You know that long, complicated wallet address you must always remember before sending crypto to someone else?
Thanks to services like Unstoppable Domains, you no longer have to remember those addresses with random letters and numbers.
Wallet addresses can now be represented by more readable and easier names to lessen human error when sending or receiving crypto.
What Is A Blockchain Domain?
A blockchain domain is like a .com or .org except that the records are stored on a blockchain — they replace cryptocurrency addresses with a human readable name.
Read: NFT Domains: The Future Of Web3 Identity
Traditional Domains vs. Blockchain Domains
Blockchain domains do two things that regular domains cannot: (1) simplify crypto payments and (2) build censorship resistant websites.
Traditional domains are also called Domain Name Systems (DNS) that are part of a centralized system controlled by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) — an international organization that maintains the records of who owns what domain.
Blockchain domains are not part of the traditional domain system and they are what is called alternate routes. Blockchain domains are stored by you in your wallet just like a cryptocurrency — no one can move them without the private key.
Blockchain domains can also be used to build an uncensorable website — this works by pointing content from a decentralized storage network to your domain. They require browser plugins to resolve inside most standard browsers because they are new and not yet supported by the traditional system.
Traditional website content is stored on centralized servers that are controlled by large companies. These companies can easily take down your site if they object to it or at the request of a government.
Decentralized networks like the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) store content that only you can put up and take down. Blockchain domains plus decentralized storage equals an internet that no company or government can censor and this technology has the power to spread free speech across the world.
Read: Top 7 Blockchain Domain Name Services (DNS) to Try Out in 2023
What Are Unstoppable Domains And How Does It Work?
Unstoppable Domains is a decentralized service that lets you create a human-readable name to represent as many wallet addresses as you want. Optionally you can also build a non-censoreable website.
You can think of Unstoppable Domains as similar to the internet’s DNS which allows users to create human-readable domain names like “google.com” for their websites.
The internet needs an Internet Protocol (IP) address to route websites to their intended destination — however IP addresses are difficult to remember. So as a result, DNS maps a human-readable domain like “google.com” to Google’s IP address allowing the computer to recognize “google.com” as the user requesting to access Google’s website.
Unlike the domain names we use on the internet, Unstoppable Domains allow users to create NFT domains that run on the blockchain. For example we could create “blockzeit.crypto” to represent Blockzeit’s wallet address where any user can type “blockzeit.crypto” when they want to send cryptocurrency to the domain’s wallet instead of the longer, more complicated strings of letters and numbers that are prone to human error.
It’s worth noting that Unstoppable Domains is powered by two blockchains: Ethereum and Zilliqa.
Nine extensions are available on unstoppable domains hosted on Ethereum. These are .bitcoin, .blockchain, .crypto, .coin, .dao, .nft, .wallet, .x and .888 — the extension for Zilliqa is .zil.
Choosing the best extension for you is determined by a number of factors including popularity, price, availability and use case.
To obtain a domain name with the traditional extensions, you must lease it from a certified registrar and pay an annual fee to continue owning it.
In the case of Unstoppable Domains, users register NFT domains on the blockchain — and since Unstoppable Domains are minted as “NFTs”, users are free to buy and sell Unstoppable Domains as they wish as NFTs on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea.
Read: What Are Unstoppable Domains?
Tutorial
1. Go to UnstoppableDomains.com
Type the domain name you want into the search bar — hit the “search” button and you will see a list of domains that are available and unavailable. The unavailable domains are reserved for brands or well-known trademark owners.
Scroll down to the “Suggested names” section which displays a list of available domains — you can narrow down the list by selecting the extension you want. Once you have decided on a domain name, click the cart icon to the right to add it to your cart.
Select “Yes” if you live in the United States or “No” if you don’t. If you choose “Yes,” enter your zip code and click “Checkout.”
Before you can pay, you must first sign up/log in with your email or connect to your Web3 wallet. You can pay by credit card by entering your credit card information and clicking the submit payment button.
After completing a successful transaction, you should be directed to a thank you page where you can view your domains by clicking on “Go to my domains.”
2. Linking your Unstoppable Domain
At this point, you now own the domain but still unable to use its full functionality.
So head over to your newly bought domain and click “Manage.”
Add your crypto addresses such as your Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and any other cryptocurrency addresses all to one domain.
Finally, to allow Web3 applications to display your domain name instead of your string address, head over to the “Reverse Resolution” tab and click “Start Record Update” — it will then start processing your request and will only take a few minutes.
Then to verify that your domain name is now mainly displayed as your wallet address, head over to Polygon Scan and type your domain name.
Final Thoughts
And that wraps it up for what you should know about Unstoppable Domains — you can now send and receive cryptocurrency by simply sharing your domain name!
If you want to be a bit of a top dog in the crypto space, then you will probably want to snaffle yourself an awesome domain or two for personal use. For those of you that already have their blockchain domains, I hope you found this guide helpful.