Domains as we know them are about to get a huge shakeup, as the blockchain era starts to take hold, in time they could actually help make mass adoption far simpler. For now, domains might be an alien concept – let alone blockchain domains – so we’re going to look at it from a beginner’s perspective and walk you through the pros and cons of using a blockchain domain – as well as why it’s a good idea to get one.
What is a Blockchain Domain?
Let’s start by exploring the world of domains. Every website has a domain and the domain is the text you type in to find the site. For example, the BitStarz News domain is fullycrypto.com and this is what you type into a search engine to request the files for our site – rather than the IP address. Domains are user-friendly ways of exploring the web and help humans find the content they’re looking for. Blockchain domains are exactly the same, except they operate on a blockchain network. Rather than GoDaddy or Bluehost hosting your domain name, the blockchain network hosts it – meaning that nobody can take it away from you.
What Can Blockchain Domains do for Me?
Blockchain domains might sound like they’re only useful to people who have websites that are targeted by the authorities, but they can actually be useful to everyone. The first – and most exciting – use case is that you can link thousands of cryptocurrency wallets to your blockchain domain. This means that when someone is trying to send you crypto, rather than copying and pasting a huge address – then checking every character to make sure it’s right – you just give them your domain. This means rather than checking 13eoBBN14YYXsfSCR6y5unKDbjqqZsTput for errors, you can just send the person BitStarzNews.zil for example – how easy is that?
The blockchain network that the other person is using to send cryptocurrency will scan all known addresses on the network and pick up what is linked to your address. It will then route the cryptocurrency to the wallet attached to your blockchain domain for that currency.
How Can I Get a Blockchain Domain?
There are a number of projects out there offering blockchain domains, so it’s really up to you. One of the most user-friendly projects is Unstoppable Domains, where you can pick up your own personal blockchain domain for as little as $10. Once you have secured it, you can link up your wallets to the supported cryptocurrencies and wait for mainnet day. Once Unstoppable Domains swaps from testnet to mainnet, you can start giving out your domain name to people so that they can pay you really quickly.
Beware of the Drawbacks
As with anything, there are a few drawbacks to using blockchain domains for crypto payments. The biggest issue at the moment is that giving someone your blockchain domain will allow them to associate your end wallet to you, meaning that your privacy has been compromised on some level. However, they could do this anyway just by following the crypto. So, unless you care about remaining discrete and under the radar, you have nothing to worry about. If you care about your privacy, you’re going to want to check out the new Samourai Dojo full node – it’s perfect for privacy-focused crypto hodlers.
That’s the basics of blockchain domains and they’re well worth checking out. They’re going to become huge and very popular over the next few years, so get in early and secure your idea domain before someone else does. Perhaps GAB could use it to stop the feds shutting down their site!
