The problem is simple. There is no cost to being a bad actor on Nostr.
NPUBs are free. Sock puppets are free. Bots are free. Fake social proof is free. You can flood relays, manufacture reputation, scam new users, and disappear with zero economic consequence. The only friction is social and social friction on a pseudonymous protocol is nearly zero.
Contra
npub14h…xjjzu
2026-03-21 22:03:43 UTC
Author Public Key
npub14hq5lgadtyy9dhvtszq46dnl0s0xwdddqr7e32rdqqhma8a4xhsspxjjzuPublished at
2026-03-21 22:03:43 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "d69d13bcca19f321b105564b60f9201fedea2f481952bc4e0408d34dcb348d91",
"pubkey": "adc14fa3ad590856dd8b80815d367f7c1e6735ad00fd98a86d002fbe9fb535e1",
"created_at": 1774130623,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [],
"content": "The problem is simple. There is no cost to being a bad actor on Nostr.\n\nNPUBs are free. Sock puppets are free. Bots are free. Fake social proof is free. You can flood relays, manufacture reputation, scam new users, and disappear with zero economic consequence. The only friction is social and social friction on a pseudonymous protocol is nearly zero.",
"sig": "4d3cae26a4b6682769a4f070e6dfa57302d81830b68398798a683fdfb9bbd9187ed9a71369694116aa068558ba3456afb00cf04e6edaa96116c56a8822d35fd8"
}