Today's Balance
€486.18
Help Nostr apps send trusted ...
€1,815
Estimated Annual Budget
€2,346
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Financial Contributions
Top financial contributors
Wonders of Work
€2,346 EUR since Dec 2025
Open Bunker is all of us
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Thank you for supporting Open Bunker.
Budget
Transparent and open finances.
-€1,815.00 EUR
Paid
+€2,346.00EUR
Completed
Contribution #907296
€
Today’s balance€486.18 EUR
Total raised
€2,301.18 EUR
Total disbursed
€1,815.00 EUR
Estimated annual budget
€2,346.00 EUR
About
Open Bunker lives in a part of the internet that is still new to many people, the decentralized web. Instead of building everything on a few big platforms, the decentralized web is built on open protocols and small pieces that anyone can run and reuse.
For communities and projects on Open Collective this matters. It means the spaces where you organize, publish, and connect are not owned by a single company. They can be moved, forked, mirrored, and rebuilt if needed, without losing your history or your community.
For communities and projects on Open Collective this matters. It means the spaces where you organize, publish, and connect are not owned by a single company. They can be moved, forked, mirrored, and rebuilt if needed, without losing your history or your community.
What is Nostr
Nostr is a simple open protocol for publishing and subscribing to events, things like posts, messages, reactions and more. There are no accounts on a central server. Instead, users have cryptographic keys and their data is stored across many independent relays.
Because Nostr is just a protocol, anyone can build a client, run a relay, or create new tools on top of the same public data. This fits very well with the values of free and open source software and with initiatives that want to avoid lock in and central control.
Nostr is a simple open protocol for publishing and subscribing to events, things like posts, messages, reactions and more. There are no accounts on a central server. Instead, users have cryptographic keys and their data is stored across many independent relays.
Because Nostr is just a protocol, anyone can build a client, run a relay, or create new tools on top of the same public data. This fits very well with the values of free and open source software and with initiatives that want to avoid lock in and central control.
What are keys and why are they hard
On Nostr, your identity is a pair of cryptographic keys.
- Your public key is like your public username that others can follow.
- Your private key is like a very long, very sensitive password that signs everything you publish.
If you lose your private key, you lose control of your Nostr identity. If someone else gets your private key, they can pretend to be you. Storing and protecting keys safely is still difficult for many people. It often requires using password managers, browser extensions, hardware devices or careful backup routines. For technically experienced users this is fine. For many others it is a reason not to even start.
Where Open Bunker fits in
Open Bunker is a free and open source Nostr bunker that builds a bridge between email and Nostr. Instead of asking new users to understand keys on day one, Open Bunker lets them create and log in to a Nostr profile with their email address.
Behind the scenes, Open Bunker acts as a custodial key manager. It holds the keys on the server side and signs on behalf of the user so they can use Nostr clients that support Open Bunker without handling keys directly. Anyone can self host an instance. We also run a public instance at:
https://openbunker.opencollective.xyz/
This instance is free to use for both end users and client developers.
An interim bridge, not a forever lock in
We see Open Bunker as a gentle first step into Nostr, not as the final destination. Our roadmap includes secure key export, so that users can later move from custodial access to full self custody when they are ready. The goal is to help people discover why Nostr and the decentralized web are valuable, without making key management a blocker on day one.
Why this matters for Open Collective style communities
Projects on Open Collective often care about transparency, resilience, and community ownership. Nostr and the broader decentralized web offer new ways to:
- Communicate without depending on a single platform.
- Preserve conversations and knowledge in a way that can be mirrored and forked.
- Allow communities to stay connected even if tools, hosts, or vendors change.
Open Bunker lowers the barrier for people in these communities to explore that space. It supports experiments where funding, communication, and coordination tools can be more open, portable, and user owned.
How donations are used
We do not charge end users or client developers. Donations keep the project alive and independent and make it possible to run a public instance that is free to use. We use your support for:
- Hosting and operations for the public Open Bunker instance.
- Ongoing maintenance, bug fixing, and improving the core codebase.
- Documentation and UX improvements that make onboarding even smoother.
- Basic coordination and community support around the project.
Roadmap and next steps
Your contributions help us move faster on:
- Export of keys, so users can move from custodial access to self custody.
- Independent security audits, to build trust and transparency around how keys are handled.
- Making it easier for other free and open source developers to join, contribute, and run their own instances.
- Promotion and developer outreach in the Nostr ecosystem, so more clients can adopt Open Bunker and more users can benefit from it.
Why support Open Bunker
By supporting Open Bunker you help:
- Lower the entry barrier to Nostr and the decentralized web for people who are new to key based identities.
- Strengthen open infrastructure that any community, including Open Collective projects, can reuse and host themselves.
- Create a more inclusive ecosystem where technical barriers do not decide who can participate.
If you believe in a more open, user friendly, and resilient internet, your donation to Open Bunker directly supports that direction.