There are thousands of crypto coins that are available nowadays on different decentralized exchanges — literally, everyone can now own any cryptocurrency they want. But back in the late 2000s to the early 2010s, Bitcoin was the only coin in town. Back then, Bitcoin’s dominance was over the charts, even though it was surrounded by skepticisms.
However, this dominance was about to change when alt coins were introduced to the public. The first altcoin to emerge following bitcoin wasn’t litecoin, peercoin or dash. Rather, it was a now obscure cryptocurrency called Namecoin (NMC).
What is Namecoin?
Namecoin is “a peer-to-peer naming system based on Bitcoin.” It’s a token for a blockchain initially forked from Bitcoin’s blockchain. A fork is a change in a blockchain that makes the new branch non compatible to the original branch. Namecoin was developed as a blockchain and token for a decentralized domain name system (DNS).
DNS translates human-readable domain names to machine-readable IP addresses (for example, 000.0.0.00). DNS is the mechanism by which domain identities are linked with numerical IP addresses worldwide. The decentralization of this system was intended to end internet censorship and enhance Internet-related security and privacy.
The makers of Namecoin describe it as “an experimental open-source technology which improves decentralization, security, censorship resistance, privacy, and speed of certain components of the internet infrastructure such as DNS and identities.”
Namecoin uses the concept of data name/value pairs attached to a coin. A name/value pair is a data value and a name used to identify the value in a database. In this case, the name/value pair is a computer-readable numeric address with a human-readable name. A token for the name/value pair is created, and the token holder owns the name/value pair. Thus, a Namecoin is used to establish ownership of a domain name.
The idea for developing a tokenized domain name system was first introduced in 2010 in an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) room, #bitcoin-dev, where users discussed the merits of a bitcoin-like DNS system that came to be known as bitdns. Namecoin was introduced in April 2011, by Vincent Durham (an anonymous name) on the same Bitcoin Forum used to announce Bitcoin.
Goals of Namecoin
Namecoin’s developers indicated several potential uses and applications for this experimental token. First and foremost, the developers hope to protect free speech rights online by making the web more resistant to censorship.
Fun fact: Namecoin is a key/value pair registration and transfer system based on Bitcoin technology. This means Namecoin can be used to record and transfer arbitrary names or keys in a secure fashion. It can also attach data to these names.
There are myriad ways that Namecoin attempts to do this. For example, it can be used to attach identifying information — such as email addresses, cryptocurrency public addresses, or specific keys — to various identities as determined by the user. It can also be used as a means of providing decentralized website certificate validation.
Namecoin can be used in Tor and other anonymizing web platforms to generate human-meaningful Tor .onion domains. In the future, the token and its underlying technology could also be used for file signatures, securing voting procedures, notary services, and establishing proof of existence for individuals and entities.
Because of their links with the Namecoin network, these names are difficult to censor or seize, meaning they are resistant to outside influence. Additionally, the makers of Namecoin specify that lookups do not generate network traffic. The result of this is that Namecoin offers improved privacy capabilities as well.
As of this posting, Namecoin is still a valid token. You can purchase NMC on some decentralized exchanges, but the token is best used for its intended purpose.
Namecoin’s developers recommend that you don’t buy NMC for investing or currency purposes as it is not intended to be used this way. However, NMC has ranged between $.20 and $2.81 since 2017.
The future of Namecoin
Namecoin still exists in the blockchain space, but is no longer intended for investing and trading. It is now an institution of freedom from censorship and a stronghold of free speech, making it an extremely valuable resource that should not be taken for granted. Every purchase of a .bit domain has contributed to the maintenance and creation of other decentralized public services, which are growing ever more important in the turbulent environment of a rapidly-changing global political and economic scene.
There is also talk of developing Namecoin applications that could be used for voting, bonds, stocks, shares, notary services, proof of existence, and file signatures. These would be implemented in future software upgrades to Namecoin’s blockchain.
