turn that aspiration into a reality, and he is committed to facilitating this for users.
“Our ultimate objective is: If we can enable creators to earn a living, we will succeed as a platform.”
This possibility for users to make a living using Nostr increases daily, particularly as the Nostr user community grows and it continues to evolve as the largest bitcoin circular economy globally.
Amethyst
In the development of Amethyst, Pomplona envisioned a Nostr client that functioned as an all-encompassing app, inspired by a plan similar to what Elon Musk proposed for X (formerly Twitter).
“Amethyst emerged around the same period Elon was suggesting the acquisition of Twitter,” Pomplona detailed. “He was proposing creating a mega app out of Twitter, and I pursued something similar.”
While Pomplona understands that Amethyst hasn’t fully realized this vision, he’s thrilled that it has assumed a different function. It acts as an incubator for individuals developing new Nostr clients.
“Amethyst assists everyone in launching their applications,” he remarked. “Olas originated from Amethyst.”
Nostr As A Bitcoin Onboarding Tool
Pomplona views Nostr as an excellent method to introduce people to Bitcoin, although he doesn’t believe this should be the primary objective of Nostr clients.
“The primary intention for [Nostr] applications is to encourage people to engage in their pursuits — to be creative, to converse with friends, or to communicate with family,” Pomplona clarified.
“No application should overtly discuss either Nostr or Bitcoin. They ought to simply be what they are,” he emphasized.
Pomplona is confident that, over time, users of the app will inevitably come to understand Nostr’s self-sovereignty, which empowers them to control their own data and learn about Bitcoin.
“[They’ll recognize that] the platform conveniently enables them to manage their own data and utilize the finest payment protocol available today.”
He also pointed out that most newcomers to Nostr are attracted by the freedom and censorship resistance it provides.
“Over the past two years, a majority of new Nostr users have joined due to the desire for freedom, often resulting from censorship in their nations,” Pomplona noted. “They subsequently learned about Bitcoin afterward.”