diff --git a/components/KIND20Card.tsx b/components/KIND20Card.tsx
index a1eeb13..23cc09c 100644
--- a/components/KIND20Card.tsx
+++ b/components/KIND20Card.tsx
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import type { Event as NostrEvent } from "nostr-tools"
 import ZapButton from "./ZapButton"
 import Image from "next/image"
 import CardOptionsDropdown from "./CardOptionsDropdown"
-import { renderTextWithLinkedTags } from "@/utils/textUtils"
+import { renderTextWithLinkedTags, renderTextWithLinks } from "@/utils/textUtils"
 
 // Function to extract all images from a kind 20 event's imeta tags
 const extractImagesFromEvent = (tags: string[][]): string[] => {
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ const KIND20Card: React.FC<KIND20CardProps> = ({
               )}
             </div>
             <div className="p-4">
-              <div className="break-word overflow-hidden">{renderTextWithLinkedTags(text, tags)}</div>
+              <div className="break-word overflow-hidden">{renderTextWithLinks(text, tags, { [pubkey]: userData || {} })}</div>
               <hr className="my-4" />
               <div className="space-x-4 flex justify-between items-start">
                 <div className="flex space-x-4">
diff --git a/components/NoteCard.tsx b/components/NoteCard.tsx
index 56cf85e..62a77b3 100644
--- a/components/NoteCard.tsx
+++ b/components/NoteCard.tsx
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import Link from 'next/link';
 import { Event as NostrEvent } from "nostr-tools";
 import ZapButton from './ZapButton';
 import CardOptionsDropdown from './CardOptionsDropdown';
-import { renderTextWithLinkedTags } from '@/utils/textUtils';
+import { renderTextWithLinkedTags, renderTextWithLinks } from '@/utils/textUtils';
 
 interface NoteCardProps {
   pubkey: string;
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ const NoteCard: React.FC<NoteCardProps> = ({ pubkey, text, eventId, tags, event,
             }
             <br />
             <div className='break-word overflow-hidden'>
-              {renderTextWithLinkedTags(textWithoutImage, tags)}
+              {renderTextWithLinks(textWithoutImage, tags, { [pubkey]: userData || {} })}
             </div>
           </div>
           <hr />
diff --git a/utils/textUtils.tsx b/utils/textUtils.tsx
index 99b45fe..7191141 100644
--- a/utils/textUtils.tsx
+++ b/utils/textUtils.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import React, { ReactNode } from 'react';
 import Link from 'next/link';
+import { nip19 } from 'nostr-tools';
 
 /**
  * Renders text content with hyperlinked hashtags
@@ -54,3 +55,119 @@ export function renderTextWithLinkedTags(content: string, eventTags: string[][])
   
   return result;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Replace nostr:npub references with @username in content
+ * @param content The text content that may contain nostr:npub references
+ * @param eventTags The tags array from a Nostr event
+ * @param userData Optional object containing profile data for referenced users 
+ * @returns Text with replaced nostr:npub references
+ */
+export function replaceNostrReferences(
+  content: string, 
+  eventTags: string[][], 
+  userData?: Record<string, { name?: string; display_name?: string; username?: string; }>
+): ReactNode[] {
+  if (!content) return [];
+  
+  // Extract all pubkey references from the event tags (p tags contain referenced pubkeys)
+  const pubkeyRefs = eventTags
+    .filter((tag) => tag[0] === "p")
+    .map((tag) => ({ pubkey: tag[1], relay: tag.length > 2 ? tag[2] : undefined, petname: tag.length > 3 ? tag[3] : undefined }));
+
+  // Find nostr:npub and nostr:nprofile references in the content
+  const nostrRegex = /nostr:(npub1[a-z0-9]+|nprofile1[a-z0-9]+)/g;
+  let lastIndex = 0;
+  const result: ReactNode[] = [];
+  let match;
+
+  while ((match = nostrRegex.exec(content)) !== null) {
+    const fullRef = match[0]; // nostr:npub1...
+    const matchIndex = match.index;
+    
+    // Add text before the reference
+    if (matchIndex > lastIndex) {
+      result.push(content.substring(lastIndex, matchIndex));
+    }
+    
+    try {
+      // Extract the identifier (remove "nostr:" prefix)
+      const nostrId = fullRef.substring(6);
+      let pubkey: string;
+      let profileRoute = nostrId;
+      
+      // Decode npub or nprofile to get the pubkey
+      if (nostrId.startsWith('npub1')) {
+        const { data } = nip19.decode(nostrId);
+        pubkey = data as string;
+      } else if (nostrId.startsWith('nprofile1')) {
+        const { data } = nip19.decode(nostrId);
+        pubkey = (data as { pubkey: string }).pubkey;
+        // Still use the nprofile as the route to preserve relay information
+        profileRoute = nostrId;
+      } else {
+        throw new Error('Unsupported nostr ID type');
+      }
+      
+      // Find if we have any profile data for this pubkey
+      const pubkeyData = pubkeyRefs.find(ref => ref.pubkey === pubkey);
+      const displayName = pubkeyData?.petname || 
+                          (userData && userData[pubkey] && 
+                           (userData[pubkey].username || 
+                            userData[pubkey].display_name || 
+                            userData[pubkey].name)) || 
+                          nostrId.substring(0, 8) + '...';
+      
+      // Create a link for the user reference
+      result.push(
+        <Link href={`/profile/${profileRoute}`} key={`${nostrId}-${matchIndex}`} className="text-blue-500 hover:underline">
+          @{displayName}
+        </Link>
+      );
+    } catch (error) {
+      // If there's an error parsing the npub, just include it as-is
+      result.push(fullRef);
+    }
+    
+    lastIndex = matchIndex + fullRef.length;
+  }
+  
+  // Add any remaining text
+  if (lastIndex < content.length) {
+    result.push(content.substring(lastIndex));
+  }
+  
+  return result;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Combines hashtag and nostr reference handling in one function
+ * @param content The text content to process
+ * @param eventTags The tags array from a Nostr event
+ * @param userData Optional object containing profile data for referenced users
+ * @returns Processed content with links
+ */
+export function renderTextWithLinks(
+  content: string, 
+  eventTags: string[][], 
+  userData?: Record<string, { name?: string; display_name?: string; username?: string; }>
+): ReactNode[] {
+  if (!content) return [];
+  
+  // First replace hashtags
+  const withHashtags = renderTextWithLinkedTags(content, eventTags);
+  
+  // Then handle nostr references for each text segment
+  const result: ReactNode[] = [];
+  
+  for (const item of withHashtags) {
+    if (typeof item === 'string' && (item.includes('nostr:npub') || item.includes('nostr:nprofile'))) {
+      const withReferences = replaceNostrReferences(item, eventTags, userData);
+      result.push(...withReferences);
+    } else {
+      result.push(item);
+    }
+  }
+  
+  return result;
+}