Maya was setting up the Nostr booth. First day of the Vegas Bitcoin conference. Tables, stickers, QR codes.

“What’s Nostr?”

She didn’t look up. Autopilot.

“Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays.” She straightened a stack of stickers. “Social media you own.”

“Relays?”

“Servers. Anyone can run one. Your posts go everywhere.” She reached for another box of shirts. “And you can send Bitcoin through it.”

“Show me.” He held out his phone across the table.

That got her to stop. She looked up.

He was standing there. Waiting.

She came around the table. Stood next to him. Closer than she needed to be.

Took his phone. Downloaded a client. “Name?”

“Sean.”

She typed it in, handed it back. “Your identity is a cryptographic keypair. Like owning your own key to the internet.” She pulled out her own phone. “No company can shut you down.”

On his screen: a profile. His first note published. “Running Nostr.”

Maya leaned over Sean’s phone to scan his profile’s QR code, and tapped a few buttons.

“Wait, did you just—” Sean stared at his screen. “The app has a wallet?”

“Built in. Check it.”

His eyes went wide. “You just sent me Bitcoin?”

“You’ve been zapped. Twenty-one sats.” Maya smiled. “Welcome to Nostr.”

Sean checked his screen one more time.

“What do I do now?”

Maya grinned. “Now you’ll spend the next two days trying to find anything cooler.”

Someone else walked up to the booth.

Sean stepped back. “You saying I won’t?”

Maya shrugged.

“What’s Nostr?” the question came from the small crowd forming.

Maya lingered on Sean for a breath. Then faced the crowd. “Social media you own.”

Sean made more room. But he didn’t leave.

She onboarded three more people.

He watched the whole thing.

Maya felt the weight of his attention the entire time.

She resisted. Kept her focus on the crowd.