We recently hosted a Hivemind Ventures LP/Portfolio day, where we showcased a variety of presentations. The Nostr panel was particularly good so I’ve decided to release it publicly.

The panel features an all-star cast, including: Bob Scully (founder of boardwalk.cash), David King (co-host of Nostr News), Oscar Merry (co-founder, Fountain), and Moritz Kaminski (co-founder, Alby).

We discuss:

* Why Nostr feels like the early Internet

* How Nostr (Nostr Wallet Connect) serves as the universal messaging layer for Bitcoin/Lightning Network payments

* How Nostr’s open identity and social graph allows apps like Fountain to build new experiences like discovering the podcasts your friends listen to

* Why Nostr is so much more than social media. The real promise of Nostr is a social Internet where data is open and users control their own identity, allowing for a Cambrian explosion of new social apps. Imagine automatically finding your friends’ reviews on goodreads, listens on Spotify, and highlights on Kindle

* How Nostr compares to other projects (e.g. Bluesky and Farcaster) attempting to build open publishing for the web. Why Nostr is the only neutral solution for bringing user-owned identity and open data to any web app today

* What business models might be viable for startups building in and around Nostr

* Will Nostr bring more people to Bitcoin or will Bitcoin bring more people to Nostr?

Learn more about Fountain, Alby, Boardwalk Cash, and Nostr News

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Fountain

Follow Max on Twitter and Nostr

Follow DK, Oscar, Bob, and Moritz on Nostr

Follow Max on Stacker News

Read Max's Writings here

Learn more about Hivemind Ventures

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hivemindvc.substack.com