Users of MyEtherWallet, an Ethereum wallet app, will soon be able to buy a .crypto domain from the wallet’s interface. Unstoppable Domains, a company that is hoping to spread awareness of the decentralized domain type, entered a partnership with the wallet provider.
Announced on April 23, the integration with MyEtherWallet would allow the domain provider access the wallet’s 1 million monthly active users. Unstoppable Domains refers to the wallet company as a domain registrar, which are normally companies responsible for reselling domains.
Unlike with traditional domain registration, custody of the domain is tied to the specific wallet and is not controlled by any centralized entity.
The .crypto domain is based on Unstoppable Domains’ smart contracts on Ethereum, which are responsible for assigning the domains and looking up the addresses.
It is separate from the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), which assigns .eth domains, but the functionality is similar. Unstoppable Domains can tie the .crypto domain to an Ethereum wallet, making it possible to send money to human-readable addresses.
Building an uncensorable web
The company is also pushing the .crypto domain as an uncensorable alternative to existing web addresses.
Since it falls outside of the traditional domain name infrastructure, normal browsers cannot open .crypto websites. As reported by Cointelegraph in March, the Opera browser entered into a partnership with Unstoppable Domains to accept blockchain-based domains.
Opera nevertheless only holds 2.2% of the global market share. For Chrome users, Unstoppable Domains released a browser extension.
The company stresses that blockchain domains are not going to make the web uncensorable by themselves, but they help users bypass restrictions when publishing content.
It is worth noting that many of the milder censorship systems are implemented only on DNS servers, and can be bypassed by tools such as the Google DNS. The .crypto domain could thus help in these scenarios.
Crypto wallets to act as resellers
Co-founder of Unstoppable Domains, Brad Kam, told Cointelegraph that MyEtherWallet is only the beginning:
“Crypto wallets are the best places for crypto users to discover blockchain domains. We'd love to talk to other wallets that may be interested.”
Since wallets also hold the domains, it makes sense that they would offer purchase services, similar to how most of them provide tools for buying crypto. Kam concluded:
“This integration shows that wallets are becoming much more than just places to store crypto - they are becoming portals to access blockchain products and services.”