Summary
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Pioneering Onchain Domains: Brave, in partnership with Unstoppable Domains, has become the first major browser to launch its onchain top-level domain, “.brave,” designed to replace complex crypto wallet addresses with user-friendly names.
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User Ownership and Decentralized Features: These “.brave” domains are minted as NFTs on the Polygon blockchain, granting users permanent ownership without renewal fees and enabling them to host decentralized websites on IPFS, natively accessible in the Brave browser across multiple blockchain networks.
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Vision for a User-Controlled Web: The initiative, described as a “user-owned identity layer,” aims to enhance user privacy, ownership, and control, with direct resolution support in Brave Browser version 1.81 (targeting an August release) and plans to seek ICANN registration for broader Web2 and Web3 compatibility.
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Strategic Move by a Niche Player: While Brave holds a 1% browser market share with over 85 million monthly active users, this introduction of blockchain-based domains signifies a strategic push to integrate Web3 functionalities and overcome traditional resolution hurdles for such domains.
The primary utility of this innovation is to offer users a more intuitive alternative to complex cryptocurrency wallet addresses, replacing them with human-readable identifiers.
Ownership, Interoperability, and Decentralized Hosting
These “.brave” domains are conceived as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) created on the Polygon blockchain, a design choice that confers genuine ownership and control to the user, eliminating the need for periodic renewal fees.
A key technical feature is their ability to resolve across a wide array of blockchain networks, including prominent platforms like Sonic, Solana, Ethereum, Base, and Bitcoin.
A particularly distinctive element of this launch is the empowerment of users to host decentralized websites.
By utilizing their “.brave” domains in conjunction with the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), users can deploy sites that will be natively accessible through the Brave browser, fostering a more decentralized web experience.
A User-Owned Identity Layer and Native Integration
Brian Bondy, Brave’s Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, emphasized the company’s foundational goal: “to put privacy, ownership, and control back in the hands of users.”
He further positioned “.brave” not merely as a domain, but as “a user-owned identity layer, native to the Brave ecosystem.”
Both the Brave Browser and Brave Wallet will integrate the capability for direct resolution of “.brave” domains starting with version 1.81.
This version is presently available in nightly development builds, with a full public release anticipated for August of this year.
Navigating Traditional DNS and Future Ambitions
Blockchain-based domains traditionally encounter hurdles in achieving widespread resolution across standard web browsers, largely because they operate outside the purview of the ICANN-regulated Domain Name System (DNS).
Brave’s strategy suggests an intention to navigate and potentially overcome this limitation.
This pursuit aims to enable “.brave” domains to function cohesively within both the existing Web2 framework and the burgeoning Web3 environment.
Brave’s Position in the Browser Market
While Brave Browser boasts a considerable audience, with over 85 million monthly active users, it is generally perceived as a specialized yet steadily growing entity in the browser market.
The browser currently holds an approximate 1% market share, positioning it behind established leaders such as Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox.
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