Since 2022 when the cryptocurrency and Web 3 bear market crippled us, there has been lots of interest in shifting towards blockchain domains. Most web 3 projects are garbage. And when the market is bearish, investors tend to invest in products that have actual value! This is where blockchain domains come into play! There are multiple blockchain based domains! But the one we will focus on is the Ethereum Name Service, AKA ENS.
Let’s dive right in!
1. Blockchain Domains Are Decentralized Identities
Have you seen people on twitter who rock a “name.eth” on their profiles (see image below)? Many of the top people in web 3 have had their twitter accounts suspended. Do you know what cannot be taken from you? Your decentralized identity. ENS works the same way Ethereum works, the only way to access your ENS domains is through Ethereum seed-phrases and private keys. This is very important if you are a controversial person and you get censored. A decentralized identity using a blockchain domain will help your audience find you when web 2 platforms shut you down!
2. Blockchain Domains Are Almost Immune To Cybersquatting Laws
In web 2 if you have a domain name that is already trademarked by another company then cybersquatting laws allow for domain registrars to give the domain to the “rightful” trademark owner. In Web 3 the only way to steal your domains is if the other party knows your seed phrase and private keys. Now this is not legal advice, so consult a lawyer, but if you own a trademarked blockchain domain then you must transfer it to another wallet and make it less known that you own this domain, this is especially the case if the blockchain domain is the name to a top banking company.
Also if you use ENS, the ENS team cannot take your domains from you, it is a feature that has been locked into existence by them.
3. Blockchain Domains Are Cheaper To Transfer
With decentralized finance, there is no middleman needed to transfer assets, just a reliable smart contract. With GoDaddy you have to ridiculous transfer fees to the registrar. But If you use a smart contract like Opensea then you might have to pay a small fee, but very little in comparison to godaddy.
4. Blockchain Domains Are An All-In-One Sign-In Tool
Do you hate remembering passwords to every account you create in web 2? Google offers a service to sign into websites using your google account, but google accounts are centralized and if your google account gets taken from you then so does your online identity. Blockchains domains are the decentralized version of signing in with google. We call this sign-in-with-Ethereum or SIWE.
5. Better Online Privacy And Identity Management
Let’s face it, the web 2 version of things requires you to pay people to scrub mischievous photos of yourself from the web. In web 2 your work and personal life are intertwined and you must keep a good online reputation in order to maintain your job and reputation. In Web 3 you can use token gated smart contracts to keep your personal life separate from your work life.
6. Decentralized Communications
With web 3, we are moving into a space where you don’t need to rely on Facebook telling you your Whatsapp messages are “encrypted.” With web 3, only the sender and receiver can view messages via token gating. But you must analyze the smart contract before using the decentralized messaging platform.
Conclusion
2023 is going to be the year of decentralized identities via blockchain domains. Many naming services will come about, but ENS will be the victor.