Checking in on blockchain domains one year later
Last year I interviewed one of the co-founders of Unstoppable Domains. I’m checking in with another co-founder this week, Brad Kam, to see how it’s going. The company offers blockchain-based domains such as .crypto that it says can’t be censored. We discuss the challenges of operating domains on an alternate root, if offering uncensorable domains has a downside, and compare the domain to blockchain alternatives.
Also: Layoffs at GoDaddy, a record-breaking .ai sale, TrueName and more.
Sponsor: DAN.com
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I am reminded of new.net. New.net was able to get my ISP at the time to include New.Net’s domain in their DNS server. Thus New.Net’s domains always worked for me without doing a thing, they appeared as if they were in the canonical root.
The real test of .crypto will be if ICANN allows a parallel entry to be placed into the canonical root and at that point what do browsers choose to resolve.
So ultimately ICANN does remain in control at the moment. Should the world choose to reject an ICANN entry over an alt root, then and only then can we infer freedom exists. Note .BIZ is an example alt root, than ICANN destroyed by zoning it over the alt.
Something I have pondered for many years is something that Brad points out, and that is censorship in the browser under user control. In other words browsers can do the same thing for the conical root, most importantly .COM. Should this be done, ICANN’s control is over …. There is no need for this to be implemented only for alt roots. It is similar to the DNS filtering services except, when done in the browser, the individual defines the censorship list and not a third party. Third party open sources would provide open source “seed lists” for a user to start with, they then make their own unique changes and can share those with others.
So put another way, just as registries have the ability to censor what we see in their domains, we to should be empowered to censor their domains as we see fit.
The real world couldn’t care less about “alt roots”, these guys are selling snake oil just like new.net was.
If it needs a browser plugin or needs the ISP to do something that is complete nonsense. They aren’t real domains, they don’t work. The “domain registries” here are not providing a real service, they are just taking the cash from silly domainers.
.SHOP was part of NEW.NET, now it is in the ICANN zone. I think there are some others as well.
>If it needs a browser plugin or needs the
>ISP to do something that is complete
>nonsense.
Most internet users “need” their ISP to resolve .COM, they have no clue how to do it without them.
To be clear, my statement was intended to point out the likeliness of ICANN zoning .CRYPTO should this alt root continue to grow. Unstopable may or may not in control of that ICANN entry.
Just as control of the original .BIZ was taken over by ICANN, and the New.Net .SHOP was taken over by ICANN, so to might .CRYPTO.
And I also wanted to point out that 3rd parties controlling my access to domain names it not acceptable, we each should be able to do this for ourselves, and it would seem the .CRYPTO project is addressing this point and I am very grateful for that. The more individual control exists, the less able unelected beaucrates can tell us they are doing it for our our good …
That said, I would suggest there are powerful people that do not want us to be able to make such choices ourselves. In the coming months that will become even more obvious.
My opinion is the same as years ago. They should focus on niches that are looking for a closed secure system of interaction and communication. As for rivaling the dns well they sound like the new gtld proponents when they spoke of .com. Maybe a bit of sensationalism makes it easier to get funding?
I want to say that you and alvin brown provide great content and alot of it has to do with your style of interviewing.
Are the owners of .crypto a centralized company controlled by founders, investors, etc. or are they decentralized? If centralized, how and why is .crypto being promoted as a decentralized system? Maybe the edge domains but last I checked, they are a centralized company promoting decentralization. For security, then need to get decentralized as any bad shit happening on the sites, Knock, Knock..
I would not call it “unstoppable”, that is like saying the Can’t word. Ethereum rocks and expect a $30 million warchest needed to win that one in the future as the more success they have now, the bigger the target. Wish them luck but its 100% potentially unstoppable.
Sometimes it helps to hear from real users and case experiences. Uply Media, Inc is having REAL success with .Crypto and building Blockchain Websites that sit on top of a smart contract. Such as .Crypto on Ethereum and .Zil on Zilliqa.
Uply Media, Inc has received offers in the millions for developed Blockchain Websites running on both .Crypto and .Zil extensions! The company is not ready to cash-in because many of the projects have the potential to be Billion dollar Brands.
The key significance should be on branding individual Blockchain Websites and essentially this is what will make any Blockchain Domain (or ANY project) truly unstoppable in a nutshell.
Uply Media’s CEO Kyle Ransom is the author of a very popular book about Blockchain Domains investing. The book is ranked among best Crypto eBook 2020 reads, but it’s also ranked on BookAuthority’s Holy Grail of categories by lists for All Time best!
Coming in at no. 44 for 48 Best Cryptocurrency Investing Books of All Time and no. 60 for 67 Best Digital Currency Books of All Time!!
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Q & A With Kyle Ransom — Blockchain Domains Investing Secrets Uncensored
https://medium.com/@uplymediainc/q-a-with-kyle-ransom-blockchain-domains-investing-secrets-uncensored-9c3d3abc1a5f
Live Blockchain Domains – Developed By Uply Media:
Uply Media, Inc Launches First Black-Owned DEX Blockchain Crypto Exchange
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.openpr.com/amp/2079364/uply-media-inc-launches-first-black-owned-dex-blockchain
How Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner Inspired Billion-Dollar Blockchain Domains
https://medium.com/@uplymediainc/how-kim-kardashian-west-kylie-jenner-inspired-billion-dollar-blockchain-domains-1942c4ae1271
Uply Media, Inc Launches World’s First DWeb Mortgage Calculator
https://www.prurgent.com/2020-05-29/pressrelease468632.htm
Visit Uply Media, Inc’s Blockchain Marketplace:
https://uplymedia.com/product-category/digital-assets-marketplace/