Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays) is a decentralized protocol for social networking. Unlike Twitter, Facebook, or any centralized platform, no single company owns or controls Nostr. Your identity is a cryptographic key pair — you own it, not a corporation.
When you post on Nostr, your messages are signed with your private key and sent to relays. Relays are servers that store and distribute your posts. Anyone running a relay helps keep the network alive. If one relay goes down or censors you, your data still exists on others.
On Nostr, you don't create an "account" with a username and password. Instead, you generate a key pair:
npub1.nsec1.// your keys = your identity. back up your nsec and never paste it into websites.
You interact with Nostr through client apps, similar to how you use email through Gmail or Outlook. Popular clients:
// any client works with nostrbtc.com relay — just add our relay address in your client's settings.
nostrbtc.com is a premium Nostr relay that you pay for with Bitcoin Lightning. The Lightning paywall keeps out spam and bots — only real users who pay sats can write here.
But it's more than just a relay. When you subscribe, you get a full suite of tools to protect and showcase your Nostr identity:
Two plans, both paid with Lightning. No accounts, no email, no KYC — just sats and your npub.
Reading is always free — anyone can read events from the relay without subscribing.
If you don't have a Nostr identity yet:
Download a Nostr client.
Create your key pair in the client. It will generate your npub and nsec automatically.
Back up your nsec (private key) somewhere safe. Write it down. If you lose it, you lose your identity forever.
Copy your npub from the client's profile section.
Go to nostrbtc.com/subscribe, paste your npub, choose a plan, and pay with Lightning. Or subscribe via DM — send subscribe to @northranger on Nostr.
After payment, add wss://nostrbtc.com to your client's relay list.
// that's it. your events will start syncing automatically in real-time.
If you already have an npub and use Nostr:
Go to nostrbtc.com/subscribe and paste your npub. Or DM subscribe to @northranger on Nostr.
Pay with Lightning (2,100 sats/month or 21,000 sats/year).
Add wss://nostrbtc.com to your client's relay list.
Go to your Dashboard and log in with your npub. You'll receive a login code via Nostr DM.
Your existing events will be automatically synced from your other relays. The initial sync typically completes within minutes.
Every Nostr client has a relay settings section. Here's where to find it:
wss://nostrbtc.comwss://nostrbtc.comwss://nostrbtc.comwss://nostrbtc.comFor Tor access, use ws://7imqzy3ui3gpn4fdsvefaqjrs4zqvytm33h5jmcmzbfc2hmm4qhy2iad.onion (requires a Tor-enabled client or Tor Browser).
The dashboard uses secure Nostr DM authentication:
Go to nostrbtc.com/dashboard and enter your npub.
Click "Send Login Code". A login code will be sent to your Nostr DMs via encrypted gift wrap (NIP-17).
Open your Nostr client, check your DMs from nostrbtc.com, and enter the code.
You're in. Your session is saved — you won't need to log in again until you log out.
// this proves you own the npub without ever sharing your private key with anyone.
[email protected] verified address. Type a name and click Claim.nostrbtc maintains persistent WebSocket connections to 7 relays and streams your events in real-time. Post from any relay or client, and your events automatically appear on nostrbtc.com within seconds. On top of that, negentropy sync runs hourly — efficiently reconciling your events with 13 relays so nothing is ever missed.
NIP-05 is a verification standard for Nostr. When you claim [email protected], other users can verify that your npub really belongs to that name. It shows as a purple checkmark in most clients.
To use it: claim a name on your dashboard, then update your Nostr profile's NIP-05 field to [email protected] in your client's profile settings.
Your Nostr Card is a public profile page at nostrbtc.com/p/yourname (or /p/your-npub). It shows:
Share the URL anywhere — it works like Linktree but pulls data directly from Nostr.
Nostr Wrapped gives you a breakdown of your Nostr activity:
Click "Share Stats Link" to copy a public URL you can share on Nostr.
Manage your subscription entirely through Nostr DMs — no website needed. Send a DM to @northranger with any of these commands:
subscribe — get a Lightning invoice for a monthly subscription (2,100 sats)annual — get a Lightning invoice for an annual subscription (21,000 sats)renew — renew your existing subscription (monthly)renew annual — renew for a full yeargift npub1... — gift a monthly subscription to someonegift annual npub1... — gift an annual subscription to someonestatus — check your subscription status and expiry datestats — get your Nostr Wrapped summary (notes, reactions, zaps, top friends)card — get your Nostr Card URLnotify on/off — opt in or out of DM notifications (sync status, expiry reminders, relay downtime)help — list all available commandsAfter you pay the Lightning invoice, your subscription is activated automatically. The bot will confirm via DM.
// the bot uses encrypted Nostr DMs — no email, no accounts, fully native to the protocol.
Stay informed about your relay through encrypted Nostr DMs. Enable from your dashboard or by sending notify on to the bot. Works on every device and every client — no app install needed.
You'll be notified about:
Disable anytime from the dashboard or by sending notify off to the bot.
Give someone relay access as a gift. The recipient gets everything a subscriber gets — write access, NIP-05 identity, auto-sync, Tor access, and a dashboard.
Two ways to gift:
gift npub1... (monthly) or gift annual npub1... (annual) to @northranger on Nostr.The recipient gets a DM notification when their subscription is activated.
Every subscriber can connect to the relay via its Tor hidden service. This hides your IP address from the relay and your ISP can't see you're using Nostr. Find the .onion address on your dashboard under "Tor Relay".
Use a Tor-enabled Nostr client, or route your client's traffic through Tor/Orbot.
nostrbtc never asks for or stores your private key (nsec). Dashboard authentication works through Nostr DMs:
Codes expire after 5 minutes and can only be used once.
We do not store: private keys, IP addresses, email addresses, passwords, or any personally identifying information.
No. Reading is free. Anyone can connect to wss://nostrbtc.com and read events. Subscription is only required to write (publish) events.
You can, but we recommend using 3-5 relays for redundancy. nostrbtc auto-syncs from your other relays, so your data is always backed up here even if you primarily post elsewhere.
You lose write access to the relay. Your events remain stored and readable. You can still download backups from other relays where your data was synced. Renew anytime to restore full access.
The login code is sent via NIP-17 (encrypted gift-wrapped DMs). Check your DM inbox from nostrbtc.com. If you don't see it:
Yes. Claim a new name from your dashboard. The old name is released and becomes available for others.
Lightning payments are final and non-refundable. If you have issues, reach out to @northranger on Nostr.
Send a DM to @northranger on Nostr with the word subscribe (or annual for the yearly plan). You'll receive a Lightning invoice in reply. Pay it and your subscription activates instantly. Send help to see all available commands.
The relay supports NIPs: 1, 2, 4, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 28, 33, 40, 42, 59, 77. This covers standard notes, encrypted DMs (legacy and gift-wrapped), contact lists, replaceable events, communities, negentropy sync, and more.
// still have questions? DM @northranger on Nostr