I’m not a protocol expert but the more I try to understand how Nostr works under the hood, the more a simple question keeps echoing in my mind.
If Nostr is built on top of relays, aren’t we at risk of relay centralization?
I mean, just as a thought experiment:
Let’s say we get to 10 million users.
And we have, I don’t know, 10,000 relays.
Is that a lot? Or is that actually very few, considering the scale?
Because if those relays start to consolidate around a few major operators whether for performance, convenience, funding, or discoverability what’s to stop a regulator from severely punishing one… and using that fear to make the rest comply?
Isn’t that how censorship always creeps in? Not all at once but through pressure, chilling effects, and control over key infrastructure?
Don’t get me wrong I love Nostr. I love what it stands for.
But I want to understand where the pressure points are before it scales.
And this one feels important.
So here’s my honest question, especially for devs and protocol nerds:
Is Nostr truly decentralized and distributed?
Or are we quietly rebuilding the same central points of failure we thought we were escaping?
#asknostr #nostr #relays #decentralization #censorshipResistance #opendiscussion #nostrdevs #protocolDesign #relayCentralization #freedomTech
