After 10 Years of Bitcoin Why Haven’t We Replaced Addresses With Human Readable Names?

Sending and receiving money from long addresses filled with random letters and numbers has become commonplace in the crypto-sphere. However, those new to making cryptocurrency transactions may find this confusing and overwhelming. 

A recent study says 75% of people fear their transaction will fail when sending cryptocurrency. This in part has to do with the fact that people need to copy and paste long addresses and, if you’re not careful, it is easy to miss a letter or number. It is also very unorthodox for someone who is not a cryptocurrency enthusiast — do we use long, obscure addresses when we send emails, or when we browse the internet?

Enter Unstoppable Domains

Finding a solution to this problem is a hot topic in the cryptocurrency space. There’s now a company working on fixing this problem by allowing users to trade in long addresses for human-readable names.

Brad Kam is the co-founder of Unstoppable Domains, a project that is working on using blockchain domains to make cryptocurrency payments simple. On the podcast Contrarian Island, Kam explains the problems with the current internet structure.

Problem #1

Payments are not native to the internet. Many people see the process of sharing cryptocurrency addresses as a barrier to mainstream adoption, and rightfully so. Your average crypto-layperson might find it odd to send money using random strings of letters and numbers.

Problem #2 

Users do not have custody of their domain assets. In the current system, registrars like GoDaddy and Google have the authority to take your domain from you, and they have done this in the past.

How Can Blockchain Domains Solve These Problems?

Payments

Blockchain domains replace cryptocurrency addresses with human-readable names. No more copy/pasting long addresses, simply share your blockchain domain.

This can have a major positive impact on the user experience surrounding cryptocurrencies. It creates an experience that is more familiar and less confusing. In this Episode #3 of Contrarian Island, Bradley Kam explains how Unstoppable Domains is making this a reality.

Users Control Their Own Domains

Blockchain domains are censorship-resistant and are stored in your cryptocurrency wallet. If you hold your private keys, you have 100% ownership of your domain asset, unlike the current system, where registrars like GoDaddy and Google have control over your asset. The ability to create censorship-resistant websites with blockchain domains can have a powerful global impact as people in censored environments will be able to express themselves freely online.

Blockchain domains offer a unique value proposition for users: trade in the long addresses for a human-readable name. This can help propel adoption as transacting cryptocurrency now becomes as easy as sharing your blockchain domain name and should lead to a higher level of confidence in cryptocurrency payments. For internet users in oppressed environments, blockchain domains restore full custody to the owner of a domain asset, allowing users to express themselves freely online.