discuss Are Handshake Domains The FUTURE?

[kinddomains]

Handshake domains are decentralized TLDs (like .com) that may be a big part of the next gen of internet technology. 7 million Handshake domains are already registered but opportunity continues for newbies.

What does it mean that they’re TLDs? They can be used as TLDs on the few (but growing number of) browsers that support them. For instance, if you own the Handshake domain ‘Up’, you have ’up/’ as a domain in itself and could sell subdomains (such as sign.up).

Of course, these are more investments than anything!

 

[kg.sa]

My first 'contact' with HDs was reading a story about how someone had registered a HD that already existed !!!

This is a design issue not a coding bug. It seems to me to be a bit technically immature.

 

[Andreas B.]

Thing is:
Handshake Domains do the very same, as usual www domains do.
You visit a "website".

> It does not make a difference for the user.

So, why should he skip to HS domains,
and leave the common known .com () domains behind?!

That there is another system happening in the background, is sth that does not care the average user that much...

From a commerical point of view, HS has no ability to beat the domain sphere we have today.


However, as it is, 2-4 years can go by,
and people like Elon Musk (joke) and others might find HS domains cool,
post that in their twitter accounts...
and then you have something happening.


Otherwise, not really.

(HS domains are not an addition to the naming space, like blockchain adresses as .eth -
where you can send ethereum coins - but are ment to be a replacement / competition to www domains.
So that's another story...)

 

[DomainConcepts]

Of course, these are more investments than anything!

Is that another way of saying:

No one has much use for them, but they can be pumped and dumped?

 

[bmugford]

No.

Decentralization is a marketing buzz word, it is not a reality.

The world needs some structure, order, and yes centralization to actually function.

Ask Unstoppable Domains, the company pushing for "decentralization", but at the same time suing the .wallet handshake owner and making arguments for centralization.

Brad

 

[kinddomains]

Thanks for all your thoughts!

 

[henry93]

I see lots of conflicts and law suits on the way.

I own a 2 letter $5 .oo - that's the best I can do and it's enough.

HNS seems to be me like make money scheme for big guys. It's the trending topic. Bubble will be created and efforts will be required.

Future is only when the new-gtld will get exausted.

 

[Broth Investing]

I own two just in case it amounts to something but I’m highly skeptical of its future everything blockchain and crypto feels like a blind hype bubble. ETH and Bitcoin have a future but imo it’s at maybe 10% of current valuation. The rest is worthless.

 

[HotKey]

Are Handshake Domains The FUTURE?

That's really up to you. And me. Handshake domains are most certainly part of the future.

What does it mean that they are TLDs? In my eyes, a domainers dream, and an end users paradise. Imagine owning a keyword in its entirety? To me this is the true value of Handshake. Not the HNS crypto. Ironically engineers never intended for TLDs to map on their own, but some things take a life on their own.

I think Handshake TLDs are opportune to begin using old-school criteria valuations like LLL's and LLLL's and EMDs, geo's and brandables etc that aren't confusing to apply to as with ccTLDs and new gTLDs, which I have struggled with. If history repeats itself, well hi there.

There's still a ways off on much. But if there wasn't, we wouldn't be talking about the future, would we?

 

[kinddomains]

​

That's really up to you. And me. Handshake domains are most certainly part of the future.

What does it mean that they are TLDs? In my eyes, a domainers dream, and an end users paradise. Imagine owning a keyword in its entirety? To me this is the true value of Handshake. Not the HNS crypto. Ironically engineers never intended for TLDs to map on their own, but some things take a life on their own.

I think Handshake TLDs are opportune to begin using old-school criteria valuations like LLL's and LLLL's and EMDs, geo's and brandables etc that aren't confusing to apply to as with ccTLDs and new gTLDs, which I have struggled with. If history repeats itself, well hi there.

There's still a ways off on much. But if there wasn't, we wouldn't be talking about the future, would we?

Really helpful comment. Thank you!

 

[Eric Lyon]

No.

Decentralization is a marketing buzz word, it is not a reality.

The world needs some structure, order, and yes centralization to actually function.

Ask Unstoppable Domains, the company pushing for "decentralization", but at the same time suing the .wallet handshake owner and making arguments for centralization.

Brad

^This

It's hard enough for a new start up to build rapid trust and authority online through a screen without in person contact, even with a slightly regulated ICANN backing.

Tossing handshake/blockchain/decentralized extensions in the mix with anonymous operators and no regulation is like speeding down the highway with no auto insurance.

There needs to be some regulations for peace of mind. Not just for the investors or founders, but also for the consumers they wish to market too, in a new online world where everyone assumes someone is trying to scam them online, so they stick to big brands and direct word of mouth to do serious business with.

At the end of the day, in the back of some of our heads, no regulations = wild wild west and higher investment risks/liabilities.

That's just my opinion though. Everyone's different and what works for one may not work for another.

 

[Amineuk]

You never know

 

[HotKey]

^This

It's hard enough for a new start up to build rapid trust and authority online through a screen without in person contact, even with a slightly regulated ICANN backing.

Tossing handshake/blockchain/decentralized extensions in the mix with anonymous operators and no regulation is like speeding down the highway with no auto insurance.

There needs to be some regulations for peace of mind. Not just for the investors or founders, but also for the consumers they wish to market too, in a new online world where everyone assumes someone is trying to scam them online, so they stick to big brands and direct word of mouth to do serious business with.

At the end of the day, in the back of some of our heads, no regulations = wild wild west and higher investment risks/liabilities.

That's just my opinion though. Everyone's different and what works for one may not work for another.

Eric, maybe regulations of sorts will come. This particular protocol is still in its infancy. There was a time when the internet as it shows today was a "wild west". Blockchain domains are kind of like that right now but I think folks are taking the right steps.

And I agree, we do need rules in place no matter the format. If it's any consolation, Handshake took steps to prevent ownership on the top 100k Alexa (when Alexa was active) domains from to save them for their proper claims. I think that's commendable.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Eric, maybe regulations of sorts will come. This particular protocol is still in its infancy. There was a time when the internet as it shows today was a "wild west". Blockchain domains are kind of like that right now but I think folks are taking the right steps.

And I agree, we do need rules in place no matter the format. If it's any consolation, Handshake took steps to prevent ownership on the top 100k Alexa (when Alexa was active) domains from to save them for their proper claims. I think that's commendable.

Maybe... That's the keyword.

There is no certainty with handshake domains today.

The online world changes rapidly sometimes. There's definitely a possibility for a lot of things. It's just too early (for me anyways) to see any lights at the end of the handshake tunnel in it's current capacity with even less consumer and investor protection protocols than ICANN provides.

Time will tell.

At the moment, in my opinion, they are very risky investments. So, unless someone likes the stress of high risk investments, sticking with ICANN accreditation is the lower risk option (And even then, there's still a lot of risk and no guarantees anything will resell for a profit).

Even ngTLD's backed by ICANN are struggling a bit. I think those need to start taking off and becoming a household name first, before we'll start seeing any trust/authority development in handshakes in the future.

Long road ahead with lots of speedbumps.

 

[kinddomains]

Very helpful comments guys! Thank you.

 

[HotKey]

Maybe... That's the keyword.

There is no certainty with handshake domains today.

The online world changes rapidly sometimes. There's definitely a possibility for a lot of things. It's just too early (for me anyways) to see any lights at the end of the handshake tunnel in it's current capacity with even less consumer and investor protection protocols than ICANN provides.

Time will tell.

At the moment, in my opinion, they are very risky investments. So, unless someone likes the stress of high risk investments, sticking with ICANN accreditation is the lower risk option (And even then, there's still a lot of risk and no guarantees anything will resell for a profit).

Even ngTLD's backed by ICANN are struggling a bit. I think those need to start taking off and becoming a household name first, before we'll start seeing any trust/authority development in handshakes in the future.

Long road ahead with lots of speedbumps.

Yes, I agree. There's still speedbumps even today in the ICANN world. And risks too. It's continual.

Investing includes risk tolerance, doesn't it? I think the best time to mitigate that tolerance is at the earliest stages. Especially nowadays, people are waay more attuned to what's happening in the digital realm than they were 20 years ago. Naming is any domain-related genre/protocol is front and center on the radar.

Before you know it, something takes off and as domain investors we're like "fk, I missed that". It could also take a dive, and we can be glad we sidelined it. It's all about assessment.

Can't imagine how long it will take to sort out the new stuff, but there's people for that. In the meantime, I think if you're a good investor you can balance risk vs reward. Personally I like to balance the risk with potential based on logic and opportunity. Logic: does it/will it work, is it sustainable, will others see value beside me? Opportunity: early bird gets the worm (domain); ultimately money and time invested.

Handshake passes the smell test for me. Continual workmanship on a protocol, naming opportunities, proven results with sales and real-world usage (websites), and a coin backing by the largest crypto on earth.

 

[HotKey]

Even ngTLD's backed by ICANN are struggling a bit. I think those need to start taking off and becoming a household name first, before we'll start seeing any trust/authority development in handshakes in the future.

Probably a realistic perspective. This timeline though like first comes A, then B then C scenario.. might be better realized if so much didn't happen all at once within the last ten years.

More than likely we're going to have a bunch of different camps fanning their fires alongside each other for a time before stuff gets sorted out.

 

[kinddomains]

Thing is:
Handshake Domains do the very same, as usual www domains do.
You visit a "website".

> It does not make a difference for the user.

So, why should he skip to HS domains,
and leave the common known .com () domains behind?!

That there is another system happening in the background, is sth that does not care the average user that much...

From a commerical point of view, HS has no ability to beat the domain sphere we have today.


However, as it is, 2-4 years can go by,
and people like Elon Musk (joke) and others might find HS domains cool,
post that in their twitter accounts...
and then you have something happening.


Otherwise, not really.

(HS domains are not an addition to the naming space, like blockchain adresses as .eth -
where you can send ethereum coins - but are ment to be a replacement / competition to www domains.
So that's another story...)

Quote from Andreas: “However, as it is, 2-4 years can go by,
and people like Elon Musk (joke) and others might find HS domains cool,
post that in their twitter accounts...
and then you have something happening.”

That’s a really interesting thought.

Handshake names can act as TLDs (.example) for subdomains (good.example) or standalone domains (example/). The idea of a dotless domain is one that could attract users. Imagine NamePros being able to say: “go to NamePros” rather than “NamePros.com”!

That’s really cool. If enough companies or influencers begin to use ’em, they could really take off as a trend.

But I do appreciate the doubters too. I think we need to be open to both possibilities. Yet, those who write it off outright may need to consider that social media could easily take this worldwide in a few blinks. Thanks Andreas for your balanced thoughts.

 

[erwin.groen]

I think Handshake are going about it the right way. Like someone above stated, they’ve reserved particular names at Alexa.. They’re community driven and is completely open sourced, everything is done by community consensus.

I think they will have market appeal by corporations wanting their .brand
Everything handshake is doing is done by passionate people wanting the the freedoms restored by the applicant.. I like that personally..

I believe web2 and 3 DNS can coexist..

 

[alop]

I’ll recalculate but a heavy no