I have been running one hundred miles an hour trying to catch up on all things crypto related. Most people think that means Bitcoin, Ethereum or DeFi but it means web design and development as well. Why do I care about this? DNS (Domain Name Server) websites
are "controlled" by a small group that can delete your website at any time if they like. To me just the idea that you don't truly own your domain name is a bad idea. Also, these new domains for the decentralized web are a one time charge and you own it for life. I bought .nft for $5.00 and it is permanent with no renewal fees ever. And IPFS is so secure you do not need added security like HTTPS.
I purchased a domain through https://unstoppabledomains.com/ possibly in 2017. I had no idea what I was doing but managed to purchase http://luiting57.crypto. and https://Luiting57.nft. According to this site I will be able to add a website on December 9th of 2021 from the admin section. I assume this means one page using simple HTML but we shall see. You may also purchase a .nft domain name. For Chrome browsers I had to add an extension in order toread my website. I receive an error in the Brave browser. I have not checked Firefox yet but I read that Opera web browser sees these domain names.
As far as I can tell the domains run on the IPFS protocol and use the Ethereum blockchain. I assume they use a token and not Ether itself.
The downside? It is as clunky as the 1992 web was. Well, maybe not that bad.
Domain extensions that you can get are: .x, .crypto, .coin, .bitcoin, .888, .nft, .dao, .zil, .blockchain. I rather like the .888 domain extension.
NFT Domains are new web extensions (like .com or .info) launched as smart contracts on public blockchains. For example, our domains are an ERC 721 on the Ethereum blockchain and Polygon Network, except .zil which uses Zilliqa.
NFT Domains are stored in a wallet by the owner, much like a cryptocurrency, and no third party can take them away. Pay once, and you own the domain for life, with no renewal fees.
Self-custody is one of the most important features of an NFT Domain. This is what makes your domain decentralized - This is what gives you complete control over your domain!
A self-custody solution is possible because your domain is an asset on the blockchain and stored like a cryptocurrency in your wallet. This custody method gives your NFT Domain “superpowers” that traditional domains do not have.
Due to the self-custody nature of your blockchain domain:
Can not be seized by a third party.
Can enable decentralized websites.
It can be transferred around the world in seconds without needing permission from any third party.
It gives the owner sole control and access to domain management features - adding crypto addresses and pointing content to your domain.
Replacing cryptocurrency addresses with a human-readable name
You control the domain, so you are the only person able to associate cryptocurrencies with it. Input your cryptocurrency addresses on the blockchain itself. When someone types your domain name (for example; yourname.crypto) into an integrated wallet, the wallet looks up that domain on the blockchain finds the appropriate address, and sends. It’s that simple.
Is an Unstoppable Domain fully decentralized once it's minted?
The domains once they are minted they will live in your crypto wallet as an NFT (Zilliqa blockchain for .zil domains and Ethereum blockchain for all other TLDs).
All the management of the domains is via Smart Contract and in order to write or perform any changes, transfers, enable or disable features, etc, it would require a signature and a transaction from the wallet address owning the domain. If you try to manage a domain with a different wallet, you would simply get an error message asking you to sign the transaction with the correct wallet.
Unstoppable Domains has no control of your domains after they are minted and cannot block/restrict any access to the domain. You own the private keys of the wallet storing your domain and nobody will be able to take your domain/website/content/settings away from you.
IPFS
IPFS is a protocol for D-Web or decentralized web. IPFS is like HTTPS but not. All websites on IPFS are static so suddenly we are back in 1992 with simple HTML pages. But, you can convert a WordPress website by adding a plugin called Simply Static and exporting the site as simple HTML pages.
DRAFTJS_BLOCK_KEY:17elNFT Domains are stored in a wallet by the owner, much like a cryptocurrency, and no third party can take them away. Pay once, and you own the domain for life, with your wallet. This custody method gives your NFT Domain “superpowers” that traditional domains do not have.l domains do not have.
I hope in a few years that possibly something like Chainlink will be available for decentralized databases and possibly standard CMS's like WordPress will have an IPFS version that self installs on a server for IPFS. Maybe even have a payment option in Ether to do this.