Previous efforts to mix the blockchain with domains have failed. Will new ideas work?
I spent a few days last week thinking about blockchain technology and its impact on the areas.
Blockchain Company D3 held its second Dominion conference in Las Vegas immediately after the meeting of the Internet Trade Association. He attracted a mixture of blockchain enthusiasts, domain investors and some who overlap the lines (which is quite common).
I have heard a lot about D3’s plans, but I wanted to better understand how the company will make its ambitious plans a reality.
Alt-Root experience
Before discussing the future of the blockchain and the way it can work with the domains, I think it is important to talk about the past.
To date, most of the activity linked to the names of Blockchain and Domaine has revolved around the creation of alt-root domain names based on blockchain. Whether it is a handshake, unstoppable areas, or others, organizations have created their own “areas” with blockchain features.
The key characteristic of these is that they connect to the wallets. It has an intuitive meaning for me. Domain names facilitate websites because they replace long chains of numbers, and these alt-root areas could do the same for wallets.
However, these names were much more than wallet connectors. Many have presented them as alternative to DNS domains for websites.
When these names were released, I knew we had already seen this film. Companies have tried to introduce alt-root areas several times, and they have always failed.
Alt-Roots will face a chicken and egg problem: people will not rely until they are easily accessible, but browser manufacturers will not solve them as long as many sites are.
The donors of the alt-root blockchain said that this time was different. For what? Because the blockchain.
Ok, but what problem were these elements trying to solve? There are already hundreds of high -level areas and many second -level areas available below them. There is no shortage of good areas if you are ready to look beyond .com. It is therefore not availability.
“Ah, but on the blockchain, no one can censor or move your site.” Question: for how many people is it a problem?
The only thing that made sense to me was wallet addresses. If the blockchain name promoters had stayed with this field, it would have made much more sense.
But that has nothing to do with domain names, so why call them areas?
And, as someone told me last week, the use of having a cool name connecting to your wallet is not so interesting. He said it was not as if he was going to tell someone his portfolio address in a bar so that they could send him money. He will copy and paste his portfolio address in a message.
I see a marginal advantage to connect a portfolio to one of these names, but only a limited number of people need this need. The number of Roots Way based on the blockchain exceeds this request.
A year ago this month ago, Godaddy presented a sorcerer in two steps to connect the areas held in Godaddy to cryptographic wallets via ENS. (Ethereum Name Service works with any field, not only.
In a word, there has not been much request.
I think there are two reasons for this.
- If you are technical enough to be in the crypto, you probably don’t need an assistant to activate DNSSEC and modify the DNS parameters on your field.
- There are only so many people with a cryptographic portfolio that want to connect it to an easy -to -recall area.
At this point, I mix “real” areas with blockchain areas, but I think everyone is suitable that the last alt-root experience failed.
I know that I will be flamed for saying that. But the only people who make the flamboyant will be the ones who have invested in these Alt roots and do not want to lose their money.
This is one of the problems with these Alt roots. Almost all of them were recorded by people looking to earn money, not to use them.
So, if these Alt roots are dead, what does that mean for blockchain and areas? Are there other ways that blockchain can improve areas?
I am open to ideas, and that is part of the reason why I had an open mind last week. I am all ears if there is a way to make the purchase and sale of areas easier or less expensive or a way in which blockchain technology can help me sell more areas.
I have heard several statements on how blockchain technology can help investors in the field. Crétons.
Payments
The promise is a faster and cheaper payment. As I pointed out last week, I don’t think it’s a big problem for domain investors. But certainly, a more fluid or cheaper process would be welcome.
Transfers
Supporters of tokenization areas or their “onchain” contribution claim a faster and less painful transfer process.
As with payments, I do not think that transfers are a particularly embarrassing obstacle to the sale of domain. In the afternoon and the SEDO facilitated automated transfer systems, which can sometimes transfer areas to minutes.
When you work with end users, they understand that there will be a delay before taking control of the domains. They want a particular area, so they are ready to wait.
Faster transfers could have the most impact with investor investor sales, especially if the areas are negotiated more frequently than they are currently.
Although blockchain technology cannot bypass the ICANN transfer rules, tokenization areas could create a rapid transfers system within the registrar and participating register ecosystems.
Liquidity
When you pay a commission in the afternoon or SEDO, most of your payment is to bring you a buyer. Competing services that manage payments and transfers do not cost more than 5%, it therefore follows that the additional 10% at 20% that you pay on the market are to find the buyer.
I think this is the most important point of pain that Blockchain Tech could try to solve.
There are several ways to have heard that blockchain could help the sale and liquidity of the field.
The first brings new buyers. It seems to me that the terrain here is that cryptographic traders would exchange domains as they did (did?) NFTS. I will never refuse new buyers, but I wonder how it would take place over time.
Currently, areas are assessed by investors according to the quality of a brand for end users and the probability of a sale. (I ignore the traffic areas, which include a small part of the market.) Investors buy areas knowing that some are better than others for end users, and end users will pay accordingly.
If crypto traders are brought to this area, then on what value is based? Of course, they could still buy areas with the same focus on their ultimate sale, but do they buy at wholesale prices like domain investors? Is it just a way to liquidate some of the areas of my wholesale wallet? Or do they create a new assessment based on the same measures that supported the NFT … and how long will it last?
Another land is that the blockchain will allow you to contract loans according to your wallet. Loans could be interesting for people who need money. Loans against domains are already available, but this is done unique.
This leads to fractionalization. There is certainly an opportunity here. Fractionalization already exists, although it is a little clumsy. Blockchain boosters think technology could facilitate the task.
He could undoubtedly open it to more people. However, there are many legal questions to be resolved, which is part of the reason why fractionalization is so clumsy now.
The height of the blockchain for the fields changes
To his credit, D3 never bought the alt-root vision. He currently offers names, but he plans to obtain corresponding Icann domains during the next expansion series. He is careful not to call these names of blockchain existing “domain names”. This even goes so far as to use a * instead of a point in these names.
The unstoppable areas, which sold millions of areas of alt-Root blockchain, have recently changed its air. It has become a registrar accredited by ICANN. Its website is now promoting .com and other real fields and promises to improve them with Blockchain technology.
To really bring the blockchain to large -scale areas, companies must create an ecosystem involving many registers and registers. It is a massive company that will require a lot of money. Last week, D3 announced that he had raised $ 25 million and launched a blockchain called Doma.
It remains to be seen if D3 can do it. One thing he has for her is a team made up of long -standing pillars of the field industry, which gives credibility to her efforts. This will greatly help involve participants in the field industry.
I can be a little skeptical, especially with regard to the promises of blockchain improving existing technology. But hey, if a business wants to help me sell more areas, I listen to.
