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Namecoin

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Namecoin
File:Namecoin Video.ogv
Video: What is Namecoin ?
Unit
Symbolℕ, NMC‎
Denominations
Subunit
 10−3mNMC (Milli Namecoin)
 10−6μNMC (Micro Namecoin)
 10−9nNMC (Nano Namecoin)
Demographics
Date of introduction18 April 2011; 1st Fork of Bitcoin[1][2][3][4]
User(s)Worldwide
Valuation
Production21 million Namecoins are released as a geometric series, every 4 years the rate is halved.[5]
 SourceNamecoin Statistics
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Namecoin.
File:Namecoin Qt Version 0.3.64 Overview Tab.png
Namecoin Wallet: Overview
File:Namecoin Qt Version 0.3.64 Manage Names Tab.png
Namecoin Wallet: Managing Names

Namecoin (Symbol: ℕ or NMC) is a cryptocurrency and the first fork of the Bitcoin software.[1][2][3][4] Similar to Bitcoin there is a production limit of 21 million Namecoins, which are divisible down to 8 decimal places.[5] Payments are made to addresses, which are based on digital signatures. These addresses are human readable strings of 33 characters, starting with N or M. They used to start with 1 like Bitcoin addresses, but this has been changed to avoid confusion.[6][7][8][9][10] There is no central issuing authority, the distribution of coins is regulated by the Namecoin peer-to-peer network.[5]

The main difference from Bitcoin is that Namecoin offers a multipurpose distributed data storage for registering, updating and transfering data inside the Namecoin Blockchain. The Namecoin Protocol provides only the consistency mechanism, there is no predetermined entry format. It allows the individual creation of a new namespace for a specific application. The application OneName is using the individual "u/" namespace as an example.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

Namecoin is popular for the "d/" namespace, which provides the .bit domain.[13] As an alternative, decentralized DNS and making a new top level domain it is independent from ICANN. Main advantages are reduced outfalls and a higher resistance to domain name censorship. The resolving of .bit domain names requires a copy of the Namecoin Blockchain or access to a public DNS server, which takes part in the Namecoin network.[5] A .bit domain name is registered by paying a fee of 0.01 NMC (which is destroyed), can be transferred to an other owner and expires after 36000 blocks (~200days).[7]

History

September 2010: A discussion has been started in the Bitcoin forum about a hypothetical system called BitDNS and generalizing Bitcoin, which is based on a talk at IRC at 14 November 2010. Gavin Andresen and Satoshi Nakamoto joined the discussion in the Bitcointalk forum and supported the idea of BitDNS.[17][18][19]

December 2010: A reward for implementing BitDNS was announced at the Bitcoin Forum.[20] The main developer Vincent Durham (vinced) decided to implement this idea to earn this reward.[20][21][22]

April 18, 2011: Namecoin was introduced by Vincent Durham (vinced) as a multipurpose and distributed naming system based on Bitcoin. It was inspired by the BitDNS discussion in the Bitcoin Forum.[11]

June 2011: WikiLeaks mentioned the project via Twitter.[23]

October 2013: Michael Gronager, main developer of libcoin,[24] found a security issue in the Namecoin protocol, which allowed modifying foreign names. It was successfully fixed in a short timeframe and was never exploited (Exception: bitcoin.bit as a proof of existence).[25][26][27]

February 2014: FreeSpeechMe was released: a Windows/Linux Firefox plug-in, which allows automatical resolution of .bit addresses by downloading the Namecoin block chain and running it in the background.[28]

February 2014: Namecoin was mentioned by ICANN in a public draft report. Highlighting the future of the Internet not controlled by the US Government, the organization underlines, that an emphasis of distribution of control and privacy has surfaced with Namecoin as the most well known example.[29][30]

March 2014: OneName was released - a decentralized identity system built on top of the Namecoin protocol. As an example, OneName can be used for simplified Bitcoin payments.[14]

May 2014: Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash introduced Monegraph - a innovative system using the Namecoin protocol. Monegraph is used to sign and publish digital graphics, to proof and verify authorship of these assets.[31]

Uses

Proposed potential uses for Namecoin besides domain name registration include:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Isgur, Ben (2014-07-16). "A Little Altcoin Sanity: Namecoin". CoinReport.
  2. ^ a b Buterin, Vitalik (2013-10-26). "Bitcoin in Israel, Part 3: Interview on Alternative Currencies". Bitcoin Magazine.
  3. ^ a b "Namecoin – Next Generation Domain Name System". CoinJoint. 2014-06-05.
  4. ^ a b Brokaw, Alex (2014-08-23). "Crypto 2.0 Roundup: Bitcoin's Revolution Moves Beyond Currency". Coindesk.
  5. ^ a b c d Gilson, David (2013-06-18). "What are Namecoins and .bit domains?". CoinDesk.
  6. ^ Namecoin block explorer
  7. ^ a b Gallagher, Sean (2011-11-17). "Anonymous "dimnet" tries to create hedge against DNS censorship". Ars Technica.
  8. ^ Aron, Jacon (2012-01-17). "Bitcoin online currency gets new job in web security". The New Scientist.
  9. ^ "NameCoin and BitCoin, keys to web anonymity". Intelligence Online. No. 647. 2011-09-01. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ dulo (2011-05-27). "Namecoin: децентрализирана и защитена DNS, бзирана на P2P". Download.bg (in Bulgarian). Translation of title using Google Translate: "Namecoin: decentralized and secure DNS, bzirana of P2P"
  11. ^ a b vinced (2011-04-18). "[announce] Namecoin - a distributed naming system based on Bitcoin". Bitcoin Forum. Bitcointalk.org.
  12. ^ "Decentralizing Identity". Continuations. 2014-03-10.
  13. ^ a b Dourado, Eli (2014-02-05). "Can Namecoin Obsolete ICANN (and More)?". Theumlaut.
  14. ^ a b Rizzo, Pete (2014-03-27). "How OneName Makes Bitcoin Payments as Simple as Facebook Sharing". CoinDesk.
  15. ^ "OneName". Namecoin.info.
  16. ^ "Name u/ryanshea". Namecha.in Block Explorer.
  17. ^ appamatto (2010-10-15). "BitDNS and Generalizing Bitcoin". Bitcoin Forum. Bitcointalk.org.
  18. ^ IRC (2010-10-14). "IRC discussion about BitDNS 1/2". web.archive.org. web.archive.org.
  19. ^ IRC (2010-10-15). "IRC discussion about BitDNS 2/2". web.archive.org. web.archive.org.
  20. ^ a b kiba (2010-04-12). "BitDNS Bounty (3500 BTC)". Bitcoin Forum. Bitcointalk.org.
  21. ^ vinced/namecoin, GitHub
  22. ^ Keller, Levin (2011-03-19). "Namecoin - a distributed name system based on Bitcoin". Prezi.
  23. ^ "Twitter / wikileaks: Namecoin and Bitcoin will be ..." WikiLeaks, via Twitter. 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
  24. ^ libcoin/libcoin, GitHub
  25. ^ Loibl, Andreas (2014-08-01). "Namecoin" (PDF). Faculty of Informatics, Technical University Munich, Germany.
  26. ^ Gilson, David (2013-10-28). "Developers attempt to resurrect Namecoin after fundamental flaw discovered". CoinDesk.
  27. ^ libcoin (2011-04-18). "Namecoin was stillborn, I had to switch off life-support". Bitcoin Forum. Bitcointalk.org.
  28. ^ Reyes, Ferdinand (2014-02-13). "FreeSpeechMe: The new anti-censorship and secure domain resolving Namecoin-based plug-in". Bitcoin Magazine.
  29. ^ "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers Identifier Technology Innovation - Draft Report" (PDF). ICANN. 2014-02-21.
  30. ^ Hofman, Adam (2014-03-19). "Bitcoin and Namecoin Appear in Draft ICANN Report – U.S. Plans to Relinquish Remaining Control of Internet". Bitcoin Magazine.
  31. ^ Cawrey, Daniel (2014-05-15). "How Monegraph Uses the Block Chain to Verify Digital Assets". CoinDesk.
  32. ^ "Namespace:Identity". Dot-Bit.
  33. ^ "Messaging System]". Dot-Bit.
  34. ^ Namecoin block explorer, Archived here
  35. ^ "Personal Namespace". Dot-Bit.
  36. ^ Kirk, Jeremy (2013-05-24). "Could the Bitcoin network be used as an ultrasecure notary service?". Techworld.
  37. ^ ecdsa.org/bitcoin-alias/, Archived page
  38. ^ ecdsa.org/bitcoin_URIs.html, Archived page
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