NAMEBASE

The Domain Name System (DNS) was invented in 1983.

It translates a string of numbers into something easier to remember like "google.com". A lot has changed since then, but DNS hasn’t and we’re starting to feel the effects of that (data breaches, phishing attacks, governments controlling their nation's version of the Internet, etc.) 

Handshake proposes an alternative (but compatible!) solution to the existing system. Handshake is a blockchain for Web3 domain names. Instead of keeping track of the ownership of coins, it uses blockchain technology to keep track of the ownership and registration of domain names.

Namebase is an onramp for Handshake — an interface for interacting with the chain. We’re an exchange, wallet, marketplace, and domain registrar for Handshake (think if Coinbase and GoDaddy had a baby.) 

I was the principal designer for 2.5 years designing and managing our full product suite and ecosystem projects. We exited in February of 2022 when the product was sold to Namecheap, the #2 domain registrar after GoDaddy.

A fun byproduct of the revamp of our dashboard is this speed build. I documented myself in order to share a bit of our development process with our community.

Receiving a truly ownable piece of the Internet is an exciting thing.
I experimented with motion gestures to make this interaction feel special and delightful.

What are Web3 domains worth?

Decentralized domain names are a relatively new concept. I created an aid to help customers evaluate their assets. Our stats page aggregates and visualizes historical pricing data on an hourly basis. These metrics provide customers with an overview of the state of the Handshake ecosystem and activity on Namebase.

Namebase was influential in the growth of Handshake. In addition to our product, we invested time in the growth of the ecosystem to build other tools and apps. Things like decentralized profiles, wrapped HNS (WHNS) an ERC20 token for greater interoperability with Ethereum, and a DNS resolver for Handshake.