NFT and crypto domains have surged in popularity, with many people wondering about their options.
The two most popular projects are Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Unstoppable Domains.
This list breakdown will help you understand the advantages and offerings of each.
ENS Domains
ENS domains end in .eth and are registered directly on the layer 1 Ethereum chain. You may see a lot of people put .eth in their Twitter handle.
Similar to .com domains, you must decide how many years to register a .eth domain.
Because ENS domains are on layer 1 Ethereum, gas fees affect registration and can easily add hundreds of dollars to the transaction. If you really want a domain, it’s best to lock it up for multiple years during a time when gas fees are low.
ENS domains expire once the registration period is up and enter a decaying price auction starting at $100,000, approaching $5 over the course of one month.
ENS domains support building a decentralized website on your domain.
ENS domains support crypto transaction routing – you can set up a receive address and instead of providing the long, hard to remember ETH receive address, you can provide the short ENS name.
ENS domains support subdomains, whereby you can assign a name like bob.buys.eth. There is speculation that the domain owner could rent out subdomains in the future.
ENS has a governance token that was airdropped to all ENS participants prior to a snapshot date in 2021.
It is thought the ENS domains might function as a universal Web 3 login for websites and dapps in the future.
There is a super helpful tool to look up expiring domains at ens.tools.
Unstoppable Domains
Unstoppable Domains are NFT domains that offer a variety of extensions: .x, .crypto, .coin, .wallet, .bitcoin, .888, .nft, .dao, .zil, .blockchain
Brand names, celebrity names, and major IPs are generally reserved to prevent squatters.
There is no yearly registration for Unstoppable Domains – we recommend claiming as many of your personal and brand names as you can since they are owned for life!
Unstoppable Domains can now be minted on Polygon, meaning gas fees are negligible or paid by Unstoppable Domains on behalf of the customer.
Domains can be bulk minted on Polygon.
Decentralized websites can be used or you can route crypto payments including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and more.
There is speculation that NFT domain names could one day function as a universal login or gamertag in crypto and NFT gaming.
Unstoppable Domains has just released Humanity Check, an extended privacy feature for anyone that uses an NFT domain for a Web 3 login:
“Humanity Check is a verified, yet 100% private, identity layer that you can attach to your own Unstoppable Domain. With Humanity Check, you can prove you’re a unique person to an application, to enrich your experience and collect rewards, all without revealing ANY personal information to that app.
We’ve partnered with identity verification service Persona to validate identity. They’re leaders in the identity verification space and work with cryptocurrency platforms like BlockFi, Swan, DAO Maker and more.“
For anyone hoping to secure their privacy online, registering your domains is extremely important!
Premium domains are slowly released here.
Since Unstoppable Domains are registered for life, you should act now and get yours!
