Due to recent advancements, Web3 usernames may receive more adoption.

Recent advancements may increase adoption of Web3 usernames.

Author: Deep Chain DCNews Translation: Deep Sister

Since the launch of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) in 2017, Web3 users have been able to replace the long strings that make up encrypted addresses with more easily remembered blockchain usernames or Web3 domain names. For example, Ethereum (ETH) users can now send cryptocurrency to network founder Vitalik Buterin using his username vitalik.eth, without knowing that his address is 0xd8da6bf26964af9d7eed9e03e53415d37aa96045.

However, despite this progress in making user identification easier, almost nobody is using it. There are over 200 million unique addresses on Ethereum, but as of January, only 2.2 million .eth names have been registered. This means that at least 97% of Ethereum addresses have nothing to do with ENS usernames.

A lack of usernames creates user experience issues in the Web3 ecosystem. Imagine if early email addresses consisted of a long string of characters that looked like 0x7a16ff8270133f063aab6c9977183d9e72835428 or 0x3A7937851d67Ee2f51C959663749093Dc87D9C9a. If that were the case, email might not have survived as a practicality.

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However, despite the initial lack of adoption, there is evidence that the tide may be turning in favor of Web3 usernames. Some of the latest advances in wallet and messaging applications may be more attractive to users than ever before.

One of these advances is better integration of free usernames with wallets.

Wallet Integration and Free Usernames

Wallets have long had the ability to understand Web3 names. According to the update log of the Little Fox wallet, it introduced the ability to send to .eth names in October 2017, immediately after ENS was launched. Other wallets have also followed suit, including Coinbase Wallet, Trustwallet, etc. Some of these wallets also integrate with ENS competitors such as Unstoppable Domains, SSI, Bonfida, etc.

However, by default, these wallets still display encrypted addresses to users, as new users typically do not automatically receive a name.

In order for users to receive cryptocurrency through their Web3 name, they need to first register a username with a specific name provider. This means identifying the provider to use, navigating to the provider interface, and completing the registration process.

Worse still, names can be expensive. ENS domains are typically $5 and expire after one year, while unstoppable domains that do not require renewals generally cost $20 to $40. Compare this to the ease of registering a free email address with Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc., and it’s easy to see why most crypto users don’t have Web3 usernames.

Some wallet applications have been trying to solve this problem by giving away free domains to users. For example, the Coinbase wallet allows new users to register a .cb.id username for free once a year, and the Kresus wallet also offers its users free .kresus usernames up to 8 characters long.

This practice of offering free usernames is a recent development. Some popular wallets, such as Trustwallet and Metamask, still do not offer this feature. But as more and more users join the Web3 ecosystem, over time this may lead to more frequent adoption of Web3 usernames.

Another recent development is the integration of instant messaging.

Using Web3 usernames for chat messages

Some messaging apps have started implementing Web3 names as usernames, thus increasing the utility of these names beyond payment use cases. One example is Blockscan Chat. It allows users to send instant messages to any Ethereum address or ENS username.

Title: Blockscan Chat interface. Source: Blockscan

When messages are sent using Blockscan Chat, they trigger an alert on the Etherscan block explorer. If the recipient sees the alert and logs into the app, they can read the message. The app’s developers claim that all messages are end-to-end encrypted. So while anyone can see whether a particular user has received a message, only the sender and recipient can read it.

Web3 usernames are not an absolute necessity for using Blockscan Chat, since it does allow users to send messages to encrypted addresses. But the names do make it easier for users to find each other within the app.

Another example is Grill.chat, a messaging app running on the Subsocial (SUB) network. When users first register, the system assigns them a random username. But they can choose to attach an Ethereum wallet to their account. If they do, the app will automatically convert their random username to their .eth username.

Being able to chat with other users via their web3 usernames can be said to be a more useful feature than being able to send cryptocurrency together with them.

After all, the crypto community is still small. If a crypto user needs money from friends or family, they may be better off using traditional Web2 apps like Venmo or Apple Blockingy right now, since their friends and family may not know how to use Web3 wallets. However, if someone wants to specifically talk about crypto and Web3 apps, being able to find them via their username could be a huge advantage. This added use case may attract more users to adopt Web3 names in the future.

Another recent development in the world of Web3 names is cross-chain naming.

Cross-Chain Web3 Names

When Web3 names were first invented, ENS was the only protocol available to create them, and they could only be used on Ethereum.

But the Web3 ecosystem has developed to include many different chains. As the number of chains has increased, so has the number of naming protocols. Users can now register Polygon (MATIC) usernames from Unstoppable Domains, Solana (SOL) usernames from Bonfida, and Arbitrum One (ARB) and BNB Chain (BNB) names from SBlockingce ID.

This cross-chain fragmentation can make it difficult for wallets and block explorers to integrate, and can be confusing for users. For example, suppose someone’s Polygon username is newton.crypto. But when they go to register the same name on BNB Chain, they find that newton.bnb is already taken, so they register einstein.bnb instead. When a user looks up this person’s address on a block explorer, they may see either name, depending on which name the block explorer’s developers chose to display. Either way, it can be confusing for the user.

For example, in this situation, if a user wants to send cryptocurrency to newton.crypto on BNB Chain, they could easily send it to newton.bnb instead, resulting in the wrong recipient.

Some Web3 companies are attempting to solve this problem by creating a name for each identity on multiple chains. For example, the Redefined app allows users to register a username on Arbitrum One, but receive funds using it on 8 other chains: Polygon, Optimism (OP), BNB Chain, Solana, Bitcoin (BTC), Fantom (FTM), Moonbeam (GLMR), and Near.

To make this possible, Redefined allows users to write the address or username for each network into an Arbitrum smart contract through the “Manage” tab in the app. Once an address is listed in the contract, anyone can use the “Send” feature in the app to initiate a transaction to the correct address. To send funds, the sender only needs to know the recipient’s Redefined username, rather than the recipient’s name or address on any particular chain.

Redefined usernames start with @ and have no extension. For example, @newton and @einstein are valid Redefined usernames.

Did.id, also known as “.bit,” is a similar project running on the Nervos network. It allows users to register a .bit username that works on 39 different networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Internet Computer (ICP), and more. Registration can be done directly using a Nervos network wallet or indirectly using Polygon.

Did.id does not have a user interface with a “send” function. However, it integrates with nine different wallet applications including imToken, Tokenpocket, MathWallet, Huobi Wallet, Bitkeep, HyperBlockingy, AlphaWallet, ViaWallet, and MIBAO. Therefore, senders using these wallets can use it.

Cross-chain usernames are another new development that may stimulate further adoption of Web3 usernames over time.

When will usernames become popular?

Despite these advancements, it is currently unclear how long it will take for Web3 usernames to be adopted on a large scale. Currently, over 90% of Web3 addresses are not associated with any username. Therefore, there is a huge hill to climb in terms of adoption. Meanwhile, users still need to copy and paste a string of complex characters to find a person’s Web3 identity.

Users still face a lot of friction, including the continued high cost of registering names for most wallet applications’ users.

Nevertheless, these advancements may pave the way for widespread adoption of Web3 usernames in the future.

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