Decentralization Social Platform Damus Launches: Can the Nostr protocol Become the "Twitter Killer"?

On February 1, 2023, the social application Damus, based on the Nostr protocol, officially landed on the Apple App Store. As soon as the app was launched, it sparked heated discussions in the crypto community, with many users sharing their Nostr public keys on social platforms. Some believe that the Nostr protocol has the potential to become a "Twitter killer".

Nostr is a minimalist Decentralization social protocol, fully known as "Notes and Other Content for Relay Transmission". Users can broadcast messages by connecting to relays and signing with their private keys, and anyone can send messages to specific users using their public keys. Utilizing asymmetric encryption, users can also engage in end-to-end encrypted private communication. This mechanism is similar to Bitcoin transactions, both employing public key encryption.

The Damus application features a simple interface, with a layout similar to Twitter, divided into four sections: homepage, direct messages, search/square, and message notifications. Users can post, comment, like, and share, but some features are still not fully developed, such as the inability to upload images directly, only allowing image links to be pasted. Direct messages use end-to-end encryption and are distributed through a decentralized relay, without relying on centralized servers.

Compared to similar protocols like Lens, Nostr chooses to build on Bitcoin rather than Ethereum. Nostr has no entry barriers, allowing users to create accounts freely, which also leads to faster dissemination. However, the Nostr ecosystem is still in its early stages, and the product experience needs improvement.

As an open, censorship-resistant, permissionless communication protocol, Nostr has broad prospects. With the listing of Damus on the App Store, the Nostr protocol will reach more users. However, whether the protocol can be widely adopted still requires further improvement of the product experience and lowering the user threshold. If features like key custody can be launched in the future, it will help attract more ordinary users.