If you’ve ever transacted with cryptocurrency before or used centralized products like major cryptocurrency exchanges, you know how clunky things can feel sometimes.
Things can get even messier when dealing with wallet addresses. With nothing but a string of characters to tell one wallet address from another, there’s often a frustrating lack of identity in the digital world in the name of privacy.
Thankfully, companies like Unstoppable Domains are working to change this reality.
With the aim of bridging the gap between the Internet and Web3, Unstoppable Domains’ goal is to provide its customers with their names and addresses for the new decentralized web. And with no renewal fees and simple crypto payments, it’s an exciting change to the age-old domain system that’s out there.
But how does Unstoppable Domains work? And, more importantly, do you need your own Unstoppable Domain to thrive in the Web3 world?
Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
What Are Unstoppable Domains?
Unstoppable Domains Features
How Much Does Unstoppable Domains Cost?
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bottom Line
What Are Unstoppable Domains?
Unstoppable Domains is a San Francisco-based company that began in 2018. The company’s goal is to enable more autonomous ownership of your digital identity, helping people interact with Web3 applications more easily.
To help accomplish this goal, Unstoppable Domains allows domain owners to move out of the traditional Web2 system and into a Web3 alternative that promises zero renewal fees, abandonment of the traditional DNS system and HTTP hosting, and a completely decentralized online identity.
Originally, the primary appeal of Unstoppable Domains was to just make cryptocurrency transactions more seamless. An Unstoppable Domain lets you translate your cryptocurrency wallet address into a name that is human-readable, and it connects easily with decentralized apps (dApps) and crypto exchanges.
If you’re tired of entering clunky wallet codes when sending or receiving crypto, this is excellent news. And the company has continued to innovate since it began, now offering several more features to help users own their Web3 identities.
Unstoppable Domains Features
At the time of writing, Unstoppable Domains has over 3.5 million domains registered. It also has several useful features besides simplifying crypto transactions with a simpler alternative to wallet addresses.
Some of the main features you get with Unstoppable Domains include:
- Access to 825 integrations to send and receive crypto
- Support for 310 different coins and tokens
- Integration with 1,000 partners including the likes of TrustWallet, MoonPay, Yearn Finance, 1inch Wallet, Atomic Wallet, and plenty more leading wallets and dApps
- Access to unlimited domain parking for just $99 per year
- An AI Artwork Beta program that lets you generate NFTs for your Unstoppable Domain
- No renewal, hosting, or gas fees
Having a single name for handling all of your Web3 needs is the main appeal of Unstoppable Domains. And since you store your domain in your own crypto wallet, you can transfer it anywhere you want after minting it.
And all of these features don’t mean that privacy is out the window. By default, Unstoppable Domains doesn’t share “whois” information unless you opt-in, so you can remain anonymous.
Advantage & Disadvantages
If you're on the fence about signing up with Unstoppable Domains, consider some of the pros and cons of this new Web3 alternative:
Pros:
- You only register once: Your unstoppable domain is yours forever, as soon as you make the purchase. This is in contrast to steep annual renewal fees for Web2 domains.
- It’s simpler to use crypto: Unstoppable Domains negate the need to copy and paste your different wallet addresses as these can be stored with your Web3 username. It’s basically your single sign-on for Web3.
- Your data is secure: Your identity is kept anonymous with Unstoppable Domains, and you can enjoy the security and privacy of the decentralized web.
- Decentralized Identity: Unstoppable Domains has its own Decentralised Identity (DID) solution that allows each user to store and display select personal information, giving you complete control over your online identity.
Cons:
- Lack of native support: Because Unstoppable Domains doesn’t work with the traditional DNS system, most browsers don’t support it. And despite web browsers like Opera and Brave natively resolving Unstoppable Domains, the most popular ones (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) don’t support CNS and UNS which is what Unstoppable Domains uses.
- Not search-engine friendly: At this time, major search engines don’t index Web3 websites or content, so your Unstoppable Domain won’t appear on search results.
- Issues with mainstream adoption: While DeFi has gained traction in recent years, it’s still far from mainstream. There’s no guarantee Web3 takes off in the near future, or at all, so it could be more difficult for you to share your Web3 creation and website with others.
- Concerns about actual innovation: One potential criticism is that Unstoppable Domains hasn’t really created a new or unique way to “do” domains. Rather, it’s copied the existing framework, removed the independent oversight from ICANN, and privatized its own centralized directory.
How Much Does Unstoppable Domains Cost?
Unstoppable Domains pricing varies depending on the TLD of your domain name and the “tier” that it’s in. That’s because Unstoppable Domain classifies available domain names into tiers based on how valuable they might be.
This page breaks down the prices for different TLD tiers. Domains start as low as $10 but can cost thousands of dollars depending on the tier.
And that’s just for regular domains. Unstoppable Domains also has premium domains which are typically short, common names that are high-value. These domains are generally thousands of dollars.
However, one benefit of an Unstoppable Domain is that it’s a one-time fee. In contrast, traditional hosting has annual renewal fees.
Plus, Unstoppable Domains has gotten rid of gas fees since it moved to Polygon insead of Ethereum.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Top-Level Domains Does Unstoppable Domains Offer?
At the time of writing, these are the top-level domains (TLDs) that Unstoppable Domains offers:
- .blockchain
- .bitcoin
- .nft
- .wallet
- .dao
- .888
- .x
While it’s likely that more TLDs will be available in the future, it’s important to note that traditional ones like .com, .org or .net are not available with Unstoppable Domains at this time.
Should I Replace My Current Domain With An Unstoppable One?
No. In the current climate, moving exclusively to an Unstoppable Domain is not worth giving up your existing domain. Unstoppable Domains are less popular than Web2 for everyday use and require technology that most people have not yet downloaded in order to access.
Running both domains in parallel could be a good solution, depending on your site’s needs.
Are Unstoppable Domains An Investment?
It depends who you ask. Purchasing an Unstoppable Domain with the intention of selling it for a higher price later on is essentially bidding that Web3 will grow in popularity. And domain flipping is a risky business, even for regular Web2 domains.
Can You Sell Unstoppable Domains?
Yes, you can sell your Unstoppable Domain on OpenSea or other NFT marketplaces.
The Bottom Line
Unstoppable Domains are moving in an exciting direction. And the idea of an easy-to-use but still private Web3 identity is an exciting one. The fact you don’t have to worry about renewal fees and actually own your own domain name is also a nice change to traditional hosting solutions.
That said, this new Web3 technology is far from mainstream. Time will tell if Unstoppable Domains can help bridge the gap between old and new systems, but for now, most people likely need their traditional domain names as well.
If anything, you can always snag a new Web3 domain name for yourself in case you need to use it in the future. You don't pay renewal fees, after all, so Unstoppable Domains is pretty low risk.
