Have you heard of XDC Web3 Domains?
The service allows you to replace the wallet address of a crypto asset with an easy-to-read string.
By setting the address to any string of characters, it can be used to prevent accidental transmission, improve convenience, and can also be used as a nickname to establish one’s own identity on the network.
In a nutshell, it is the XDC version of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS). The importance of these Web3-like services that redefine the Internet will increase as decentralized networks become more commonplace.
According to an October 2020 analysis by Google, attacks from Chinese Internet service providers against centralized network systems reached a record 180,000.
Services such as XDC Web3 Domains, where the connection between wallets and domain names is decentralized, are an effective way to counter attacks that occur in such centralized networks, such as hacking.
Let’s get started with a brief description of XDC Web3 Domains and how to purchase domains.
What is XDC Web3 Domains?
XDC Web3 Domains is a provider of name services in the XDC network.
Including founder and CEO Herry Vu and co-founder Kyra Nguyen, the team has 6 employees and 5 part-timers at the time of winning the XDC dApp Summer Hackathon.
At the XDC dApp Summer Hackathon held by XinFin Officials in May 2022, XDC Web3 Domains was awarded “Developer Forum MVP 1st Place” and “Honorable Mention”.
Users can associate any string of characters with the XDC wallet address, just like the Domain Name System (DNS), which associates an IP address with a domain name. Emojis are also supported as long as they are highly universal.
Using the domain I purchased as an example, I can treat “xdc592379fd0adae0c55050249bce32abbd78f01cce” as the domain “myako.xdc”. It is very neat, isn’t it?
The user enters a preferred domain name on the site and checks to see if the string is unacquired.
If it has not yet been acquired, you can pay a specified amount of XDC to issue that domain. Once purchased, the domain will not be subject to renewal fees and will belong to the purchaser forever as long as the XDC network exists.
Domains are minted as NFTs to the XRC-721 standard; XRC-721 is compatible with ERC-721. Ownership of minted NFTs remains with the issuer at the time of minting, but they are transferable like any other NFTs. Note that because it is an XRC-721 standard token, it cannot be rented like an ERC-4907 standard compliant token.
In addition, only one domain can be set up as the main one, but an unlimited number of domains can be purchased.
The future roadmap includes the ability to set up NFT avatars, create profiles (and homepage and social networking links), NFT gallery functionality, airdrop utility tokens $xdcd to domain owners, offer staking and pharming, buyback and burn, and Listing on a centralized exchange is planned.
Domain names are available on a first-come, first-served basis. So if you have a name that you really want to use, I recommend that you purchase it early. Doing so will allow you to get it at a lower price and will also give you a chance to earn airdrops and other rewards.
The partnership with XDSea was announced on September 29, 2022. This partnership will switch the wallet address displayed on XDSea to “.xdc” domain display. It will also allow users to buy and sell domains.
How to Purchase XDC Domains
Purchase Procedure
Here is how to purchase XDC domains.
First, select “Launch App” from the XDC Web3 Domains top page.
Next, select “Select Wallet” and connect with any wallet.
As of September 30, 2022, D’Cent Wallet, XDCPay, and MetaMask are supported.
After successfully connecting, enter the desired domain name in the text box and execute “Search”.
If the domain is unused, the display will look like this.
If you are satisfied with the price displayed, execute “Mint Now”. If you want to send to a different address, enter the address in the “To (Recipient)” field before executing.
Domain names are priced at 80,000 XDC for 2 characters, 12,000 XDC for 3 characters, 2,400 XDC for 4 characters, and 400 XDC for 5 or more characters. Please note that a domain cannot be acquired without at least two characters.
Then, approve the transaction. The image shows the XDCPay display.
If the mint succeeds, the following message appears
Select “View Your Transaction” to see transactions in BlocksScan.
This is how to purchase a domain name. Easy isn’t it?
Incidentally, you can perform a batch search of domains with “Bulk Search”. This may be useful when you want to check whether a domain is available or not at once. If you break the input string into new lines, it will be judged as a different domain name.
Primary Settings
Once the domain is minted, it will appear on the site.
“Set Primary” is used to select the main domain if you have multiple domains. Running the program requires a gas fee. (0.000016 XDC ≒ 0.00007264 JPY as of September 30, 2022)
Send Domain
Select “Send Domain” to send the domain to another wallet.
Enter the address or domain name in the “To (Recipient):” field and hit “Transfer Now.” You will need to pay for gas here as well. (As of September 30, 2022, 0.000025 XDC ≒ 0.0001135 JPY)
Domain Tracking
The token ID of the minted domain can be found in “Find Your Domain”. Enter the wallet address you were connected to at the time you minted the domain and execute “Search”.
Domains can be tracked on this page on BlocksScan.
If you find the ID of the minted domain in the “Token ID” column and browse it, you will see something like this.
Afterword
This is the explanation of XDC Web3 Domains. How was it?
When I actually touched the product, I found the site’s UI easy to use.
There is one disappointment, however. It is that not taken any precautions to prevent resale.
Probably for resale purposes, XDC domains for universal words such as “sports” and “book” and company names such as “amazon” and “google” have already been purchased. When BlocksScan calculates the percentage of ownership of the top 10 domain (XWD token) holders, it amounts to about 41.1% of the total. (as of September 30, 2022).
On a slightly different topic, XinFin Name Service, which also won a special award at the Hackathon, is now selling .xinfin domains. The domain name was originally “.xdc” and was changed to the current domain name after an agreement with XinFin.
From my research, it seems that Web Three Names, a multi-chain name service, is the parent, and one of its products is XinFin Name Service. Other chains supported are Harmony, Boba, Astar Network, Shiden Network, Meter, and High Performance Blockchain.
XinFin Name Service sells special domains in a marketplace on its site. The more important domains seem to be priced higher, although the impression is that they are miscellaneous.
Most of the “.xdc” domains with the same name as the high priced domains here were already purchased. The actual results of running Bulk Search on all domain names in the market at XDC Web3 Domains are as follows.
Because prices are determined solely by the number of characters, all kinds of domains are being purchased at low prices. The ability to purchase an unlimited number of domains has clearly contributed to the proliferation of these resale buyouts.
I take a hard look at it, but this should have been predicted in the pre-launch phase.
For example, there could have been a way to gradually release the acquisition of multiple domains as the roadmap progresses, or to sell the second and subsequent domains only to users who are actually using the domains. If it is difficult to prevent resale, it would not have been necessary to eliminate centralized control only in this area.
I also had a bad impression that XDC Web3 Domains itself was taking actions on social networking sites that could be taken as an endorsement of purchasing multiple domains. I felt that it was insincere, as if they were only interested in making sales. However, this is a fine line that could also be taken as an inevitable business decision due to the financial difficulties of a start-up company.
Lastly, I have been informed that there are a number of fake XDC domains circulating in the marketplace, so please be careful if you decide to purchase from the marketplace in the future.
I think these scams will increase further in the future. Even if you are purchasing from an official marketplace such as XDSea, please check the contract address and only purchase if you are sure it is genuine.
That’s all I have to say about XDC Web3 Domains. Thank you so much for your time~.
