diff --git a/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift b/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift
index 42dbb35b..4159c089 100644
--- a/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift
+++ b/bitchat/ViewModels/Extensions/ChatViewModel+Nostr.swift
@@ -280,6 +280,9 @@ extension ChatViewModel {
             }
         }
         
+        // Update participants last-seen for this pubkey
+        participantTracker.recordParticipant(pubkeyHex: event.pubkey)
+
         // Skip only very recent self-echo from relay; include older self events for hydration
         if isSelf {
             let eventTime = Date(timeIntervalSince1970: TimeInterval(event.created_at))
@@ -303,9 +306,6 @@ extension ChatViewModel {
         nostrKeyMapping[PeerID(nostr_: event.pubkey)] = event.pubkey
         nostrKeyMapping[PeerID(nostr: event.pubkey)] = event.pubkey
         
-        // Update participants last-seen for this pubkey
-        participantTracker.recordParticipant(pubkeyHex: event.pubkey)
-        
         // If presence heartbeat (Kind 20001), stop here - no content to display
         if event.kind == NostrProtocol.EventKind.geohashPresence.rawValue {
             return