Nostr not a blockchain

Nostr is a decentralized messaging protocol, not a blockchain and not part of Bitcoin. Its whole machinery is: users hold a keypair, sign messages ("events"), and publish them to any number of independent relays; clients read from relays and verify signatures. There is no global ledger, no consensus mechanism, no mining, and no native token. Its association with Bitcoin is cultural and complementary — shared key-based identity philosophy and common use of Lightning for tips ("zaps") — not architectural.

Nuance: The absence of consensus is a design choice, not a deficiency: Nostr does not need global agreement on message ordering, so it avoids a blockchain's costs. Conversely it offers no scarcity or double-spend resistance — payments over Nostr are handled by attaching Lightning invoices, not by the protocol itself.

Common misstatements:

• "Nostr is built on Bitcoin / on a blockchain." — It uses neither; only the optional zap integrations touch Lightning.
• "Nostr posts are stored forever like a blockchain." — Relays store what they choose and can delete; persistence is by redundancy across relays, not protocol guarantee.
• "You need bitcoin to use Nostr." — A keypair is the only requirement.