I've written two other posts in regard to the ICANN problem, the first was suggesting Nostr as the solution, and the second suggested having Bitcoin as the solution. Both of these ideation attempts to provide a solution to the ICANN problem had their own criticism, discussions, and suggestions of already existing solutions, and I'd like to dive into those suggestions and end it with what seems to be the most optimal solution.
Namecoin, BitDNS, DriveChains, SpaceChains
It seemed like, at the time, BitDNS was the solution everyone had in regard to solving the centralization problem of domain names, and Satoshi Nakamoto was involved in its discussion as well. Sometime after, a new network with its own blockchain and token called Namecoin emerged to be the very application that was discussed.
The Problem with Namecoin
- It's a different blockchain that isn't Bitcoin, which by itself would not make it reliable and untrustworthy as others would be able to mess with it, whereas, in comparison, it doesn't have the proper security that Bitcoin has built up and continues to get stronger.
- Dealing with secondary storage of a different blockchain.
- Drivechains and Spacechains, aside from having the same issues of the two points above, while interesting, aren't reliable in a consistent manner and may indirectly affect Bitcoin in a negative manner when it comes to the behavior of miners, from what I understood.
Unstoppable Domains
This one got a lot of hype and marketing behind it, as well as some browser support as well. It's also utilizing other EVM chains like Polygon. It seems like there's a set price for whatever name you'd want to register/record, and that's outside of the transaction fee that you'd have to pay to obtain a name.
The Problem with Unstoppable Domains
- This solution is running on the Ethereum blockchain, one that is not decentralized, at least not anywhere near the level of Bitcoin.
- Similar to Namecoin, you'll have to deal with a chain and its storage that's not even focused on domain names.
- From personal usage from a while back, it was (may still be) very slow.
- Considering what Ethereum has gone through, fees can get ridiculously high, which would affect updates to those domain names.
- It's complex. Having to deal with multiple chains leads to confusion.
Ordinals: Inscriptions
This is the first attempt, while not being the main reason for its creation, at releasing a solution to the ICANN problem directly in Bitcoin. It's not a separate blockchain. This basically inscribes data, a name in our case, onto a single Sat (or multiple Sats depending on how you go about it), recording that data forever in Bitcoin, and having an address in that inscribed sat.
The Problem with Ordinals: Inscriptions
- There's a size limitation, and it is costly to update data and its records.
- Transforms Sats from money to assets in an ideological sense, and gives money ID, resulting in a potential danger of having Sats being fungible.
- Stores undesirable and/or problematic data that Bitcoin miners and node operators don't want to hold, and such data cannot be removed.
Nomen
This solution is the second attempt that tries to solve the centralization of domain names, where the name registration is recorded in Bitcoin directly, however, another piece of technology is used to handle ownership and data management, Nostr.
What's interesting about Nomen is that you don't have to create a new Bitcoin transaction every time you want to update the data under the registered name, aside from changing the ownership, as everything is handled on Nostr's side. What's happening on Bitcoin is just registering the name and who the owner is (a Nostr key pair).
I gave it a shot and it's simple enough (not in a UX sense yet of course). I used Bluewallet, where I created a PSBT with a bit higher fee than usual to account for the extra data, added my desired name and my Nostr address as the owner, using the tool provided in Nomen Explorer, broadcasted the modified PSBT, updated my record at the same tool site, and that was it.
The Problem with Nomen
- It doesn't rely on Bitcoin only, however, it seems like, having Nostr involved in this solution, is a necessary action to move past the issues of what Ordinals: Inscriptions has.
Conclusion
Unless another solution pops up that is similar to Nomen but only relies on Bitcoin, then my vote seems to be going toward having Nomen as the solution here, especially when various apps are created that provide both a Bitcoin wallet and Nostr accounts services and make a seamless UX experience.
Keys to Nomen's Success
Assuming that Nomen is the way to go, here are my thoughts on how to have it succeed as it climbs to stand next to ICANN and hopefully overtake it in the future. These steps are in order of quick deployment and usage (I'd say point 2 and 3 are interchangeable):
- The first immediate step would be to utilize it with Nostr as it replaces the system under (or completely replaces it with a new NIP) NIP-05, along with utilizing other methods to set up the necessary details via setting up your website on Nostr and connect everything together.
- The second step would be to have Bitcoin and crypto wallets to integrate Nomen so that people can start sending each other BTC (normally or through LN) using those registered/recorded names. Human-readable Bitcoin addresses.
- We then have a browser extension so that people can install it into their browsers, like any Chromium-based browser like Google Chrome
- Considering that ICANN and Nomen domains shouldn't conflict with one other, the method of accessing a Nomen website should be easy, in regards to entering the domain name in the browser URL. Something along the lines of, as an example, "bd:freakoverse" (Bitcoin Domain : Domain Name). Entering that in the browser URL field will trigger the browser to see it as a Nomen domain, fetching the appropriate data and loading the in page.
- Small and major browsers would start integrating Nomen natively into their browsers, allowing people to access these new domains/websites without having the need to install an extension.
- For those who care about decentralized domains and freedom tech, you'd aim to create exclusive content on your Nomen website, and/or provide such content to others for their own websites, or support others in some way to achieve this. When such content is established, you'd set up a traditional website and provide context that the content people are looking for is accessible on a Nomen site and that they'd have to install a browser extension to reach it or use a browser that has Nomen natively. All the while, if you have a website already with people visiting it each month or so, start advertising your Nomen website on it with proper guidance for those who'd hit that CTA.
Thanks For Reading
What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you think Ordinals: Inscriptions and/or Nomen will succeed as the system/protocol for solving the ICANN problem, or have we yet to reach a good solution to this problem?