The Silver Checkmark of Freedom: How to Make Your Nostr Identity Immortal (Guide)

Greetings, earthlings and strategists.

In the old financial system (fiat), you don't own your money — the bank does. In the old web (Web2), you don't own your identity — X, YouTube, or Instagram does. When they don't like what you're saying, they shut you down.

On Nostr, it's different. This is self-custody — not just for Bitcoin, but for your voice too.

Many of you use Primal or Damus and have addresses like name@primal.net. That's convenient, but it's still a rented apartment. If Primal disappears tomorrow, your shiny address goes with it.

Today I'll show you how to become an owner. We'll claim the silver verified badge by cryptographically linking our identity to our own website (NIP-05).

The best part: this method requires no dedicated server and the basic version is completely free.

The Goal: Independence

We want to move away from: Alien-Investor@primal.net (dependent).
Toward one of two tiers:

• The Starter Solution: your-name@your-user.github.io
  Status: Verified & free.
  Caveat: You're no longer tied to a social media platform, but technically you're now "living" at GitHub (Microsoft).
• The Final Boss Solution: your-name@your-domain.org
  Status: 100% sovereign.
  Requirement: You buy your own domain (approx. €12/year). GitHub then becomes nothing more than a replaceable service provider.

For this guide we'll use GitHub Pages as the technical foundation. Why? Because it's stable, provides free HTTPS, and handles the heavy lifting for us.

Step 1: Compute Your True Name (npub to Hex)

This is where many people stumble: your Nostr client (e.g. Primal) usually displays your npub key (starts with npub1...). That's human-readable, but for technical verification we need the raw machine code: the Hex Key.

You often won't find this Hex Key directly in the app. Here's how to get it:

1. Copy your public key (the npub1...) from your profile.
2. Go to a converter like NostrCheck.me or Damus Key Converter.
3. Paste your npub there.
4. Copy the Hex Key that is displayed. It consists only of digits (0–9) and letters (a–f), e.g. c4fe4db....

Security note: This is safe — you're only converting your public key. Never enter your private key (nsec) on any website!

Step 2: The Infrastructure (GitHub)

We're building ourselves a free "server" (static website).

1. Create an account on GitHub.
2. Create a new repository.
3. Name it exactly: your-github-name.github.io
   Example: If your GitHub username is "satoshi-fan", the repo must be named satoshi-fan.github.io.
4. Set it to Public.

Note: If the site doesn't go live automatically, enable GitHub Pages in the repo Settings under "Pages" for the main branch.

Step 3: The Proof (the JSON File)

The Nostr protocol looks for a very specific file in a very specific folder on your site.

1. Create a file in your new repo.
2. Enter the filename as: .well-known/nostr.json
   Important: The dot before well-known is critical! (When you create the file via the GitHub web interface using the full path, the folder is normally created automatically.)

The file contents:

{
  "names": {
    "satoshi": "YOUR_HEX_KEY_FROM_STEP_1_HERE"
  }
}

• "satoshi": This is the name you want before the @ sign (e.g. satoshi@satoshi-fan.github.io).
• The Hex Key: Insert the code you computed in Step 1 here (without the npub!).

Save the file ("Commit changes").

Step 4: The "Sovereignty Upgrade" in Your Profile

Now we need to tell the world (the Nostr network) where the proof lives.

1. Open your Nostr profile (e.g. in Primal).
2. Go to Edit Profile.
3. Find the field NIP-05 (or "Nostr Address" / "Verified Address").
4. Enter your new address there: satoshi@satoshi-fan.github.io

(Final Boss Solution only: If you want something like satoshi@alien-investor.org instead of the GitHub address, you'll obviously need to have bought the domain alien-investor.org from a registrar first and linked it to GitHub via DNS settings ("CNAME").)

Save.

The Result

Within a few minutes, something happens:

• The client checks your website in the background.
• It finds your Hex Key in the file.
• It matches it against your profile.

BOOM: Depending on the client, the provider-tied badge disappears and is replaced by a neutral verification mark (often silver) or a note like "Verified nostr address".

You've just made yourself less dependent on platforms. You're no longer a user. You're a node. Welcome to freedom.

"Not your keys, not your coins" applies to your identity too. Guard your keys.