August Levasseur
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2022
The Handshake Naming System is a completely decentralized, peer-to-peer, blockchain based naming system intended to replace the traditional DNS ecosystem with one that cannot be controlled by a single entity. It was started sometime in 2016, and has been in development ever since. I heard about it initially sometime in 2018, around the same time that systems like ZeroNet were coming into their own, and while it was interesting back then, it wasn't in a state where you could actually use it for anything.
Fast forward to today when I decide I want to try and look for a new domain name for a personal website. I use the extremely normie domain registrar of Namecheap. I don't expect them to support anything remotely odious to the mainstream, but I don't use them for anything important, so who cares? But imagine my surprise when I see this:
(Link)
Namecheap, the extraordinarily normie domain registrar that wouldn't touch something a tenth as hot as the Farms with a 200 ft pole lets you buy and easily use Handshake domains. How is this possible? The answer is probably crypto hype. Handshake is, of course, a Blockchain Dapp after all.
As I understand it, Handshake lets you buy/register top level domains on the blockchain and then lease out subdomains to whomever you please. If your domain was leased from someone else's TLD, then theoretically you'd have to answer to them, but if you owned your own TLD, then you answer to noone but yourself.
All this is great in theory, but how do you actually use it? Well, on the registration side there's Namecheap as mentioned if you just want a domain, but if you want your own TLD you can go to a site called Namebase which hosts auctions for TLDs. On the user side, there's a variety of different ways you can do it from running your own HNS blockchain node to installing a Chrome extension. Namebase has a page outlining the different options and their pros and cons.
I am not aware of another similar system out there, certainly not one that has any corporate backing. Yes there's ENS, but it's focused entirely around the crypto sphere, while Handshake is focused on replacing traditional DNS.
Thoughts?
Fast forward to today when I decide I want to try and look for a new domain name for a personal website. I use the extremely normie domain registrar of Namecheap. I don't expect them to support anything remotely odious to the mainstream, but I don't use them for anything important, so who cares? But imagine my surprise when I see this:
(Link)
Namecheap, the extraordinarily normie domain registrar that wouldn't touch something a tenth as hot as the Farms with a 200 ft pole lets you buy and easily use Handshake domains. How is this possible? The answer is probably crypto hype. Handshake is, of course, a Blockchain Dapp after all.
As I understand it, Handshake lets you buy/register top level domains on the blockchain and then lease out subdomains to whomever you please. If your domain was leased from someone else's TLD, then theoretically you'd have to answer to them, but if you owned your own TLD, then you answer to noone but yourself.
All this is great in theory, but how do you actually use it? Well, on the registration side there's Namecheap as mentioned if you just want a domain, but if you want your own TLD you can go to a site called Namebase which hosts auctions for TLDs. On the user side, there's a variety of different ways you can do it from running your own HNS blockchain node to installing a Chrome extension. Namebase has a page outlining the different options and their pros and cons.
I am not aware of another similar system out there, certainly not one that has any corporate backing. Yes there's ENS, but it's focused entirely around the crypto sphere, while Handshake is focused on replacing traditional DNS.
Thoughts?
