Bitcoin Custodian Nostr Assets Hits Pause on Fresh Deposits

In a recent development that has caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community, Bitcoin custodian Nostr Assets announced a temporary pause in accepting new deposits. This move comes in the wake of an unprecedented surge in user engagement and a contentious allegation from a key figure in the industry.

Nostr Assets Refutes Fiatjaf’s Scam Allegations

Nostr Assets, a platform facilitating transactions of Satoshis via the Lightning and Taproot Networks, has experienced a significant influx of new users. Since October 30, over 70,000 individuals have joined the platform, contributing to 280 Bitcoin in fresh deposits, an equivalent of approximately $11.8 million.

This remarkable growth has led the developers to caution users against making new deposits for the time being. An announcement on Telegram on December 5 emphasized the need for users to wait for further updates before proceeding with transactions on Nostr Assets.

Adding a twist to these developments, Fiatjaf, the creator of the Nostr protocol, accused Nostr Assets of running an affinity scam. Fiatjaf pointed out that despite using the Nostr name, Nostr Assets is not directly linked to the Nostr protocol, primarily used for interchanging social profiles across platforms. However, these claims have not been legally verified.

In response, Nostr Assets’ developers refuted these allegations, stating that using the Nostr, Taproot Assets, and Lightning technologies is integral to their operation. They emphasized that Nostr is an open-sourced, decentralized, and censorship-resistant network, open to development by any entity.

Unique Bitcoin Inscription Spurs NFT Growth

In related news, the total volume of non-fungible token (NFT) sales on the Bitcoin network recently surpassed the $1 billion mark. Concurrently, Ordinals, a meme token minted on the Bitcoin network, achieved a market cap of $1 billion. These milestones underscore the growing popularity of BRC-20 tokens, introduced by Web3 developer Rodarmor in January, representing a significant technological advancement in Bitcoin’s 15-year history.

Bitcoin Ordinals, employing a unique numbering system for each satoshi, facilitates the tracking and transfer of these units. The Bitcoin Inscription process, which attaches additional data to each satoshi, enables the creation of unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. It is important to note that the ORDI token listed on Binance is not associated with the developers of Bitcoin Ordinals.

Read Also: Bitcoin ETF: Grayscale CEO is Optimistic on Securing Approval