Agora

    About Agora

    How Agora works.

    Agora is a censorship-resistant donation platform built on Nostr and Bitcoin. No frozen bank accounts. No corporate shut-downs. Just direct support from people who believe in your cause.

    • Decentralized
    • Open source
    • Censorship resistant
    Read the Donor GuideRead the Recipient Guide

    How it works

    Three steps. No middleman.

    No banks, no borders, no permission.

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    01

    Recipients sign up in seconds.

    No bank. No paperwork. No approval. The moment a recipient creates an account on Agora, they have a Bitcoin address ready to receive support, anywhere in the world.

    A glowing Bitcoin coin flying through the air across a dark world map, symbolizing instant cross-border payment
    02

    Donors send Bitcoin directly.

    Donors send Bitcoin from any wallet they already use (Cash App, Coinbase, Strike, a hardware wallet) straight to the recipient. Agora never touches the money. No server in the middle, no custodian.

    An open hand with warm orange light radiating from the palm, symbolizing receiving and agency
    03

    Support lands where it matters.

    Funds arrive at the recipient directly. They keep custody, they keep control. Move it, swap it, or spend it; the guides below explain how to do it privately and safely.

    Bitcoin · One QR, two options

    Two ways to get paid.

    Both options are Bitcoin. The difference is what you trade off for privacy. When a recipient creates a campaign, they choose which options to accept. If both, the donation page shows a single QR code that works for any wallet.

    Bitcoin Public Payments

    Universal · Fast · Transparent

    Works with every wallet on earth.

    Donations land at a regular Bitcoin address the recipient controls. Anyone with any Bitcoin wallet can send. No new app, no new account, no learning curve.

    • Works in every Bitcoin wallet: Cash App, Coinbase, Strike, hardware
    • Fastest settlement: Bitcoin confirmations only
    • Verifiable on-chain: anyone can see what a recipient has received
    Trade-off: Public on-chain.

    Every donation is public on the Bitcoin blockchain and on Nostr. Agora is recommended only for above-ground campaigns. If you or your donors require extreme privacy, including from state actors, read the Donor Guide and Recipient Guide before participating.

    Bitcoin Silent Payments

    Unlinkable · Direct · BIP-352

    Unlinkable, on-chain, direct.

    Donations are sent as BIP-352 silent payments. Each one lands at a fresh, unlinkable Bitcoin output that an observer staring at the blockchain can't tie back to the campaign.

    • Donation trail can't be reconstructed on-chain
    • Protects recipients facing serious adversaries
    • Kept in a separate private balance, never mixed with public funds
    Trade-off: Silent payments are early.

    The most private way to receive Bitcoin on-chain, but the ecosystem is young and rough today:

    • Few wallets support it.
    • Receiving is slow.
    • No push notifications.
    • Wallets are still buggy.
    • Donation counts aren't public.

    No custody. No middleman.

    Agora never holds funds. Donations move wallet-to-wallet on Bitcoin. There's no server standing between donor and recipient on either option. If Agora disappeared tomorrow, every campaign would keep working.

    • Unlike GoFundMe

      No platform can freeze your donations, demand refunds, or terminate your campaign over policy disagreements.

    • Unlike GiveSendGo

      No payment processor sits in the middle, so no Stripe, no Visa, no bank can cut you off mid-campaign.

    • Unlike other ‘Bitcoin’ platforms

      No central Lightning node, custodian, or LSP to fail or go offline. Funds settle directly on-chain to a wallet you control.

    Questions

    Frequently asked.

    Getting started

    What Agora is, who built it, and what it costs.

    Bitcoin donations

    How payments work, why on-chain, why public, why these trade-offs.

    About Nostr

    The open protocol Agora is built on, and how your account works.

    Guides

    Pick the side you're on.

    Whether you're sending or receiving, learn how to do it safely and privately.

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    For Donors

    Support causes the banks won't.

    Send Bitcoin directly to recipients and movements anywhere in the world, without asking a payment processor for permission.

    • Use any Bitcoin wallet you already have.
    • Donations land directly with the recipient. No custodian, no middleman.
    • For privacy, use a wallet that supports silent payments.
    Read the Donor Guide
    Aerial view of thousands of protesters gathered at night in a city square with burning red flares, beneath a 'UNITY IN DARKNESS' banner projected on the surrounding buildings
    For Recipients

    Get funded without permission.

    Receive support directly from people who believe in your cause. No bank account, no application form, no company in the middle.

    • Start receiving donations as soon as you sign up.
    • Pick which payment types to accept: public, silent payments, or both.
    • For private cash-out, send to a silent-payments wallet first, then forward anywhere.
    Read the Recipient Guide

    Still stuck? Follow Team Soapbox on Nostr. We triage questions there.