Dada Devs Nostr App Takes Second Place at Hack4Freedom

Seven women have built a Nostr app that lets survivors of gender based violence ask for counseling without giving away their identity.

The project, called Resilience, took second place at the Hack4Freedom hackathon, Dada Devs announced on X. Team Nostr Warriors introduced it during the event, which ran from September 22 to October 5 with Btrust, Soapbox and Evento as the Nairobi edition sponsors. Hack4Freedom invites women to build with Bitcoin, Lightning, Nostr and eCash.

Nostr is an open protocol for sending messages that no single company controls. Users sign in with keys similar to Bitcoin instead of an email address and password, which supports privacy.

Privacy is the reason the idea matters. Dada Devs said fear of exposure, stigma and lack of privacy can stop survivors from asking for help. Resilience tests whether decentralized technology can make that first step safer.

The team also received an extra $500 award from Lorraine Marcel, founder of Bitcoin Dada and Dada Devs. Dada Devs has trained more than 150 African women in Bitcoin and Lightning development, and the hackathon result adds another project to that record.

Dada Devs said it looks forward to watching the team grow Resilience into reality.