Nostr Kinds · Balanced WalletsCircles, directories and the BSA kinds
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DRAFT 0.3.0 · definitions of the BSA kinds are a draft (round 5); two pilot circles run on test infrastructure · last checked 27 Oct 2026

Balanced wallets, in plain words

Imagine a circle of people who keep one shared notebook that anyone can read and nobody can erase. Everyone starts at zero, and the notebook always adds up to zero. That is a balanced circle, and your account in it is a balanced wallet.

This site explains the idea on one page, then goes as deep as you need: a guide for people, a precise guide for AI agents and developers, the first public directory you can query today, and the full reference of the Nostr kinds the circles are built from.

1. What a balanced wallet and a balanced circle are

  • Everyone starts with nothing. Nobody buys in. No money enters or leaves the system from outside; there are no deposits and no payouts.
  • A wave (also called a step) lets you give before you have. You may pay up to your balance plus your wave, so your balance can dip below zero, down to minus your wave.
  • What you receive grows your wave (up to a cap), and the same amount flows on into the community reserve.
  • What lies above your wave flows gently back. If you keep a plus that is larger than your wave, gravity takes a small part of it every morning and it goes to the community. Below your wave, or below zero, gravity takes nothing.
  • Community money goes to projects. The reserve pays projects that the circle votes for: all for, or it falls, and at least three members of the Circle Heart (the people who created and tend the circle) must be for.
  • The sum of the circle is always zero. Every block of the ledger is checked by witnesses, and anyone can check it again.
  • Everything is public and verifiable. Every payment, vote and balance is a signed record on relays, in several copies. Deletion is impossible. The only secret is each person's private key, which stays with them.
How a balanced circle works in six stepsSix boxes from top to bottom: everyone starts at zero; the wave lets you give before you have; what you receive grows your wave and the same amount flows to the community reserve; the part of a plus that lies above your wave flows gently back each morning; the reserve pays projects the circle votes for; the sum of the whole circle is always zero and everything is public.1 Everyone starts at zeronobody buys in, nothing enters from outside2 The wave lets you give firstyou may pay up to balance + wave3 What you receive grows your wavethe same amount flows to the reserve4 A plus above your wave flows backgently, each morning: gravity5 The reserve pays projectsthe circle votes: all for, or it falls6 The sum is always zeroevery block checked, everything public
Money only moves inside the circle. Nothing is bought in or paid out of it.

The picture below shows where your balance sits against your wave, and what gravity does there. Amounts in the system are whole numbers of the smallest unit (cents), so there are no rounding surprises.

Your balance, your wave and gravityA horizontal scale. Left of zero, down to minus the wave: you have given before you had, no gravity. From zero up to the wave: gravity takes 330 millionths a day, about one percent a month. Above the wave: gravity takes 22,840 millionths a day, half in about thirty days. Your balance on the scale given away plus up to your wave plus above your wave − wave 0 + wave Below zero: you spent ahead of what you hold. No gravity. You can go down to the size of your wave. Plus up to the wave: 330 ppm a day, about 1 % a month. Above the wave: 22,840 ppm a day, half in ~30 days.
Gravity only ever takes from a plus. The numbers are a circle's start settings. Gravity can never be made stronger than these; a raise below them needs 30 days of public notice.

The numbers (330 and 22,840 millionths a day) are a circle's start settings. Read the exact rule, with a worked example, in the AI guide, or the plain version in the guide for people.

2. Two layers, kept clearly apart

Two different jobs are done by two different kinds of server. Mixing them up is the most common mistake, so they are drawn separately.

Layer 1: directory infrastructureMany equal directories and relays that only store and find signed records: profiles (kind 0), circle records, heads, member homes and the present state. Anyone can run one. A directory cannot forge anything, it can only leave something out or be late. Deletion is impossible. LAYER 1 Directory infrastructure the phone book Many equal directories + relays they only STORE and FIND signed records They hold: • profiles (KIND 0) • circle records (30910), heads (30915) • member homes (30916) • present state: newest seals and snapshots (43917, 43918) Anyone can run one. A directory can only leave out or be late; it cannot forge. Nobody can delete on request.
Layer 1 finds people and circles. It holds no balances you can trust on its own.
Layer 2: balanced wallets and circlesEach circle keeps its own ledger of blocks on its own relays, with its own rules, its own Circle Heart and its own witnesses. A wallet balance is an account line in the circle ledger. The sum of the circle is zero after every block. LAYER 2 Balanced wallets / circles the books Each circle has its OWN ledger a chain of numbered blocks on the circle’s own relays Each circle has its own: • rules (settings in its found act) • Circle Heart (the people who tend it) • witnesses (computers that sign blocks) • currency (one per circle) Your wallet balance is one account line in the circle’s ledger: balance, wave, debt. The sum of the circle is always 0.
Layer 2 is where money is. The circle’s own chain is the only truth about a balance.

Layer 1 · Directory infrastructure

Many equal directories and relays that only store and find signed records: profiles (KIND 0), circle records, heads, homes and the present state. Anyone can run one. A directory can never forge anything, because everything is signed by the people and circles that wrote it. It can only leave something out or be late. Nobody can have a record deleted.

Layer 2 · Balanced wallets and circles

Each circle has its own ledger: numbered blocks on its own relays, with its own rules, its own Circle Heart and its own witnesses. Your wallet balance is an account line in that ledger. To know a balance, read the circle's own chain; never trust a directory alone.

One key ties a person's three places together: the profile, the circle membership and the wallet.

One key links profile, membership and walletThe same 64-character HEX key appears in three places: the profile (kind 0) stored by directories, the home record (kind 30916) that says which circle you belong to, and your account line in the circle ledger. Nothing is linked by hand; they meet by the key. ONE KEY 64 characters of HEX Profile KIND 0 name, picture kept by directories LAYER 1 Home KIND 30916 key → circle, since block h, witness attests BOTH LAYERS Wallet account line s3|<key>|… balance, wave, debt LAYER 2 Nothing is linked by hand. Everything meets at the key. Names are never copied into the ledger.
The ledger knows people only by key. The name lives in the profile and the home record, which the person can change.

Details and a comparison table are on the two layers page.

3. From newcomer to member to wallet to bank

A person makes a key and a profile, joins a circle, and from then on their wallet is a line in the circle's ledger. A bank connection is a separate, future layer (BalanceID and the Compliance Passport, a working reference specification). It would reuse the same key; it is not implemented and the directory never holds identity documents.

From newcomer to member to wallet to bankFive steps. A newcomer makes a key and a profile (layer 1). They join a circle and a witness confirms their home (both layers). Their wallet is an account line in the circle ledger (layer 2). Anyone can prove the balance from the daily seal. A bank connection through BalanceID and the Compliance Passport is a separate, future layer drawn dashed.1 Newcomer: a key and a profileKIND 0 on directories. No circle yet.2 Joins a circle (signs "join")a witness confirms the home, 309163 Member: the wallet is an account linein the circle ledger, found by the key4 Proof: balance from the daily seala Merkle proof, no server needed5 Bank (Bank 3): FUTURE, separateBalanceID + Compliance Passport.Same key. Not implemented.
Steps 1 to 4 exist in the pilot (step 4 once a circle has a daily seal). Step 5 is a separate future layer.

BalanceID and Compliance Passport: the next layer.

4. What happens when…

Four things at overview level. Each is explained in detail in the guides.

A payment

A paymentThe payer signs a note; the circle node checks it; witnesses recompute and sign the block; relays hold it; the payer’s app reads it back and shows paid.Payer signs a noteamount, purpose, valid 10 min (default)The circle’s node checks itsignature, member, balance + waveWitnesses recompute the blockand sign it (3 of 4)Relays keep the blockat least 3 relays hold itThe app reads it backchecks signatures, shows “paid”
It counts when a majority of witnesses signed and three relays hold the block.

A morning (gravity and the seal)

A morningEach morning the node cuts the day, books gravity for every account, then makes the daily seal with a public snapshot and sends the head to the directory.04:00 local time (the circle’s setting)the day is cut at an exact secondGravity is booked per accountwhole numbers, same result for allDaily seal + public snapshotevery account line, sum is 0Head goes to the directorya pointer to the newest sealRestore check, in publicthe circle rebuilt from relays alone
Payments never wait for the morning. The seal exists every day, even with no payments.

A project vote

A project voteA member proposes a project and sets how long the vote runs. All members vote. It passes only if nobody is against and at least three Circle Heart members are for. Then the reserve pays it, oldest project first, and it is paid in full to the doer.A member proposes a projectvote length: 3 to 14 days (default)All members vote: for or against“against” carries a public reasonPasses only if nobody is againstand 3+ Circle Heart members are forThe reserve fills it, oldest firstgravity and new waves flow inFull: paid whole to the doerthe doer’s wave grows as usual
All for, or it falls. The same vote works for any proposal without money.

Moving to another circle

Moving to another circleA member says they want to leave. If they are settled, the ledger issues a reference by itself. The new circle admits them only with that reference and opens the same step. The old circle closes the old account.Member says “I want to leave”no minus, no open OWN processThe ledger issues a referenceKIND 43921, by itself, onceNew circle admits with the referenceno reference, no entrySame step opened in the new circleold circle closes the old accountHome record updatedthe directory shows the new circle
A person is a member of one circle at a time. Only a member of an existing circle can found a new circle.

5. Where to go next

Honest status · checked 27 Oct 2026

  • Definitions 0.3.0 are a DRAFT (round 5, 23 Oct 2026). They are not published as a Nostr event yet and may still change.
  • Two pilot circles run on test infrastructure: Mejmo Se Fajn and Lets Balance World. They are disposable. On the day of checking the directory listed one verified circle, Mejmo Se Fajn; it had no daily seal yet.
  • Nothing about circles is published on the Lana relays. Those stay for Lana only. The Balance directory is the new place to find circles and people.
  • Built: the directory relay and its JSON API (live), the circle ledger, blocks, seals and snapshots, the verification scripts on this site. Planned: many directories that mirror each other, a signed daily summary per directory, self-registration of circles, archives, the bank layer.