As I keep digging into the world of crypto / web3 / NFTs, I have started to run across various products that focus on giving you a username / presence online. The basic idea seems to be that you own your username / web3 identity, and in some cases you can use that as a login to various services. Of course due to the nature of web3 there is no true single standard approach / solution. Most of the options I found tie to your crypto wallet, but they have their own features and capabilities.
ENS
I ran across one called ENS ( Ethereum Name Service ), and they have a really good explanation of what they provide ( https://docs.ens.domains/ ). The concept behind ENS is very similar to DNS in the current day (web2? legacy web?) technology. Even if you don’t know what DNS ( Domain Name Service ) is, chances are you use it. Anytime you visit a website name ( for example bigboystoys13.blogspot.com ) there is a DNS lookup in the background to get the server’s IP address. Think of ENS as a similar service, but for mapping a friendly name to your web3 presence / crypto wallet. Just like DNS, ENS has a yearly cost for registration plus you have to pay ETH gas fees so just 1 year could cost you about $100 but you could do 10 years for just $136.
ENS seems to be a main contender in this realm, but just to play around and learn things I also looked at other options out there.
Unstoppable Domains (UD)
After digging around, I found out that you can get a free test domain which really helped me test things out. I registered my custom domain ( uns-devtest-vic-the-engineer.crypto ) and started to play around with the interface. The domain is actually issued as a NFT that you can see on OpenSea and even sell if you want. Here are a few things I was able to do:
- Setup a profile page ( https://unstoppabledomains.com/d/uns-devtest-vic-the-engineer.crypto ) which was pretty cool. While you can link to certain social media sites it doesn’t let you put your own links, it would be nice to list my own blog on my profile.
- Put up a simple web page on web3 ( decentralized web ) that can be seen here ( https://gateway.pinata.cloud/ipfs/QmbRhHDgyahihXaxuL1ZZqEQkCemsNWWKMuSfFyiw3fYb3 )
- I couldn’t get sending crypto to work, but from what I read that is because my domain is on the Polygon side and only a small set of wallets support it. Not a major issue, but good to be aware.
One other interesting feature is that UD can be used to login to other sites, similar to how you can use Google or Facebook for that same purpose. I ended up actually getting two domains (not just test ones) but I will also keep the test one for, well, testing. With UD, you only pay a one-time cost for the domain itself - no minting fees. While every record change normally would cost gas, that cost is covered by Unstoppable Domains for the domains on the Polygon network.
Use my referral link to get $10 with your first $40+ purchase: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=8dc35e49ca2d4a7
.hmn Domain
I ran across this on Twitter. Basically you can go to ( https://www.hmn.domains/ ) and it will give you the steps needed to claim a “username.hmn” domain where the username is your twitter username. You end up getting a NFT sent to your wallet, but right now there isn’t much you can do with it as-is. The company is working on adding some features down the line.
Once I got the NFT, I decided to click the “Claim on ENS” option which cost me gas. On the plus side, apparently now I can manage it on ENS. Any change you make seems to cost gas, but mine was already tied to my wallet. So in theory someone could send money to me using my .hmn.eth address instead of my wallet address.
So I didn’t really plan to dive into ENS, but this gives me an END sub-domain which is pretty cool. I think ENS domains can also have other features, I just haven’t set aside time to try them. If I do, I will update this post.
Nametag (NT)
This one is different from the options above. It is less about a domain name, and more about claiming your identity on web 3. While the basic idea sounds similar to what I already have seen above, I think their landing page for users looks better than what I saw with Unstoppable Domains. Ultimately, it seems like their goal is to support using your Nametag as a single user ID across various sites - which I think is a common goal for ENS and Unstoppable Domains.
I wasn’t sure what username to pick, so I decided on “Engineer” as something generic enough that I could sell if I wanted or keep and use. You can list your own custom links, and you can give them custom names. You can also display NFTs, as long as they are on the Ethereum side (not Polygon - but they are working on it). Here is the page I have:
For now, regular users can’t get a name but they do open up opportunities so if you are interested make sure you follow them on Twitter and/or Discord.
Bottom line: There isn’t going to be a single “best” option for everyone - I plan to keep using all of them, and looking for other options in this space. Depending on your needs and preferences, one of these options might float to the top of your list. Just decide what your goal is, then figure out which one aligns the best. Most, if not all, of these offerings are working on additional features so always check out their sites to see the latest information.
One of the coolest part of all 3 of the options (UD, NT and .HMN) I looked into, the name you obtain belongs to you as a NFT. They all show up in OpenSea, and you can transfer/sell/trade your name if you want to.
Product links:
ENS: https://ens.domains/
UD Referral link: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=8dc35e49ca2d4a7
UD Documentation: https://docs.unstoppabledomains.com/
Human (.hmn): https://www.hmn.domains/
Nametag: https://www.nametag.org/
Nametag on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nametagtweets
