Tip any Nostr creator in USDC on Solana — no backend, no custody.
Inspiration Nostr proved something important: social data works better when it's open. Notes live on relays, clients compete, and nobody owns the graph. But Nostr's native tipping — zaps — runs on Bitcoin Lightning, which is hard to get if you live somewhere like Dakar, where I'm building from. Getting Lightning liquidity, channels and custody right is a real barrier. Meanwhile, stablecoins on…
Kola is a tipping system for Nostr creators on the Solana blockchain, created by a solo developer in just 48 hours for the MLH × Solana Hackathon. It enables anyone to tip Nostr creators in USDC, a stablecoin with near-instant settlement and low fees. No server or custody is required; the platform utilizes Solana's public RPC for transaction verification.
The process involves a creator opting in by publishing their Solana address on their Nostr profile, followed by users zapping the creator with a USDC amount via their preferred wallet. Each zap embeds a one-time reference key, which the system uses to confirm the transaction on-chain. The result is a transparent and decentralized tipping mechanism that leverages Nostr's open data graph and Solana's efficient payment infrastructure.
The developer overcame challenges such as ensuring proper transaction simulation, handling precision in USDC amounts, and dealing with potential issues in wallet UX and devnet environments. The result is a serverless payment verification system that demonstrates the potential of open-source protocols and decentralized finance on Solana.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
