Oddbean new post about login | logout One of the coolest new services that I discovered at @BTCPrague was @vexl from @satsdisco. It's a peer to peer bitcoin trading app, with a web of trust, and no KYC. The WoT doesn't use Nostr, at least yet, because "Nostr needs more users to make that WoT more viable" and now relies on your phone's contact list. I can understand that. I guess we'll have to bug him in a year when Nostr is doing numbers 😂🫂
I have tried to use it last autumn after I met these brilliant guys in BTC Conf in innsbruck, but the amount of offers outside the chzeck republic was neglectable. Is it more adopted by now ?
I hope it will. But we have vexling in blood since the occupation, when western stuff was only for bons, it's the czech way of becoming the laughing monster as always. Maybe eastern Germany will be more prone to it:))
it seems czech is where it's most popular now, but maybe that changes in the future.
Hey! That was me! And yes but it takes word of mouth. You gotta tell people! We are a non-profit so it’s really grassroots!
Did you get it off TestFlight already or is that on purpose?
Apple currently calls us reckless and inappropriate. We are on TestFlight while we appeal and work to get vexl available on iOS App Store.
I agree! It is a cool service indeed. I created an account to help grow the network with my contacts from Latam, US, and Eu. I think is good to join.
I also talked to them about a possible WoT nostr integration. Great to hear that it is on their minds. I was a bit worried about the phone number kyc - they told me that only a hash of the phone number is stored on their side.
i asked the exact same question and was told the exact same thing too. great seeing you again for a few minutes, Florian. sorry we didn't get to talk more. the booth was crazy busy.
Vexl is pretty epic. It goes hand in hand with 21 in Prague. My first time at 21 meeting a year ago I knew nothing, came in with roughly 6000CZK and hope. (Nearly all that money I spent now at btc prague😀). And I left with filled Bitlifi wallet, linked Bolt card and some merch - and no cash at all. 😆 Huge help is @Vojta, the guy I keep around since. It's my vexl/btc/nostr superhero. Or as I call him, my pet vexler.👀😆 He can't help himself, he made almost every seller at btc prague snort orange. It's such a good thing to get a pet vexler.🤙 #vexl #introductions #shoutout #btcprague #praha #czechstr
Yo @satsdisco ! We need an APK so we can put Vexl on zap.store Given you deal with very private data, you could work on reproducible builds to show (not tell) you're not rugging people and improve your reputation 😎
Looks great but why do I need to provide a phone number to set up?
Phone number is your web of trust, vexl doesn’t see your phone number. Phone numbers are the way you are connected with your network. All numbers are hashed. Check out this article: https://vexl.it/post/understanding-vexl-security-privacy-and-building-a-web-of-trust
I love this! But Nostr will need more than just a larger user base to provide reliable Web of Trust verification. We’re gonna need better WoT tools. Specifically, Nostr users have no means to explicitly “mark” another npub as “trusted”. Web of Trust currently depends on arbitrary algos (different for every client) to “imply” or “derive” that one user trusts another. Follow does not equal Trust. Nostr needs a WoT standard. nostr:note13ndmeephr80m5zkja9d7tg2h2z0a0ga295hz76fkqujfv08hp0qskpvy30
We had a great chat with him on this topic last month: https://fountain.fm/episode/wn9X9vevZHLmv93o01yl