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Eleventh Wave of Nostr Grants
We're pleased to announce our eleventh wave of nostr grants. This round includes support for projects focused on decentralized live streaming, off-grid connectivity, web-of-trust infrastructure, private messaging, and open tools for game development. These efforts represent a growing ecosystem of builders working to expand nostr's capabilities while strengthening censorship resistance and permissionless access.
The five projects receiving support in this wave are:
Our support for nostr is made possible by the generosity of our donors. Their contributions help us support innovative, mission-aligned projects like these. If you'd like to help sustain this work, consider donating to The Nostr Fund:
Let's look at these projects and how they align with our mission.
Swae
Swae is a mobile-first live streaming application built on the nostr protocol, supporting decentralized video broadcasts directly from smartphones. Designed to operate in a permissionless environment, Swae allows creators to host and watch streams with integrated Lightning-powered micropayments through Zaps. The current prototype—available on TestFlight—supports nostr account creation, live stream viewing, and stream initiation via RTMP URLs.
This grant will fund the deployment of a dedicated streaming server, integration of real-time nostr chat, and expanded Lightning payment support. Additional roadmap priorities include Cashu protocol support, a TikTok-style clip discovery feature, and tools for stream analytics. Development will continue to focus on core streaming reliability, improved payment flows, and scalable content management.
Repository: suhailsaqan/swae
License: GPL v3.0
HAMSTR
HAMSTR enables nostr communication over ham radio, offering offline access to the network in regions without internet, under censorship, or during infrastructure outages. By bridging off-grid clients with internet-connected relay gateways through packet radio, HAMSTR delivers resilient messaging optimized for extremely low-bandwidth transmission. The current implementation supports full kind:1 note exchange with compression, error correction, and local key storage—all accessible via a web-based client.
Grant funding will support development across six milestones: allowing for off-grid Zaps and ecash via NWC and Cashu; offline bitcoin transaction support with a nostr relay bot; GUI server tools for global operators; FLDIGI integration for long-range communications; Reticulum-based encryption and routing; and a flagship radio installation in Arizona to serve as a global access point. HAMSTR aims to ensure decentralized communication and payments remain viable—even when the internet is not.
Repository: LibertyFarmer/hamstr
License: GPL v3.0
Vertex
Vertex provides Web of Trust infrastructure for nostr, helping client developers filter spam, personalize content, and preserve decentralization. The service continuously crawls nostr relays to map the social graph and applies PageRank-style algorithms to return relevance-ranked results through DVM requests. The project has shipped core tooling—including crawler and relay software—and integrated its VerifyReputation DVM into live apps.
This grant will support the development of a Web of Trust-based search DVM for discovering trusted profiles, a fast public key viewer with impersonator detection, and algorithmic improvements using mutes and reports. Future updates will focus on client-side verification of DVM responses and personalization enhancements based on user interests and metadata—all while minimizing infrastructure requirements for clients.
Repositories: vertex-lab
License: MIT
Nostr Double Ratchet
Nostr Double Ratchet brings end-to-end encrypted private messaging to nostr clients by offering a library that implements the Double Ratchet algorithm. By protecting message metadata and securing histories even if a user's nostr key is compromised, this approach significantly enhances privacy across the network. The protocol is currently available as a TypeScript library and integrated into clients such as Iris and Damus. Complementary work includes a high-performance Rust/LMDB server for notifications and webhook subscriptions.
Upcoming milestones include group messaging support, multi-device session management modeled on Signal, and the public release of Double Ratchet in Damus. The team also plans to finalize and standardize the protocol through NIP-117 and NIP-118, expanding integration across both web and native clients. This work aims to make secure, decentralized messaging a native capability across the nostr ecosystem.
Repository: mmalmi/nostr-double-ratchet
License: MIT
Nostr Game Engine
Nostr Game Engine is building a free, open-source, royalty-free engine for game developers—powered by nostr. Built using jMonkeyEngine, the project replaces traditional centralized systems with nostr-native modules while preserving compatibility. The initial release consists of modular extensions, with plans to evolve into a dedicated engine with improved architecture.
This grant will support development across several areas: interoperable player authorization via NIP-46 signers, WebRTC signaling over nostr, in-game advertising via nostr-DAN, matchmaking, social profiles via NIP-58, social features (NIP-17 and NIP-28), DRM/release tools, and micropayments via NWC, Cashu, and Lightning. The goal is to offer a full-featured, cross-platform engine for browsers, desktops, and mobile that requires only a nostr relay as the backend—significantly reducing infrastructure burdens for independent creators.
Repository: NostrGameEngine/ngengine
License: BSD-3-Clause
We're proud to support these projects and look forward to their continued contributions to the nostr ecosystem. OpenSats will continue funding free and open-source work that strengthens decentralization, privacy, and resilience. If you're building something aligned with our mission, we encourage you to apply for funding.
Our support for nostr is made possible by the generosity of our donors. To support the developers building open tools for the nostr ecosystem, consider contributing to The Nostr Fund.