Storm of Satoshi - The Brief History of #Zapathon

Nostr community will continue to grow over time which does lend merit to a brief history lesson to avoid confusion. With this said I would like to offer the origin of #Zapathon and how it’s evolved over time.

In February of 2023 we were just getting the hang of zapping within the Nostr Protocol. Prior to the invention of zaps we were posting invoices to pay which clearly was inefficient yet entertaining in this new frontier we had grown to appreciate.

Nostr was just starting to take off via the Lightning Network and one wallet was gaining steam as the de facto zap speed leader. That wallet was Wallet of Satoshi (WoS). Custodial or not, the ease of use and instant “no kyc” sign up it gained attention among the plebs. So much so that one day in February their system was becoming bogged down with Nostr zaps.

On February 27th WoS posted this - https://image.nostr.build/c90b6867a87f9b6aa1d8c75e10650ac78378caa44d5571a40d3596f8f39e6a5d.png

This got me thinking…. ok, they upgraded their system. They think they are good now. Would if we pushed it further. Afterall, if Nostr will continue growing, zaps will too. From that moment the #Zapathon planning was initiated.

On March 2nd, 2023 it began with this post - https://image.nostr.build/f658d5ca29fb595cfdfb8b89dd6d6b5db3a1d2ee3c5853ec4f30ada8d104049e.jpg

From that 15 minutes of success the pleb community catered the format. #Zapathon was scheduled weekly, every Thursday / Friday 5PM EST for 30 Minutes of non stop zapping. The sat amount wasn’t the goal, the frequency of zaps was. This laid the ground game for the following weeks ahead.

Wallet of Satoshi was an admirable foe. They continued to provoke and give network feedback as we went back and forth shutting them down or falling short. It was a mutual beneficial stress test for Nostr and WoS.

https://image.nostr.build/daa126bf5acaec168836d578429d72fe595c20140ff6e6d6c4ac2f8fbeec68de.png

The battles were intense and rewarding from a community perspective. It was a match to gasoline on the meme culture. We used Pablo’s ZapLife.LOL as a leaderboard to inspire competion. We had goals, we had motivation and we were all working together to build the network for tomorrow.

After some time the momentum shifted, Apple banned Zaps on Damus and Wallet of Satoshi removed themselves from the USA app stores. #Zapathon just wasn’t what it had been. But nonetheless we had the memories, we have the stories. We had a concept for the future.

The concept of #Zapathon today is used for fun, in a more ambiguous fashion. Sometimes used on a special occassion, to test new client integrations or large migrations to enrich the community zap culture for newcomers. A fun way to express that we are different. A global community that transacts frictionless on freedom tech with freedom money.

#Zapathon is not dead. it’s a sleeping giant. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the brief history lesson.