Hello,
As I've registered with Alby a few months ago I told a friend (who complained about the current toxicity of twitter/X) about this new social media Nostr and told him he could get rewarded for posting.
The deal was that I would help him to create his nostr account and get a wallet, https://guides.getalby.com/user-guide/alby-account-and-browser-extension
downloading the extension, creating the nostr account was a breeze, and then ....
As I wanted to send him a few sats to get started
that is when the whole thing went down.
Alby is now forcing its users to get a hub (and a channel), this was not my experience when I started back in March 2024 and I was surprised of this new direction Alby is taking.
Opening a channel costs ~25K sat -- and that was not expected, for a brand new user
Now my friend thinks that this whole new social media and bitcoin stuff is all a big scam.
What can I do?
Is there a way to open a wallet (compatible with Nostr) elsewhere?
Please read here and run your OWN Alby Hub.
Getalby custodial accounts are no longer available.
https://darth-coin.github.io/wallets/getting-started-alby-hub-en.html
Additional guides for your noob friend:
Thanks for the link, this was a big disappointment yesterday,
my friend told me this whole thing feels like a "Freemium Trap" scam.
Where a company initially offers the service for free or with a "limited, exclusive" appeal to build a user base. Once users are invested and reliant on the service, they introduce substantial fees, trapping users.
No. Is not a scam.
In fact they help you be sovereign and not using a custodial account.
When too many people are using a custodial solution it can generate a huge centralization of funds and shit could happen.
Bitcoin means be responsible for your own money.
thanks again, I told him to sign up for walletofsatoshi.com
he is happy about the solution and I understand now the difference between a custodial wallet and the point of this transition made by Alby. All in all, it was a good experience.
Did he manage to use Wallet of Satoshi with Nostr and Alby Extension? ;)
After messing around in the setup,
he setup a primal wallet,
and was happy (no need of wallet of Satoshi anymore)
I didn't know they were forcing it. Is this true, @Alby?
No, it's not true.
We are however reducing the limits on free custodial wallets, coming to zero by the end of 2024.
We are not forcing anyone sir!
Tell your friend to try now, there is a small update - your friend should be able to receive sats without the Hub ;)