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PUBPAY: Major Update Release

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What if Lightning payments felt as natural as posting on social media? What if you could turn any event into a beautiful, interactive experience?

After months of development, we're excited to share a complete rewrite of PUBPAY. This update transforms how you request payments, pay for services, or engage with an audience.

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TL;DR

Lightning payments as social as Nostr.

Most payment tools are clunky — they require sign-ups, charge fees, and lock you into their platform. PUBPAY is different. It's a complete platform for social payments built on Nostr and Bitcoin's Lightning Network. No sign-ups. No fees. No central authority. Just fast, permissionless payments.

What you get:

  • PUBPAY: Create payment requests and get paid instantly. Set flexible rules, use multiple payment methods, get a verified identifier, and scan QR codes to navigate. Perfect for creators, fundraisers, or anyone who wants to get paid.

  • PUBPAY LIVE: Turn any payment request into a stunning display. Real-time animations, complete visual customization, works on any screen. For performances, streams, or events where payments become part of the show.

  • PUBPAY Multi LIVE (NEW): Schedule-driven displays for events. Set it up once, let it run automatically. Interactive timeline, simulation mode, and real-time sync across all screens. For festivals, conferences, or any event.

Built on Nostr and Lightning. Permissionless. Open source. Yours.

The Journey

PUBPAY was born during a Sovereign Engineering cohort, a 6-week intensive program in Madeira where builders collaborate on Bitcoin and Nostr applications. We've had a deep interest in Lightning payments and experience from building Chain Duel—a competitive Lightning video game we've been displaying at Bitcoin conferences around the world for nearly 3 years. With support from some of Nostr's best minds, we built the foundation for what PUBPAY would become.

PUBPAY LIVE came to life through a partnership with Plan B Network and Roger9000 for his performance at the Adopting Bitcoin after party. That night showed us something: when payments become part of the performance, something magical happens.

Since then, we've powered LIVE displays at Bitcoin 2025, BCC8333, and other smaller events. The reception from artists, event organizers, and audiences has been incredible. That energy—seeing people engage with Lightning payments in real-time, watching performers connect with their audience, hearing event organizers say "this is exactly what we needed"—that's what motivated us to make PUBPAY better than ever.

This release is the result of that journey. Built with real feedback, tested at real events, refined through real use.

PUBPAY: Send and receive Lightning payments as easily as posting on social media.

Think of PUBPAY as Venmo meets Twitter. PUBPAY lets you create payment requests (we call them "paynotes") and share them like any social media post. Whether you're fundraising, splitting bills, selling products, or requesting payments for services. No complicated forms, no merchant accounts, just fast, social payments.

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Key Features

  • Flexible Payment Rules: Create payment requests that fit your exact needs. Set amounts, goals, and limits.
  • Multiple Payment Methods: Pay with a Lightning Wallet, WebLN, or Nostr Wallet Connect.
  • Flexible Login Options: Choose what works for you. Sign in with extension (nip-07), signer (nip-46), or private key (nsec).
  • Secure Key Storage: Your keys are encrypted using either your device key or, optionally, a password.
  • NIP-05 Identifier Service: Get a verified identifier (e.g., yourname@pubpay.me) for your Nostr account.
  • Anonymous Payments: Pay without logging in. For privacy-conscious users.
  • Mnemonic Recovery: Recover your account anytime with just your words.
  • QR Code Scanner: Scan any notes, profiles, or events to navigate instantly. Even scan your nsec to log in.

PUBPAY LIVE: Turn any Nostr note into a payable display.

That's PUBPAY — Lightning payments made social. But imagine this: You're on stage, performing. A QR code appears on the screen behind you. Someone in the audience scans it and zaps you 100,000 sats. The screen explodes with an animation—their name, their avatar, spinning letters spelling "TOP ZAP." The audience sees it. More zaps come in. More animations. The energy builds. PUBPAY LIVE transforms payments into a performance.

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Key Features

  • Real-time Notifications: Animated notifications appear when new payments come in
  • Lightning Payments for Everyone: No account needed—anyone with Lightning can pay. Shows received amounts in USD, EUR, and others
  • Stage-Ready Display: Clean, distraction-free interface that works perfectly on stage screens and projectors
  • Complete Visual Control: Quick presets, full customization, multiple layout options, QR code blend modes, shareable styles, and more

Multi Live: Schedule-driven live displays for meetups, festivals, and conferences.

PUBPAY LIVE is perfect for one display, one event, one moment. But what if you're managing multiple stages? What if you need different performers rotating seamlessly? What if you want to rehearse your entire event before going live? Multi Live lets you program everything beforehand. Use the intuitive timeline interface to schedule which paynote displays when, set rotation intervals, and watch it run. No more manual switching. No more missed transitions.

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Key Features

  • Interactive Timeline: Visual editor for scheduling. See slots, conflicts, and all details instantly.
  • Simulation Mode: Rehearse your entire event. Play, pause, speed up, and jump between slots.
  • Automatic Rotation: Multiple items per slot rotate at precise schedule times.
  • Real-time Sync: Keep all screens in sync instantly. No manual refresh needed.
  • Secure & Safe: Separate admin and viewer links. Password-protected admin access.

What It All Adds Up To

PUBPAY starts with a simple idea: payments should be easy. Create a paynote, share it, get paid. But it doesn't stop there.

PUBPAY LIVE takes those payments and makes them visible, interactive, and engaging. It makes payments part of the experience.

Multi Live scales it all. Program multiple displays, schedule content, and let it run automatically. From single displays to multi-room events—PUBPAY grows with you. All built on Nostr, all permissionless, all yours.

Join Us

Whether you're a creator monetizing your content, an event organizer, a developer, or just a pleb splitting the bill with friends—PUBPAY is for you.

We're building something special for the community. If you're passionate about making payments faster, more social, and more accessible, we'd love to have you.

Get Started → Create your first paynote and experience Lightning payments made social.

Or explore our other products:

And this is just the beginning—PubPay Live will be powering some of the biggest Bitcoin conferences this month.

Built with đź’ś by the PubPay team

Acknowledgments

PUBPAY wouldn't exist without the support and inspiration from the Nostr and Bitcoin communities. Special thanks to:

  • Sovereign Engineering cohort - Where PUBPAY was born. A 6-week intensive program in Madeira where builders collaborate on Bitcoin and Nostr applications.
  • Plan B Network, Adopting Bitcoin and Roger9000 - Our first LIVE partnerships, where we saw payments become part of the performance.
  • Bitcoin 2025, BCC8333, and all event organizers - For trusting us and showing us what PUBPAY could become.
  • The Nostr community - For building the protocol that makes all of this possible.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Glossary

Lightning Network: A second-layer payment protocol built on Bitcoin that enables instant, low-cost transactions.

Nostr: A decentralized social network protocol that's censorship-resistant and doesn't rely on any central server. PUBPAY is built on Nostr, which means your payments are social and permissionless.

Paynote: A payment request you create in PUBPAY. It's like a post, but payable—share it anywhere and people can pay you instantly via Lightning.

Zap: A Lightning payment verified on Nostr. Social and visible.

Sats (Satoshis): The smallest unit of Bitcoin. 1 Bitcoin = 100,000,000 sats.

nsec: Your Nostr private key—the secret key that proves you own your account. PUBPAY encrypts and stores this securely.

NIP-05: A Nostr standard for mapping human-readable identifiers (like yourname@pubpay.me) to Nostr public keys. PUBPAY offers a verified identifier service.

NIP-07: A Nostr standard that allows browser extensions to sign your transactions. No password needed.

NIP-46: A Nostr standard for remote signing—allows you to use a separate device or service to sign your events.

WebLN: A browser standard that lets websites interact with Lightning wallets.

Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC): A protocol that connects you to a Lightning wallet through Nostr.

Mnemonic: A 12-word recovery phrase that lets you recover your account if you lose access. Keep it safe—it's your backup.

Permissionless: No one can stop you from using PUBPAY. No sign-ups required, no approval needed, no central authority controlling access.

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