⚙ New Namecoin specifications

In preparation for the release of the new Namecoin DNS apps, a total of 48 new namespaces have now been introduced:

• Domains and ID records are no longer separated
• ID records are no longer limited to a predefined set of key types
• 48 new namespaces have been introduced to allow new domain creations in all areas of daily life
• SSL/TLS specifications and standardization were introduced along with our Namecoin Root Certificate

For a long time, the community has used the .bit handle of the default Namecoin domains as quasi-identities and their display names on social media. Unfortunately, this only expressed ownership of the domain, which did not contain any personal data on the blockchain, but what would be expected from a web3 ID. Technically, this usage violated the specifications, as there was no implementation or resolver that displayed additional data from domain records beside IP and server settings. To meet the needs of the modern crypto community, new Namecoin specifications have been introduced in September 2022 to be used with our browser add-ons, complemented in February 2023 by additional ten TLDs (Top Level Domains). The historical id/ namespace is now associated with the .web3 TLD. Altogether, Namecoin now offers 50 namespaces with assigned TLD.

However, no TLD will be assigned to the additional nft/ namespace, since this namespace is dedicated for file names and their metadata. Below the sortable table with Namecoin domains and IDs:

For details, please refer to section Namespaces.