Embark with us on an enlightening exploration of the decentralized web, where Handshake (HNS) emerges as a cornerstone of Web3 innovation, particularly in the domain space. Joined by industry visionaries Nole and Aaron, we unravel the intricacies of Handshake's transformative impact on domain ownership and Web3 identities. This episode is a treasure trove for those ready to deepen their understanding of the fusion between technology and community, and for anyone curious about the metamorphosis of digital communication.
Imagine a future where your digital identity seamlessly merges with economic freedom and self-ownership, underscored by blockchain's core values. That's the potent reality Handshake presents, and we dive into its potential with an insider's account of my personal journey into the crypto space. Discover the promising convergence of Handshake, Ethereum, and ENS, and how it paves the way for a decentralized and secure naming system. As we herald the launch of new TLDs, you'll get a front-row seat to the interplay between these technologies and the blossoming opportunities they afford for digital sovereignty and community-driven projects.
Concluding on a note of gratitude, this talk doesn't just stop at groundbreaking ideas; it's a call to action. We dissect the importance of responsible TLD ownership and its geopolitical ripple effects, urging domain owners to wield their influence wisely and inclusively. And as a special gift, we invite you to our Christmas Day session, a festive extension of today's discourse on digital identity. For all the insights, advancements, and heartfelt discussions, make sure to replay this episode from our website or tune in via your favorite podcast platform, and join us in shaping an open, decentralized future.
Embark with us on an enlightening exploration of the decentralized web, where Handshake (HNS) emerges as a cornerstone of Web3 innovation, particularly in the domain space. Joined by industry visionaries Nole and Aaron, we unravel the intricacies of Handshake's transformative impact on domain ownership and Web3 identities. This episode is a treasure trove for those ready to deepen their understanding of the fusion between technology and community, and for anyone curious about the metamorphosis of digital communication.
Imagine a future where your digital identity seamlessly merges with economic freedom and self-ownership, underscored by blockchain's core values. That's the potent reality Handshake presents, and we dive into its potential with an insider's account of my personal journey into the crypto space. Discover the promising convergence of Handshake, Ethereum, and ENS, and how it paves the way for a decentralized and secure naming system. As we herald the launch of new TLDs, you'll get a front-row seat to the interplay between these technologies and the blossoming opportunities they afford for digital sovereignty and community-driven projects.
Concluding on a note of gratitude, this talk doesn't just stop at groundbreaking ideas; it's a call to action. We dissect the importance of responsible TLD ownership and its geopolitical ripple effects, urging domain owners to wield their influence wisely and inclusively. And as a special gift, we invite you to our Christmas Day session, a festive extension of today's discourse on digital identity. For all the insights, advancements, and heartfelt discussions, make sure to replay this episode from our website or tune in via your favorite podcast platform, and join us in shaping an open, decentralized future.
Hello, hello everyone. We will get started in just a moment. Thank you guys for coming in. If you can, please do me a favor, as always, if you can, go down to that bottom right hand corner, leave a comment like retweet the space. Let's get some people in here excited for this AMA. I'm excited for all the AMAs, but like, yeah, I'm for real, for real, excited about this one. How you guys doing today, how you doing again, chris.
Speaker 3:I'm doing well. It's about time we have some handshake representation in these AMAs.
Speaker 2:Right, right and we got the best. Not just the handshake representation, we got the best. How you doing, noel?
Speaker 4:I'm doing great, marcus. Yeah, we're here and ready to go, super excited.
Speaker 2:I am too, man. This is very much a long time coming, and, aaron, how have you been sir?
Speaker 5:Doing well. I'm good. I'm excited to talk about HNSID, hayid and been watching the domains registered this morning. It's fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're gonna, we're actually we're gonna get some alpha out there today and, and like Chris said, like this is a, you know, a corner of the space that obviously I'm tapped into, but a lot of others that are quote unquote in the Web3 domain space are aren't as aligned with handshaking and it's you know, it's benefits, it's placed in the ecosystem, it's developments you know, as I think they should be. So definitely looking forward to this one Again, as you guys are coming into the space. If you'd like a retweet, this is an AMA, so if anybody does want to come up on stage and ask any questions, please feel free to do so. I pinned up at the top, I think, the latest announcement that came from the ATX page. If you want to pin anything else up there that's relevant, go ahead and do so. But, yeah, that further ado. We will go ahead and get started and dig in. So, yeah, I would like to welcome everyone to another iHeartDomain's Tech Talk AMA where we highlight and deep dive with builders, entrepreneurs, visionaries in the Web3 Digital ID, web3 Tech and the domain space.
Speaker 2:As always, our tech talks are recorded so you can view them on our content archive at our website at iHeartDomainscom. They will be accompanied there with a blog overview, so different ways to digest it. We also, for select clips, create YouTube like shorts and videos, so people can digest them that way. And then also these will be available on every major podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify, and you can find us at techtalkcoach. That's the easiest way to get it to the podcast. Yeah, and, as always, if anyone hears anything in the spaces, that makes you extraordinarily bullish, I encourage you to find the ways to join these communities directly so that you can ask whatever information you have and get started with your journey with that community. Before we kind of get into it, I want to give everybody that's on the stage a chance to kind of formally introduce themselves. I will start with Chris, my co-ells, and then we can go with Noel and Karen.
Speaker 3:Well, greetings everyone. If you aren't familiar, I am Chris. I'm the Strategy Director for Namertips and I have the privilege of co-hosting these AMAs with iHeart Domains. This is a bit of a special one because it was actually through the H&S ecosystem that Namertips came into the Web 3 space and definitely champions and believe in what Noel is doing with ATX and a lot of the other great builders in the H&S space. So this is going to be a very important one and I look forward to learning more and learning things that we don't know.
Speaker 4:Hey, thanks, chris. Yeah, my heart goes to you and your team as well as iHeart Domains. I guess literally right, the heart's in the name, but my legal identity is Noel Opperman, but everyone here can just call me Noelhey or Noeltxt. I answer to both, but in all seriousness, I really appreciate y'all having us on. I really enjoy our interactions, markets and the physical worlds We've had quite a few of those as well as online, so I'm really looking forward to being part of the conversation today. I'm the founder of ATX, so that's a company building and contributing to Handshake. We started off withtxt, which is the most popular Web 3 geo-focused domain in existence, which we're pretty proud of, but I'm really excited abouthey due to its universal appeal.
Speaker 5:Hey, hey hey, sorry, I'm Aaron, I'm the CTO of Namebase. I've been watching Handshake for years and generally just involves in the domain space from Web 2 domains to Web 3. Today HNSID has kind of been our experiment in bringing Handshake to fully decentralized SLDs and subdomains off of Handshake TLDs and entering into the NFT domains market. We already have a way to sell subdomains of Handshake TLDs on Namebase through registrars like Namecheap and SIRCA and Portbun. But the wallet naming and the identity use case is really interesting and growing. So that's what HNSID is all about. So we've the first eight TLDs that we've brought are. Two of them, arehns and nb, belong to Namebase and then the rest of them are community TLDs. We kind of have curated. We've picked the first eight because we're kind of just getting the system going and we're happy to havehns and especially it's really cool that he's got the heyid domain, which also adds additional bridging capability. So yeah, that was a lot. That's me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was a solid one. Definitely looking forward into diving on how all of this is put together and, yeah, very much looking forward to this. I'm actually gonna start off by making this super weird and giving Noah all kinds of flowers. Actually, personally, in connection with the existence of iHeart domains itself, so and I've said this many, many times and many of you have heard this, just like a great many of you I existed in the space as a domain name collector and that's kind of how I understood the space by name.
Speaker 2:I think I definitely understood the bigger picture of domain names as far as the power that they would serve as a consumer, but I really thought that they wrote into there and I didn't get on this side of the fence, the part where, you know, wanted to build communities, wanted to create value, wanted to become a name or a register, all these things that come with it.
Speaker 2:In essence, you know, the birth of iHeart domains I can almost credit to my meeting of Noel at NamesCon last year. So, not this last NamesCon, namescon before that, prior to that, I just had a bag of E&S and unstoppable domains and, you know, handshake and the conversations that I've had with you, you know, really brought me into the other side of the equation and gave me a purpose not just holding names at this point, but a purpose in creating, you know, a platform to help others build and understand what we all see. Right, we all see things from different sides of the fence, so I wanted to create a platform that was neutral, so everybody could come together and very much. So credit and thank you for that. So, yeah, again, this one is extremely personal, as you said, you and I, and met with each other several times in person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I enjoy interaction, look forward to many more. So yeah, and then Aaron as well. We have also had the pleasure of connecting a couple of times in person, including recently here in Las Vegas. Definitely, you know, look forward to meeting with you again and enjoy that experience. Let's get into it. So no, let's start with the basic introduction of Hay ID. Give us the quote unquote elevator bitch.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, let's focus on Hay ID. Hay ID is basically a gateway forhey domain, so that's the way that I would think about it. Right, you knowhey is part of ICANN, it's a traditional DNS and so basically it's going to act as the introduction forhey on handshake. So, in essence, hay ID is acting as an informational website onhey domain. So that's really the first use case for domains dating back to the 90s right, just having a landing page, just being informative. But really, this second component for Hay ID is acting as a bridge between web two and web three, and I remember from our conversation a few months ago, marcus, you bringing up howhey domains are gonna be the next hot thing, and meanwhile I was in this months long process on trying to obtain Hay ID. So I think you're really, really onto something with your Testament and be able to. You're a foresight, but right now I'm excited to share that here over this past week, we have a bridge that exists in the Ethereum ecosystem with Hay ID for wallet names, but next year, I would say, this metaphorical and technological bridge will continue and will also easily transport users tohey sites through an instant resolver, if that's what thehey community wants. So it really is beautiful with domains where you can have so many different use cases, and that's really what we've done for Hay ID.
Speaker 4:I would say that Hay ID is one part of thehey tech stack. That's one of three different components that I would wanna cover for us, the first of which the HNS root zone, where thehey top level domain exists. So that's really the foundation for what we're doing, including for this applies to the other domains launched on HNSid, which is really cool to see. We had four other top level domains launched this morning on HNSid. So congrats to Erin and the team, and then those domain owners and future communities as well. The second component to this is the optimism network. It's a Ethereum layer, too, and that's wherehey domains exist, and basically second level domains think of nullhey. And then, lastly, which really applies to Hay ID, is ENS, and that's where Hay ID was imported and tied tohey, and we can get into the benefits of those, if you like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're definitely gonna get into the benefits of those. And first and foremost, congrats on the acquisition of Hay ID. You know again yes, I have been kind of shouting for the rooftops you know the position I think theheyd will play in the ecosystem In a perfect world. You know we are all eventually gonna figure out the tech and have the meetings with ICANN and get everything worked out where we resolve natively and the whole world is using us. But until then, you know builders need to build the tools that we have out there and I'm glad you know that you have utilized that tool to launch this platform. I do wanna go into those foundations, starting with the foundations ofhey. As I said, kind of my foundations in the space came through handshake in the foundation. Ofhey is in handshake as well. So tell us the story of how you entered the ecosystem, how you obtainedhey and, yeah, give us some alpha on handshake, how big of a part it plays again in that foundation and the root ofhey.
Speaker 4:Yeah, how long do we have? You just gave me permission to talk about handshake and I'm really excited and bullish about handshake, okay, the story of handshake.
Speaker 4:So I didn't share at the beginning. But really, why I do what I do really comes down to my yearning for freedom and self-ownership. Right, you know. So I discovered Bitcoin more than a decade ago on undergrad due to my interest in economic freedom. To me, bitcoin equals freedom of money. That's what I thought at the time. And you fast forward to 2020, you know, due to my interest in free speech, which I think is even more important now than ever before. You know, that led me into finding handshake, which to me is the embodiment of freedom online. And we can get into what handshake is the technology and what it means. But going into the story ofhey, because there's a story with everything Now, you know so I have more of a crypto background and handshake was really my introduction to domains in general blockchain domains, but domains in general.
Speaker 4:So February 3rd 2020 was the launch of the handshake blockchains, a proof work blockchain, decentralized naming protocol. So launch on February 3rd by the co-creators, which we could get into those guys, really a who's who of crypto contributing to in the early days of Bitcoin and then handshake, but they let it go as kind of think of the metaphor, kicking the, you know, like the little little chick out of the, out of the nest, out of the bird nest, right, and they just kind of dropped it off. They launched on February 3rd. Two weeks later, the name auction started. So, over a year period February 2020 to February 2021, all possible words, names, letters, emojis became a bigelable, you know, to be able to own by anyone without restrictions. Besides, perhaps the dot-com is reserved for Verisign and we can get into some of the reserve names for obvious reasons, but by and large, you know, whatever your mind could come up with, you know, which is really about digital identity, just be able to express yourself, that the sky was the limit or the blockchain was the limit.
Speaker 4:So I got into handshake not then a couple months later, in May 2020, and, you know, just fell in love, immediately went down the rabbit hole and started, you know, really thinking about all the different, and I think we often do this as domainers, right, we? You know, we're thinking about all the different. You know, words or names, what's available. So I started writing them down. You know I'd be traveling, I'd be driving, I'd be just daydreaming and thinking about different words, and got my wife into it as well, too, and Don Hay definitely stood out to me. It was available, it was going to become available in late June of 2020, so I had a month. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna mark this one down.
Speaker 4:I really, really viewed it back then. As you know, here we have this, you know, the most universal greeting in the English language, and I really viewed it as having tremendous potential to welcome, you know, welcome users, welcome internet users to Web 3, in particular, with the digital identity use cases related to communication, so like whether that's email messaging and so on. So that was my vision back in 2020. But a funny story I'll share first, which I think a lot of us, you know, have encountered, is in May 2020, when I was first getting into things, I was like ohnull is available. Well, marcus, you haven't seen me. You know, brag that I havenull, right.
Speaker 4:So that was the first name auction that I opened. You know, I was really kind of utilizing there's a few different interfaces that you can use to interact with the handshake top level domains, right. As Erin had mentioned, you have namebaseio, which, man, that was probably my most visited website for a year or two, I would say for sure. It's very, very exciting, as all those names are gonna be released. I'm sure later in this call Erin's gonna be sharing some exciting updates of what's coming as well to the namebase platform. There's also Bob Wallet, which is self custodial, so that's a way that you can own your names. You can have your names and coins tied directly you know, to your wallet that you have the private keys to. So I believe I bid on.
Speaker 4:I opened the auction fornull in Bob Wallet and I just bid one HNS and just forgot about it for a couple of days. I was like no, there's no other nulls out there Like I'm me. I'm the only null and what do you know. But a couple of days later the auction ended and I checked and I was the second highest bidder and basically what that means and handshake is you know, the highest bidder pays the second highest bids price and so I was out of luck. If anyone out there knows who ownsnull, I'd be happy to get in touch, but I'd say it's all worked out for the better, right. I'm nullhey, nulltx today, so let's go forward a month to the auction ofhey.
Speaker 4:I learned very quickly right On. You know I was not gonna make the same mistakes and so this time I wasn't the first to bid, wasn't the first to openhey. There's more than a dozen bids. I waited until the very end because, with these handshake name auctions, when you're interacting with the blockchain itself, there's many ways that you can obtain names right, but when you're trying to obtain a name by interacting with the blockchain, there's this. It's called a decentralized victory auction, so it's five day period where anyone can bid on these names and the highest bidder pays the second highest bid's price. And so, in essence, I waited until the last few hours, put in a pretty macho bid I wasn't playing games and guess what the auction ended. We ended up revealing the bids and then I believe I paid 20,000 H&S at the time was the second highest bid's price, and I would add that you know, the amount of H&S that I paid.
Speaker 4:The 20,000 H&S didn't go to the second highest bidder's pocket. And then I go to a company or a foundation behind handshake because there is none. It was burned from the coin supply and I think that's a, you know, really a symbol of the true decentralization of handshake. And, of course, marcus, you know anyone, you know Chris, I know we can argue, you know, for better or worse, that handshake is decentralized. There's definitely pros and cons, but in a sense, I mean, that's really what attracted me to handshake, as you had said when we met in namescon 2022, a little over a year ago. You know I'm, you know it's handshake and some other ones out there. It's about, you know, taking you from just being a user but to a builder, to a contributor, and it's, you know, to me, handshake is empowering and worth building, worth fighting for, and so that's my story on dot hey and how we got it. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And amazing, and that's certainly the transition that happened, you know, and, like I said, internally with me also those options like even that is a part of my journey. I actually won the option in Bob Walling for I Heart Demand on the day that I buried my mother, which is crazy, and so that's something that will also always stick with me, kind of like an old man, like it was meant to be, if I didn't have already enough of those.
Speaker 2:Now, that's beautiful For those. Thank you, sir. For those of you who are just now joining the space, thank you. This is in I Heart Demand's Tech Talk, and maybe we are privileged to have knowwithheytxidhey. We also have Aaron with NameBase also NameBase on stage as well. I'm actually gonna ask a question also before I get to the question. If anybody does have any questions, feel free to either raise your hand, come up on stage or see Graham and just raise your hand. So I'll kind of get into that. And then I do have a question. That's kind of a combo question for both you and Aaron, but go for it, graham.
Speaker 7:Yeah, hey, thanks for having me up. Look at that. Hey, it's truly part of the meta out here. But they say stitch in time saves nine, and so I know it's like a needle in a haystack out here trying to get information on these digital IDs. But I heard that if you come in, you drop a comment and you use the word hey, that you get a free digital ID, and I just kind of wanted to see how we redeem that. That way I can look at the tech stack, the haystack or whatever it is that's going on and figure out how to manage things.
Speaker 2:I see what you did there, hey Stag.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, I love that. Yeah, welcome to the club, welcome to the community. Yeah, just drop hey down in the comments and then we'll reach out afterwards, but in the meantime, feel free to just be part of this conversation that we're having right now and then also visit heyid and then hnsid as well, and we'll get you your firstheyid. Looking forward to having you part of the community.
Speaker 2:And, with that being said, let's jump into that next component in the tech stack. And also, at any time, chris, feel free to hop in and ask any question if you have one. But yeah, let's talk about now hnsid and what part it plays in the ecosystem. So first that's what hnsid is and then also tell us howhey is on hnsid, how that relationship works, the benefits that come with that. So first part of that question, of course, is to Aaron Sure.
Speaker 5:Hnsid is just a site that interacts with some smart contracts on optimism. So they're brand new smart contracts that are made to take a TLD from handshake and stake it into these smart contracts and then set pricing for the subdomains that people tend to mint and the subdomains have all the functionality that have become popular, like setting wallet addresses, setting avatar, setting DNS records, obviously. So hnsid is like our decentralized registry andhey is a state at name base and then, because it's state, we have a lot of rules we enforce about selling subdomains, so we wanna protect everybody involved. We want to make sure that if you buy a subdomain, the little bit of the subdomain that you buy a subdomain it'll be around for as long as you want. It, like the TLD, isn't going anywhere. Hnsid domains have a pretty cool features for the renewal pricing and that's when you first register the domain, your renewal pricing gets frozen, gets set at the price it is at the time you buy it. So you can never be like rugged or like forced out of a domain. You're gonna pay that same renewal fee for as long as you want, and that's a cool feature that you can do with a smart contract that I hadn't seen out there. So currently we just have the eight TLDs that we picked, but in January we'll be opening it up to all TLDs.
Speaker 5:On Namebase you can stake your TLD for $100 and sell subdomains on hnsid and really it's a just like hey ID has done. You can build your own site and even interact with. You could build your own registration form you can mint directly to the contract. It's a open platforms, all open source, so people could build this type of community TLD and even like more specialized if they wanted to do like a Pokemon collectors TLD, and each subdomain is an image or an FTE. You can do lots of stuff with it. So, yeah, that's hnsid.
Speaker 5:I just wanna say that more flowers for Noel, that he's one of the few TLD owners that really puts in the work to like create a community, reach out to customers, reach out to the community. He has like in-person meetups for his TLDs. He has like branding and news and he really sells. Why you should use his TLDs, and that's something that not very few do. A lot of people just they buy a TLD and they're like I have web3flowerdeliveryweb3flowerdelivery, sell my subdomains without wanting to put any work in. So that's awesome, working with him to cause. You know he's gonna make it successful.
Speaker 4:Yeah thanks. Sarah, thanks Sarah.
Speaker 2:That was before you get started. That was an amazing point for those who may be lost or aren't aware. To just to give some context this whole time for those of you who've been wondering what do HandStrake domains do? You have been able to stake them in name-base and they have been able to be sold on registrars such as pork, pun, et cetera. Prior to now, they existed in I don't know what the utility is when you went them on those platforms, but they didn't exist in the NFT format, as most domains do in the EVM ecosystem until now with HNSID. So yeah, for those of you who have been participating or have been speculating on the HNS ecosystem, that is pretty much where we're at right now. Sorry for interrupting you. No, go for it, sir.
Speaker 4:No, no, no, not at all. Yeah, that's very helpful information. Yeah, something to realize with HandStrake. It's, you know, even though it's a layer one proof of work, blockchain. You know really what I think with what Heron and team has built with HNSID is really combining different technologies together, and I think really that is what Chris and Marcus are all about, but by bringing community members from different name spaces and having us all come to the table, and so that's really what HandStrake is too, but more as, like, foundational infrastructures, how I look at it.
Speaker 4:So there's a lot of programmability with HNS top level domains. I mean, we already kind of highlighted a fewtx other domain that we have staked with the name-based registry. That follows a similar path as traditional domains. Right, so there is a degree of centralization, since the second level domains aren't on chain, they're not minted as NFT domains, but that also means perhaps reaching the mainstream easier, you know, by being on like the name-cheap and pork bun, from what I've gathered, and Heron can always provide more insights about HNSid domains when you register them there. They're available on OpenSea and other NFT marketplaces right now, but really we're gonna be, as you know, on traditional domain marketplaces as well in the future, like name-cheap and spaceship, so really combining the best of both worlds.
Speaker 4:You know, it's just the you know, and I wouldn't limit HandStrake top level domains just to Ethereum. I mean, you can. You know, obviously, what we did with HNSid. It's tied to Ethereum through Optimism and also EMS, right, and we can definitely highlight the current benefits, the current utility that we have right now. But I've also seen other implementations as well. There's HNS and Cosmos through DotStars, handstrake top level domain there's.
Speaker 4:I've seen some efforts have been undertaken with Cardano and then lately, you know, with Bitcoin, Ordinals being a thing. I've seen some talks about HandStrake and Bitcoin through Ordinals. But, going back to the HNSid, to me it's a, you know, beautiful implementation of combining these technologies together. I'll add into what Aaron was saying I mean for looking at the benefit side of things from a user's perspective, right, for the HandStrake benefits, what does you know DotHey being on HandStrake bring to the table, you know, but really that foundational infrastructure had decentralized and open root zone. So basically, what I want us to take away from that is you know, HandStrake top level domains are built to last.
Speaker 4:This is a technology that's not a fly by in the night project. This is when I got in in 2020, I was like you know, I'm gonna be in, I'm gonna be committed to this until 2030,. You know to see where this is going, and that's just how it is with low time preference projects. You have Bitcoin, you have HandStrake, you have a few like that, but really this is foundational infrastructure. There's a lot of security inherent to the brute, for blockchain is just focused on naming right and then you can actually have real DNS records, and this is definitely, I would say, under appreciated use case for HandStrake. Right Is like actually be able to have decentralized and secure websites, and so that's the benefits of HandStrake. Do you have something to add there, aaron?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I mean there's for all of these TLDs. They are also a typical HandStrake site, so with like a HandStrake browser like Beacon or a Chrome plugin or a SystemTrain plugin, you can or.
Speaker 4:Carbon Browser.
Speaker 5:Or Carbon. You can browse, you can go directly to you know aarchshns or aarchshey and without that ID, and just resolve it as a regular website, which is not something anybody else in the naming Web3 naming can say. So if you need a website that is like maybe on the edge of legality, you know Torrance or whatever, you can host a website on HandStrake. That is truly unstoppable, it cannot be taken down. Anybody with the right browser can reach it and no regulating body can take it down.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, and as time goes by I think that we're going to start seeing a lot more use cases for that kind of security and ownership. I mean, I think right now it's a preference, but at some point it's going to become a necessity. I don't think a lot of us on the individual level understand what that necessity is. I know at the commercial level, withcoms, people have been victim to websites and things like that being taken down and being censored and it's affected their business, and I think that's one of the first use cases that you guys kind of brought to my attention and made it make sense to me. Before I get to my next question yes, sir, go for it, chris.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3:I just want to go ahead and you know, come in Aaron and you know Noel coming here together because you know Noel talked about the programmability you know of. You know H&S names and you know if you're familiar with H&S ecosystem in the community. You know that there is a heavy emphasis on that right. But what makes the rollout ofhey so big, especially via H&Sid, is that it allows handshake domains to now penetrate the everyday user market, so to speak. Right, hey is a great extension, right it's.
Speaker 3:You know, I think, that it's universal right and so, with that being said, I think that there's no one better than Noel to be leading the charge, because Noel is very personable, as we've all stated here. He's very committed. And then he understands the technical underpinnings of the handshake blockchain and what handshake represents for the future of digital identity and just the internet's infrastructure in general. And then you have individuals like Aaron who are playing such a pivotal role in ensuring that there's a long-term sustainability with the technology, whether everyone just on the top layer understands it or not. Once we get to that chapter where that's the blaring part of how you need to go about existing online, you can find confidence in the fact that there, the work has already been put in to ensure that you can move forward and not have to worry about. You know the perils that come with true decentralization, or achieving it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, doubling down on those flowers that Aaron was going to know about, branding, hey with dot txt. That was the other thing too that stuck with me, like the way that when you talk about marketing your TLD again, adding value to it, creating a community, just you were also one of the first people that really inspired me and made it make sense. Again, I have no problem giving you know credit if I were to do Siting, inspiration and, yes, seeing seeing the work that you put behind it has definitely inspired. You know a lot of the work that I put behind my own platform and so, and yet definitely looking forward to seeing how you're continuing to build, we're going to do kind of like a forward and then a jump back a little bit. So we're kind of going through the progression of the tech. We've got hnsid.
Speaker 2:Next I want to talk about a little bit of the future. So let's talk about Thunderbolt, what it brings to the table, kind of the next evolution of the tech that that now you know will help put not only handshake domains with, I think, the entire ecosystem on a different level, and then we're going to kind of go back to the benefits of the decentralized naming system. To begin with the yet, let's go forward. Let's talk about the future.
Speaker 4:Yeah, 100%, let's, let's do it. Well, I'll get into a given Thunderbolt and overview which I'm really, really bullish on, and it's not just me. And then, aaron, if you want to add any technical you know like insights on it, seeing that you're kind of you know you're not directly involved with it, I know. No, you probably know more than I do. By definition, thunderbolt is going to be an app. It's a peer to peer encrypted communication through DNS. So imagine using your domain, not just handshake domains, but regular domains, the NS domains. It's going to be for the whole ecosystem, as you said, marcus. But imagine, you know, using your domain name to communicate going forward. Imagine not needing a phone number or paying an expensive phone bill, which is very, very common in the US. But just think about how cool it is, you know, to be able to make calls with your domain name. And, for my understanding, thunderbolt has been worked on for the past three years by a team at Namecheap and this is going to be a huge game changer for domains. You know other domain giants, like Andrew Rosener, are saying this about Thunderbolt too. But yeah, like the way that I think about it, you know, on the benefits of Thunderbolt, you know peer to peer communication through DNS Is that? You know this is going to be an affordable way to communicate.
Speaker 4:All you need is your own digital identity, right? You know I'll be. You know I want everybody here. Feel free to chat with me or call me when Thunderbolt comes out, which the beta is going to be coming out, I believe don't listen to me, but I believe here in the couple, next couple weeks. So go to go to hate ID and you scroll towards the bottom and then I'll take you to Thunderbolt, thunderbolt's website to sign up.
Speaker 4:But it's also very secure, right, because it's encrypted. You also have tremendous control and privacy. So you know you won't have any more tracking or spying on you by these third parties. Right, you can roof spam, which, frankly, I'm pretty frustrated with how. You know the telecommunication. You know having a phone number is where anybody can reach out to me and there's nothing that I can do with it. And basically, thunderbolt is just going to be accessible with anyone with a internet connection. So if you have Wi-Fi, and maybe one of these days Starlink will be available for everyone and at that point it's, you know, totally decentralized communication using your digital identity here. Domain.
Speaker 5:Yeah. So what they're saying is it's a real, consumer friendly, consumer level use chase for domains and for handshake domains. So it's basically like Telegram or WhatsApp and just this has been. Richard, the CEO of Namecheap's vision for a while is to use domains to replace phone numbers, just like domains replace IP addresses, and you can see more and more like social media news. Social media platforms are taking that, realizing that as well.
Speaker 5:Like what is it? Jack's new social media allows you to use a domain name and it just makes a lot of sense because if you're, if you already have a great domain or you know your identity is built around your domain, you're much more likely to join a new social media or like messaging, if you can just bring your existing domain and you don't have to like hope that you get your, get your name. So, yeah, we're real excited. I don't know too much more than that. I have seen the beta of the app a while back, a few months ago, and it looked really slick, so I'm looking forward to it and it works with any web, two domains that can have DNS records, and so, yeah, yeah, there's.
Speaker 2:This is the answer to a question, and you know. Thank you so much again for both of you guys being on. Also, I really hope that those who have been attending space or those who have had the opportunity to listen back don't miss this. This is the answer to a question that is asked so often from people that are outside of the space and speculating on the inside, and that is what do these things do? What will they do? Why will someone want them?
Speaker 2:And there's, personally, so many answers to that question, but this is an extremely easy to digest one for people with digital identity, using your domain name to communicate with another person simple and plain, and that is such, like you guys said, a powerful and huge utility that can become commonplace, literally. What if these things replace phone numbers? What if these place things replace and optimize the way that you're able to handle spam and weird mess? I'm getting things right now with 20% off sales and 30% of stuff. I can't even use text messages and I don't even know where they came from, so I'm definitely looking forward to my life becoming easier using blockchain, especially if I can make it easier using my domain name. Go for it, chris.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know. The thing about Thunderbolt is that you know is like everyone has, you know, stated it's going to be a game changer and it's going to bring language and communication back to the forefront, right, no, no, and the team over at dot hey are in a great position because anyone who communicates over the phone knows that one of the top three words that you use is hey, you know, hey, how you doing, you know that type of thing. So, hey, I can see doing very well when Thunderbolt rolls out. But I can see tons of handshake to these and just domain names in general doing well. But what's going to make handshake to these very unique is they're going to open up the gateway for not only for you to be, for you to communicate, for you to be identified in a multitude of ways, right?
Speaker 3:So I have a question for you and because I know you were referencing with h&s ID, you guys to be opening up, where you know, all handshake to these to be eligible for being state and so on and so forth for $100. Where do? Where do the names that have been staked with our state via name base? Where do they fall in with that? Do they automatically are? Do they roll out under that umbrella as well, or are they eligible or ineligible for staking via h&s ID? How's that going to work?
Speaker 5:Yeah, good question that. So initially they're there's, they're going to be separate, they have to stay separate. So long term we want to merge them together. So we think that we chose optimism because it's very cheap and we want to run the entire registry and in those smart contracts so we would get. The goal is to hopefully bring over all of the other tlds that are staked in in the traditional registry and run them from the from the smart contract. So but the answer for now is they can't, they cannot be staked, they can't mix and we don't have a timeline when when that will be possible. Yeah, I wish I had a better answer, but it's a, it's something we want to do, but it's strong flex, yeah.
Speaker 2:Hopefully, yeah, when those announcements of those I guess developments become available, definitely be able to share those over the four to those. But, yeah, understand, for reasons that have to be that way, that way Also, yeah, I might kind of inquire have some dot IDs that match my h&s and to. We can do there Also kind of traveling down the rabbit hole, just thinking about the using it as a phone number thing. You know what's not a calm call dot mom, and I think that again, there's going to be a lot of different use cases for names but that type of utility that are outside of what people use comms for it.
Speaker 2:I'm extremely bullish on that. So now that I've kind of brought everybody up to speed with why they should be bullish on what the names in this ecosystem can currently and will be able to do, right. So so now that I got everybody understanding that we're doing with some awesome Assets here that are that are adding value to the space, let's take everybody back to the root so that they can understand the value proper handshake to begin with, what the importance of the root zone itself, the difference between the handshake, root zone and basically, you know, even root zones and potentially what issues people may run into in the future that may make that difference, means something to them, so that people can kind of understand that value brought, the handshake, you know, protocol or platform.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I can. I can try to tackle this. And Aaron, chris, did you have something to add real quick?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I was just going to say that this is a very important one, because there there's a lot of fuzziness out there and I think that you guys are great for being in this space on a recorded space and providing that clarification. And, yeah, I just want to just encourage everyone to kind of dig their ears in.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4:And Aaron, if I miss anything, feel free to add. But to me, you know how handshake is foundational infrastructure, that you know it embodies freedom. It's truly central issue, truly see decentralization. That's really what stands out. I'll give you a few different thoughts, or maybe several, on handshake. Basically, the way that I think about it is handshake is DNS on blockchain. So, as Marcus has said, the innovation is having really having an open root zone. Compare that.
Speaker 4:In contrast, let's look at what I wouldn't compare handshake to the other web three namespaces. The real comparison is with handshake and I can. Those are kind of like the two root zones, so the existing implementation of DNS. So like dot ID, calm, that's with I can at the helm, okay. And handshake is about having an internet that is for and by the people. You know, like everyone should be able to own their own name, data and property online, and so handshake, the way to think about a root zone, is handshake is the base of the decentralized web. So let's, let's look into, let's dive in a little bit more about the importance of the handshake root zone. So right now, there are a lot of namespaces out there, right, and I think the experimentation is great. You know, however, currently where things stand, we're still in the early days, but most of these namespaces are siloed.
Speaker 4:You know, those web three, which to me means decentralized web. That's my definition. It's fragmented. You know, at the end of the day, if we are to have a decentralized web, you know, reach the mainstream, which I believe all of us early pioneers really think, that's going to happen. This we're currently in the 90s of the internet. Right, it's just repeating, you know, with web three.
Speaker 4:But I believe there must be two components, the first of which is true decentralization. I know it's not sexy, it's just something that I really really care about is somebody that cares about freedom and self sovereignty, but basically that means ownership resting with the users and domain owners entirely, not having some shadowy figures in the background. I want us to think deeply on this, otherwise, you know, if it doesn't go the way of, you know, establishing handshake as a base of decentralized web, I, you know, I really would caution against replacing icon and intelligent intelligence agencies with other, like centralized entities, you know, or you know, and the World Economic Forum, for example, like you know, our beef isn't with ICANN as an organization, but the implementation of centralization itself. Okay, where this is about having a decentralized identity, not a, not just a digital identity. Right, there's a difference. Digital identities, you know, could be, you know you could have thought of that as like an email back in the 2000s. That's, that's a digital identity, but you don't own it. It could be seized at any time. Right, you know, it's not easily transportable, you can't really take things with you or use it on different platforms. So, you know, I just really want us to realize that in order to have a decentralized web, there must be decentralization.
Speaker 4:So sounds obvious, right, but the second component, which I think is also equally important and that's kind of gets to where we are right now, is congruency. So, you know, a mature decentralized web, you know, you know, years from now, needs to be interconnected. Right, and that's, I believe, you know, with Aaron's and his team's valiant efforts, right, of bridging different technologies, bridging the handshake root zone and also EMS and also optimism layer to Brit, you know, I really do believe that we'll come together at the end of the day. And, you know, handshake may not necessarily the techno, the benefits of handshake as technology may not necessarily be front and center with use cases, although it can, you know, due to its DNS and all kinds of other, you know, separate benefits that other nameshaces can't do. But really it's about that security. It's about building something to last owning something that's kind of last beyond, you know, like, you know, a centralized company running out of funds.
Speaker 4:Right, and speaking of the congruency we, you know, the way that I think about is the use of names, the access of names. You know, no dot, hey needs to, you know, be able to be used on blue sky, you know, as Aaron mentioned, and then like a decentralized X in the future, you know it needs to be able to go back and forth between the two and I think we all agree that that should be the case with decentralized identity. You know, dns is really great technology. I don't think, you know, we're really going to, you know, talk bad or, you know, talk down on it, but it is captured by ICANN and intelligence agencies.
Speaker 4:You can have domain Cs at any time. You don't really own, you're just renting, right. And you know, plus with three, there's just so many more use cases for the domain. So in essence I'm trying to sum it all up you know handshake is really combining the best of both worlds. You know the DNS side, the blockchain side, while maintaining decentralization. And you know I just realized with an open root zone, the importance of that. The protocol is open and accepting it welcomes everyone, right? Dot hey is a simple of that, but you can be not anything. You know all languages are supported and without a decentralized root zone, the web 30 namespace is going to continue to be siloed and fragmented. But by adopting a decentralized root zone, which is a smart contract alone is not going to suffice for this. This is foundational infrastructure. There will be a togetherness for all of the web three namespace, which is what I believe we all want at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:I pose the same question to you, aaron. Why is name based so bullish on handshake and that's like a super big deal that I think a lot of people really gloss over. Like name basis is a big entity. By proxy you can say name cheap yeah, give it to us.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I like to think of handshake as like a general naming route for all things that need names. You can call them domains, you can call them subnames, and it is entirely different than all other Web 3 naming protocols. It's a layer one and it's proof of work and it is as decentralized as you can get. In order to make changes, it requires a fork and it requires the miners to sign on for that fork. So things might move a little bit slower than like what you can do with a smart contract, but, like Noel was saying, it's infrastructure for the Web, for identities, that's going to be around, I think, as trypto-dip's bigger. We've seen like some countries adopt it, we've seen other countries ban it and it's going to be interesting because you know, some of the half the world might run on it and half the world might. It might be illegal and so for something that's like an existential threat to a government. That's one of their main purposes is to control money. So to have a decentralized internet that's not run by corporations or run by America is a good hedge, no matter what. But it could be massively important to keep an open internet going forward.
Speaker 5:And Handshake is simple, but that's what. That's the beauty of it that the TLDs can just kind of they can be just names themselves, like I have AOX on Handshake but they can be the beginning of a namespace. The TLD that exists and because of the way DNS works, it already has these rules of delegation. So the TLD, like hey, dot, hey, delegates to the smart contract that issues its subdomains, and it's a tried and true hierarchy, so. But you can delegate to other systems and, yeah, it kind of keeps it. It's more future proof in a way, because it just uses the they're just seeing DNS structure.
Speaker 4:I would also add, erin, that I, if I can describe the Handshake protocol in community in one word, it's anti-fragile. That's really the result when you have true decentralization. To me, anti-fragility means that the system is built to last or the hard times and good times. Right, we've been at a what could you argue to bear market for the past two years for crypto and NFTs and all that, but guess what? There's a heartbeat for Handshake every 10 minutes. So blocks mine and I would just say for us to think about critically, each one of us, to be thinking about different namespaces where you may have some communities have to rely on it. Centralized organization that maintains the code and direction. There's pros and cons both ways. Right, with Handshake it's really up to name-base, name-cheap, atx, just individual community members. You're really a stakeholder by owning a Handshake name. No one's above you, there's no hierarchy and I think that's beautiful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's a lot. Just like with anything right, there's a lot technologically to the Handshake ecosystem. As I said at the beginning of the space. You know, if anybody has any digital information, there are a lot of resources that you could join to get that information, including name-based his own Discord group. Handshake has a Discord group as well as a Telegram group. I really encourage everybody to reach out and to be open-minded to look at these different ecosystems that exist, that play their parts in this thing that we call Web 3, that come from their different roots Because, yeah, there are some substantial benefits that, again, these benefits and these solutions, they come from a real place.
Speaker 2:You understand that place when it affects you, right? So, staying out of the curve and also, like I said, the Handshake protocol has been out for quite some time. When I say staying ahead of the curve, a lot of times that's what prevents people, especially speculators, from entering an ecosystem or a project. They feel like they're already behind the curve or they've missed out on an opportunity. I'm going to actually tap into that because that's something that's coming right back around in the Handshake ecosystem Before I do go for it, chris.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I just wanted to go ahead and add to the depth of the conversation, or emphasize the depth of the conversation, because we're moving toward a point where a few of us are privileged to understand where all of this is headed.
Speaker 3:We know that this is much deeper than names, right, but right now the discussion is focused on the vanity side of things, right?
Speaker 3:And so that's why one thing that has always stood out to me about the Handshake protocol is the association with the root, right, and when you think about the roots, anyone who's familiar with agriculture understands that the root is underneath the soil.
Speaker 3:When you talk about food and nourishment, a lot of people focus on the fruit that they can pull from the tree, they focus on the end of the result, but they don't take into consideration that the health of the soil plays a role in what you get, what grows and if anything grows. And so that's why I think that, with the Handshake community, the technology is definitely there and there are some great, great individuals, and what I look forward to is that, with the rollout of H&S ID and as more TOD owners step into the light, so to speak, and they start to give their TODs more footing, I will hope that the doorway will open up for more individuals that have the passion that Noel and many others have in the Handshake community. I will hope that that will come forefront because that's going to be necessary to really help the masses understand what Handshake is, what it does, what they can do with it and what purpose it serves in the future. So yeah, that was just the bit that I wanted to drop in there.
Speaker 4:No, that was great. Marcus, is it okay if I just follow up on that real quick?
Speaker 2:No, go for it absolutely.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, Chris, you have a great way with words. I completely agree 100%. That just reminded me what was a crucial part of my thesis and conviction on why Handshake is going to succeed, Not necessarily this year, but in the years to come. It goes back to this theorem called Zuko's Triangle. This was basically theorized by. His name is Zuko Wilcox-Hern. He's the founder of Zcash, but he's a cryptographer, cypherpunk dating back to the mid 90s. He's been thinking of utilizing cryptography to advance freedom. But basically it was Zuko's Triangle.
Speaker 4:And what led me to Handshake and validate my conviction of Handshake is basically it had to do with names on a network. This was in the early 2000s. He came up with this, so we've been a long way. But basically he was saying for names on a network, only two of these three components are possible for decentralized digital identifiers. So in essence he was arguing that it's impossible to have decentralized digital identity. That's been proven wrong, but I won't necessarily get into explaining it. I would definitely recommend everyone looking it up. Zuko's Triangle, but basically there's human, meaningful. That's one component decentralized and secure and so I just think it's really important. As we are pioneers, we don't follow but we lead, and part of that is thinking critically about these issues. And just take a look at Zuko's Triangle. Apply it to what you know about Handshake. Look into Handshake. Apply it to other namespaces that you're a part of and see if it is human, meaningful, decentralized and secure. And if it checks all three of those things, then you have a winner there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and those of you who are aligned with the decentralized ethos, those of you especially that align with Bitcoin and its principles, you're going to find a whole lot to love and align with Handshake and the way they're set up, and that kind of brings me now kind of an opportunity. As you guys have mentioned before, Handshake is set up as a layer one blockchain. It is a proof of work blockchain. A lot of the mechanics it's not most of the mechanics are very similar to Bitcoin, so there are having, just like there are a Bitcoin. I think we just went through that and there's also something that is coming up, as Aaron mentioned. You know, in order to make changes in the blockchain, forms have to happen. Talk to us a little bit about the happening and also kind of the new opportunities that it creates for people who may be hearing about the Handshake ecosystem of blockchain for the first time and again thinking you know, why should I get into that opportunity? It's past me.
Speaker 5:Yeah. So you know, when I first got into Handshake, a lot of domains were already sold and you know I got what I said and I have a nice collection now. But what's happening is, when Handshake was originally started, they reserved the top 100,000 domains websites by Alexa traffic rank. So in 2018, I think YouTube is number one going down 100,000 domains and each of those the parts the left of the dot was reserved. So, like YouTube was a reserve TLD, like OJTupid, a bunch of banks, just a whole bunch of really great names, and then even more, some really generic ones like mailru or whatever is like the Russian email, and so mail was a top name and it was reserved. So some of the best names TLDs that you possibly want were reserved for four years and those that is coming up in January. At the end of January, the four years expires and the reason they were reserved is they could have been claimed, because Handshake it like ties into DNS. You can prove you're the owner of a traditional domain Like YouTubecom. You can prove through DNSSec that you're the owner and you can claim that name on Handshake, and thousands of those were claimed. But we gave them four years and so now they're coming up.
Speaker 5:So at the. It's an estimate, but when the exact four years block hits, sometime in the end of January, about 90,000 domains will be able to be auctioned through the normal Handshake registration processes, which is the victory auction. So only so many auctions can happen at a time. So it's you don't have to be there on day one or stay up all night. I forget how many, but there's not too many auctions that can happen at one time on Handshake. But it's going to be very interesting. I have my eye on a bunch of domains likeotkmail. There's some really great ones. I posted no Tweeted about it before, and then in that article there's a link to a Google Sheets. It's kind of hard to understand. We're working on a page on Namebase that lists all the names and then we're also going to filter. You'll be able to go to a separate tab and filter all those names on Namebase so you can add them to your watch list and bid on them. Well, that's definitely the biggest opportunity for Handshake names since the first year it was coming up.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, and also just to kind of clarify for everyone again, to give some context, to enter the Handshake ecosystems. I know this is a big question. People have it's kind of really two, I think really only two interfaces, two most popular. There is Bob Wallet, which you consider the metamask of dealing with it. Right, it's not as user-friendly and some people may need to navigate the ecosystem, but Bob could be using it. Namebase is by far it's more like and to kind of simplify this the open sea or the EMS vision of Handshake. So it's a lot easier interface for people to use, to purchase the list, to get HMS token. Really it really simplifies the ecosystem. Also, there are certain things that happen within Namebase, such as the auto renewals and things like that or renewing on your behalf that make things a little bit easier and some additional utilities.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, for any of you who are listening to this, there's a couple things I'm going to say as well. I do have to preface it with. It's not financial advice, do your own research and all that good stuff. But yeah, if you're listening to this and you're wondering how do I get started, namebase is the easiest route to go. Also to kind of clarify this opportunity, if it hasn't been clear, is basically a whole lot of prime names that were reserved and that are grails are coming up available for sale. Okay, so there's opportunity one. Also, hms token is a whole lot cheaper today than it was way back then when people were interacting with the token, and if these type of interactions or this rush of this coin causes it to go up, well then there's. You guys can figure out that math and the opportunity that exists within DeFi and Treaty. Again, not financial advice, but just kind of to spell that out before Noel gets into his and but Noel, and then we'll get the questions online.
Speaker 4:Yeah, with the happening. I mean, to me this is the most exciting moment up to this point, and four years for Handshake is coming up with the happening. So I would say, in regards to owning a H&S top level domain, it's important to realize we're still way early and it's not too late for everyone here, not even close. So, yeah, the happening is the soft fork of the blockchain and it's, yeah, as Aaron said, it's going to be coinciding around Handshake's fourth anniversary. So like late January, early February, and we have pinned the article. So that's really the first step I'd recommend is taking a look at the article I wrote. That really lays it out there.
Speaker 4:This is a tremendous opportunity. You're talking about all these. You know around 80,000 names are going to become available for the first time. These are Virgin. Many of them are premium names. Just to give you a little bit of context, I mean, obviously, dot hey, you know, shared that story, but many may not know that but Dot S that's a Handshake top level domain. That is actually the highest NFT domain sell of all time. It was purchased back in, I believe, 2021 by Namecheap for $750,000. Ok, so these names are no joke, right? Of course, they're really great for your digital identity and everything. But it's also, I would you know, I believe personally you know it's a tremendous opportunity for those that are, you know, into investing and building as well.
Speaker 4:So read the article that I have, because this is for Handshake, is for everyone, right, there's, as Aaron said, there's a spreadsheet link in that, the happening article, right, open the spreadsheet, create your own spreadsheet and start building your own list of the upcoming available names that you want. You know, seeing that all of them are coming available at once, like, if you know certain ones stand out to you, definitely gun for them. You know we have some examples. I know Aaron mentioned a few, but I mean you have like Dot, omg.
Speaker 4:Dot Barbie, dot Angel, dot King there can only be one Dot King. So I mean, these are top of the line, this becoming available for the first time. And then, as Mark has said, you know, if you want something that's user friendly, definitely recommend name based. Otherwise, there's ball ballad as well, and that last part of the equation is just obtaining some of the H&S coin. Better to get it now than waiting until that time happens, because things are going to get pretty busy, pretty happening, and then just strategize your plan. But that's a conversation for another day on how to go about bidding on the names and what you're going to do. But yeah, that's it for me.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, you're so loving that. Go for it, chris.
Speaker 3:You know. What the happening brings to mind for me is the need to remind everyone that you know, with these premium names becoming available, that you know owning a TLD is a lot different than owning an SLD, a third level or fourth level name Like. We have to reiterate that. You know, when you have a TLD, there's a responsibility that comes with it, especially if you're talking about moving forward with, you know, really pushing the decentralization dynamic forward. You have a duty.
Speaker 3:You know, when you take custody of these names right, and I love the fact that you know no reference in the realm of being investing right, but not just investing in business, but you're investing in people.
Speaker 3:Right, you're investing in infrastructure and when you acquire the name, it's not a one and done situation you have the name and then you have a responsibility to build out your designated segment of the infrastructure. So you know, if you get into this, there's definitely the monetary advantage, but then there's the geopolitical side of things that you have an opportunity to influence for the better, right. So I definitely think that the happening is something that everyone needs to pay attention to, obviously, but it's you want to walk into it with responsibility in mind, because what we don't want is that we don't want a lot of these great names to be, you know, souped up and then they're sad on you know, because that would be a disappointing direction for things to go. But I don't think that that's going to be the case, especially with the wonderful individuals that we have in the HNS ecosystem now you know. So I think I'm looking forward to it, guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it definitely does. Again, like you said, when you go from an SLD to a TLD, and if you're a builder, right, it does change your perspective and it forces you especially if you're a builder and you're trying to add value, now that you own and respect this thing that you have it does force you to be now open-minded and go down the rabbit hole of different types of technology, because, now you're, you can't be selfish, right, you've got to look at what provides value, what helps the people that are now joining your community because of your TLD. You can't shut things down because, again, like I said, and that is definitely what changed my journey, I know it's changed a lot of other journeys we can definitely see from people utilizing, again, different pieces of tech that exists in the blockchain in order to produce this value. There's going to be definitely more relationships, more building, more a lot of things that create this final picture, which will never be final, right, it will be an ever-building picture of what we call digital ID and Web 3, even Web 2 is still building. So, yeah, and just to remind everybody again, not financial advice, but everybody thought that something wasn't going to do something until it did, right. So, again, we're reminding people that opportunities exist everywhere. There are definitely a lot of builders in the handshake community. I'm really looking forward to a day that they either get the funding that they need or partner with other entities that see the same value and provide the TLD Teams and the kind of structure that's needed to truly build some amazing things on top of the platform. Because, again, I'll never stop being focused on it, as I'm focused on every namespace. You know I'm focused on them for a reason. Those reasons don't go away because another one pops up, some cool. So I'm always going to be looking forward to the developments and the realization of the value that you guys have always been presenting out there exists with handshake Kind of going to start getting to recognize that we've gone for a little bit. Hopefully we've done a good job of educating people about the benefits of handshake.
Speaker 2:H&s ID if you guys aren't already familiar with the platform super easy to get to. You just type in H&SID. Yeah, same thing with hay ID If you want to get involved withhay ID. Really simple to type those into your browser. Both of those will allow you to figure out how to register your domain name on those platforms. And then, yeah, thunderbolt, all kinds of other things to come, continuously building this technology. Day by day it gets better and better. You guys are here early. You guys are hearing this first. Thank you very much again to our guests for coming on. As I say, in every AMA and we get some solid ones, we are definitely privileged with the people that we get on for AMA spaces. So, yeah, I hope everybody really does appreciate that and show your gratitude. Join the communities, ask any questions that you may have. Yeah, if you guys want to leave anything, go for it.
Speaker 6:And greetings everyone. What, oh hi? How are you doing? Hi, I'm doing great. Thank you all so much for allowing me to speak. So here we are. I am honored to be among you guys, just talking and listening and learning.
Speaker 6:You all are the engineers of our new digital world. What I want to impress upon you all is the people that we know are often left behind in issues like this, and that would be the black community and also the marginalized community. Now we have some issues that are taking place while you guys are building. We have the government AT&T, verizon, sprint, t-mobile, humane IT all of these individuals who are taking advantage of the new market, if you shall put it that way. They have control over fiber optic networks that are being put up under the houses. They have access and control over everything that you all are building.
Speaker 6:What I would like to impress upon you all and ask you all to do is to not forget about the black community. Do not forget about the marginalized community. Do not forget about our young boys and girls all over the world. Make sure that this is not a monopolization of technology. You all have so much more to give to the world, making sure that we have the opportunity to utilize everything that you all build. If we don't know anything else, we know that when people are given a chance and opportunity to excel and be all that they can be, they will blow the top off of everything. We make everything more exciting, more wonderful. Just give us the chance.
Speaker 6:I appreciate all of you for advocating for not only the black community but the marginalized community, so that we can have a chance at not only owning something but doing our very best to evolve and be the best that we can be. Don't allow anyone to take that from us. So let's make sure that these T-Mobile, sprint, verizon wireless and the government let's make sure that they do not do anything to block what it is that you all are building. I am more than gracious and willing to learn. I want to learn, I want to do better, I want to educate my people. So I am listening, I am learning. Every time you all say something, I'm going to the websites, I'm downloading the information. Help me to better explain this to everyone so that we'll all have a chance to be a part of this world and not left behind. We have to do away with racism, discrimination and all forms. Thank you.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate you sharing it. I'm glad you really did. Just to highlight that's the existence of a lot of these communities. You're going to find, obviously, some communities that are focused on the commerce side of this, and those communities are extremely important. There are a lot of opportunities for people and that's one way to uplift people right. But there are other communities and we consider ourselves one of them, namer tips A lot of people within the handshake community you're going to find, with the ethos that really aligns with building, uplifting, doing those things right, helping create those opportunities and remove those barriers that the corporations have placed upon us in the way the world works. So you're 100% in the right place. I thank you for sharing that. I really do Go for it, chris.
Speaker 3:No no, no, and I just, you know, on the end of that I definitely wanted to tip my hat, Pun intended, though. I know you're from Texas and cowboy hats are big. So I want to tip my hat to know, and you know, I want to tip my hat to Aaron as well. You know, and I really want to emphasize this because I'm not going to go down the rabbit hole of it, but we know how there's this challenge, you know, within the handshake community to ensure that the TLD holders are personable and that people understand that everyone that's a TLD holder in the handshake community is a human and understands that. You know, humanity will benefit from again, like I think was saying you know, from the things that we're collaboratively building, and I want to thank you all for stepping outside of the bubble, so to speak, and coming here to have the conversation, because there are a lot of individuals who have this preconceived notion about what handshake is, how it works. They mix the protocol up with the community, then they lump all of the individuals that are being progressive in with the individuals who are not being so progressive, and it's just a lot of mix up, and I think that the focus on the protocol and what purpose it serves, it can kind of get drowned out. So I really want to thank you, know, for being a leader.
Speaker 3:I'm not, you know. I believe in giving flowers, but you're a pioneer. You're truly away from X, like I mean going and speaking with legislators and things of that nature that that is not something that should be swept under the rug. And you know, when it comes to you, aaron, you are over there, being one of the pillars of name based and and ensuring that this interoperability situation, or the dynamic, is not just a discussion. So you're ensuring that it's not. Everything is not happening in the bubble, and the team that you work with are responsible for ensuring that that's not the case either, and I appreciate you all on behalf of everyone that hasn't given you your thank yous, your flowers and you, gentlemen, keep pushing forward. Everyone that has been backing you and working with you continue to push forward, and hopefully this is not the last time that we get H&S representation in an AMA, because we need it.
Speaker 4:And I'm so grateful for everyone you know to be here today. We're, you know I am pro, pro individual, pro human right, and I believe that we're all in this together. You know we can have, you know, a value add internet, value add society where everyone is uplifted. That's something that I'm going to continue to work for.
Speaker 5:Thank you, marcus, and Namertips and Noel, and hopefully we'll do a lot more of these.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I know that you guys will keep giving us reasons to, as the as the space, as handshake, as everything continues to develop, builders will continue to build, and that will always give me a reason to host these tech talks. I thank you guys very much, not only for not only for coming on the space and giving us an alpha, but both of you for your friendship again, this is definitely an AMA that I wanted to do. I wanted to do it for a while. There is so much value that I get from my relationships from both of you that you know I think a lot of people could benefit from and would also, you know, make them probably want to interact with the answer community, just like I do. Again, we were all building towards the same thing, which is building in different ways, and you never know when what somebody else build is the cool thing that you were looking for, right? So I hope everybody got value from this AMA. Again want to thank not only my speakers, but also or my guests, but also Namertips, as always, for coming on the best way. Yeah, and again, thank you, noel, for your friendship. Thank you for changing my perspective and, like I said, literally the way that I just in the space today. You know my, my passion for education.
Speaker 2:The structure of my platform, I can honestly say you know, started with understanding the field was and what I could do with it, and that understanding came from being introduced to handshake at namescon last year and Noel, yeah. So if anybody has anything else to say, go forward if I missed anything, but if not, we can go ahead and wrap it up. You know very good. Well, yeah, again, thank you everybody. As I said at the beginning of the space, you will be able to listen back to this and view a blog overview on our website at I heart to make calm. Also, head over to tech talkhost and you will be able to see all this and podcasts form and view it or listen to it with any major podcast player, including Apple and Spotify. Thank you guys again for attending. Hope you guys have a good rest of the week.
Speaker 2:Christmas is coming up, so early may Christmas. I am actually doing the spaces on Christmas Day. I got tricked into it. So, yeah, if you guys have nothing to do, if you open up the presents, come get some, some, some outlaw and select your digital identity. I'll be here for you, yeah, but, that being said, enjoy the rest of the weekend.