What’s *W3DNA: the first top-level domains in Web3

In Web3, users are identified with special blockchain-based domain names. These names can be used as addresses for sending cryptocurrency; to connect to dApps; and of course, to park actual websites. Finally users can acquire control of their online identity, without having to transfer sensitive information to centralized domain registrars.

You’ve probably heard about at least two Web3 domain services: ENS (Ethereum Name Service) and Unstoppable Domains, a partner of XP.NETWORK. Allow us to introduce another one: *W3DNA, one of the first companies to provide cross-chain domains and the first to offer top-level domains.

There is a major difference between regular and top-level Web3 domains. A regular domain consists of a name (website name) and an extension: for example, vitalik.eth or john.crypto. A top-level domain (TLD), by contrast, has just a name and no extension: e.g. *Vitalik or *John. It will be possible to enter just that one word as an address in a Web3 browser or crypto wallet to load a website or send crypto.

*W3DNA is the first in Web3 to offer TLDs: they are called a *DNA, because such a domain is like DNA: unique and personal. These unique domain names don’t just work without extensions: they can also be in any language and script, even hieroglyphs. As any Web3 domain, each is minted as an NFT..

Another important feature is that there are no limitations on the length of such a TLD – it can be very short, like *John, or really long – as long as a name is available, you can take it. A *DNA TLD can be used with websites hosted on IPFS and other decentralized storage platforms. 

One more thing that makes *W3NDA different from providers like ENS is that, once you buy a domain, it is yours forever. The price depends on the domain length and starts at $5. You can even get one for free if you take part in our upcoming giveaways (read on for details). You won’t have to pay any renewal fees. 

Multichain by design

What made us at XP.NETWORK particularly excited about *W3DNA is that the team is dedicated to the multichain approach – just like we are. Right now Web3 domain systems are siloed: there is Ethereum Name Service, Solana Name Service, etc. But TLDs by *W3DNA come as “pay for one, get 3” packs: on Ethereum, Polygon, and BNB Chain.

Of course, there are still technological limitations to using decentralized domains across blockchains, as networks themselves aren’t readily interoperable. But if you hold a cross-chain *DNA domain, you’ll have an NFT associated with the same domain name on several blockchains. So, for example, you’ll be able to login as *John in games of DEXs on Ethereum, BNB Chain, etc.

It’s important to understand that *W3DNA domains (just like ENS, Unstoppable, etc.) are not affiliated with the centralized domain registrar network, regulated by ICANN. Users will access websites parked on these domains using special Web3 browsers – at least at first. The platform already has its own *W3DNA browser for Windows and MacOS, and soon will add support for Brave, Chrome, Edge, etc. 

For the time being, Web3 infrastructure lives separately from traditional websites, and you can’t yet use NFTs to login into traditional apps. But of course, it’s possible that with time, Web2 and Web3 domain frameworks will merge. Or, perhaps, the final result will be even radical: users may switch to decentralized systems altogether.

XP.NETWORK facilitates the expansion of *W3DNA to Avalanche

The next blockchain ecosystem in *W3DNA’s radar is Avalanche, and the team approached XP.NETWORK to assist with the bridging. As you probably know, our powerful NFT bridge supports more EVM and non-EVM networks than any other, and Avalanche is one of them. 

OAvalanche has a strong DeFi, GameFi, and NFT ecosystem; last year, it was one of the hotspots for Play-to-Earn games. In turn, P2E is a promising niche for online identity implementation, as game developers want to have a strong brand identity. A top-level domain with the name of a game and without any .io or similar extension definitely helps.

It’s very important that an online identity NFT preserve all of its smart contract logic when bridged, so we paid a lot of attention to mapping *W3DNA’s contracts for Avalanche. You can already see the first experimental results on Snowtrace (Avalanche network explorer) and on TofuNFT. You can see that it was bridged from BSC: this is a way to distinguish legitimate bridged items from fakes.