How the OpenID Verifiable Presentations spec could be simplified using nostr, based on how nostr already supports verifiable identity and data exchange.
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🔑 1. Identity as Keypair (DID by Design)
• OpenID VP: Requires Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and DID Documents.
• Nostr: Your public key is your DID—represented simply as did:nostr:
• No need for complex DID resolution: clients already use the nostr key directly.
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📄 2. Presentations as Signed Events
• OpenID VP: Encodes claims in JSON-LD, wraps them in JWTs or SD-JWTs, and transports them via OIDC flows.
• Nostr: Use a standard "note" event (e.g., kind=1000+) with a JSON payload containing your claims, then sign it with your private key—simple, peer-to-peer, trustless.
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🔄 3. Issuer → Holder → Verifier via Relays
• OpenID VP: Uses OIDC endpoints to fetch credentials/presentations.
• Nostr:
• Issuer publishes a signed credential event referencing the holder’s pubkey.
• Holder reposts or includes that event when they want to present.
• Verifier just reads from relays and validates the signature—no HTTPS endpoint calls necessary.
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🔐 4. Proofs are Native
• OpenID VP: Proofs need standardized mechanisms (JWS, BBS+, ZK proofs).
• Nostr: Every event is natively signed with your Schnorr key, and signature validity is inherent to the protocol   .
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🧭 5. Transport & Discovery via Relays
• OpenID VP: Requires well-known endpoints and discovery mechanisms.
• Nostr: Clients maintain relay lists via NIP‑11 (relay info) or stored in the did:nostr DID document. Events are broadcast to all relays—presentation is automatically discoverable.
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🛰️ 6. Exchange Flows: Simplified
Step OpenID VP Nostr
Holder → Verifier HTTP redirect, JWT payload Post event to relay; reference it in chat or a CLI
Verifier → Holder Request parameter Verifier requests event via relay filter
Validation Fetch DID doc, verify JSON-LD proofs Use the same pubkey, validate signature via nostr client
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Why it’s simpler in nostr
1. 🧩 Unified protocol: Signing, identity, transport all in one WebSocket-based system—no HTTP endpoints or token flows.
2. 🔎 Decentralized, public: No need for server comp, endpoint maintenance—relays funnel data openly.
3. ✅ Standard Crypto: Schnorr signatures, standard key management across identity + claims.
4. 🚀 Low barrier: Developers already integrate signing and event publication; adding a credential kind is trivial over existing NIP structure.
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What remains to be done
• Define event kind/type for credential issuance—e.g., NIP‑X with kind=40000 for “Verifiable Credential”.
• Standardize JSON format for claims and metadata.
• Client UI+UX: Tools to issue credentials, hold them, present them, just like a VP wallet.
• Optional advanced proofs: Could layer ZK proofs on top—but only when needed.
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✅ In summary
Nostr’s protocol already covers:
• Identity (public key = DID)
• Proof (signature embedded)
• Transport (publish via relays, read via filters)
To simplify OpenID VP, you just need to define:
1. A credential event type
2. A claim structure
3. A UI/UX wallet flow
Then, everything else flows naturally—no servers, no tokens, no complex JSON‑LD plumbing. It’s much more direct, open, and user-controlled.
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