Unstoppable Domains has launched an instant messaging system for Web3 username holders, according to an announcement made by Chief Engineer Aaron Quirk on August 23rd. With this system, .crypto, .wallet, .polygon, or other domain owners can now message each other in most applications that use XMTP, including the UD iOS app, websites, Coinbase Wallet, Lens protocol applications like Lenster and Buttrfly. The announcement stated that the Android version of UD will initially not provide messaging, but this feature will be added soon.
A Revolutionary Integration
The new messaging integration is based on the Extensible Messaging Transport Protocol (XMTP), an independent protocol for encrypting and sending messages to recipients. Therefore, even if Unstoppable Domains ceases its operations in the future, users will still be able to use this feature. The announcement stated, “Your messages will be protected and accessible to you no matter what happens to Unstoppable.”
Web3 usernames have been in use since 2017, allowing crypto users to associate their crypto wallet addresses (long strings of characters representing their accounts) with easier-to-remember names. For example, the hard-to-remember 0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045 can simply be “Vitalik.eth”.
These crypto usernames were mostly used in the past for receiving payments, but a few projects are trying to expand their use cases to include other applications, including messaging.
Development of Domain Addresses in the Web3 Space
Coinbase Wallet launched an instant messaging system on July 12th, allowing users to send messages to each other through .eth or .cb.id usernames. The Coinbase Wallet feature was also integrated with the social media protocol Lens through the shared use of XMTP by both projects, but this shared system did not include usernames registered through Unstoppable Domains, such as those ending with .crypto or .polygon. However, according to Quirk’s announcement, this issue has now been resolved. Lens applications or Coinbase Wallet users can now send messages to each other using their usernames, in addition to other methods.
Quirk also mentioned that the company will soon release an integration with the Push Protocol, allowing Unstoppable Domains username holders to subscribe for notifications from Web3 projects. Projects will be able to send messages to users through the Unstoppable Domains website or app.
On April 26th, Unstoppable Domains partnered with Binance US to allow users to register names ending with “.BinanceUS”. And on July 17th, they announced a ceasefire with rival Ethereum Name Service (ENS), allowing ENS .eth names to be sold for the first time in the Unstoppable Domains store.
