Namecoin

Namecoin (English name - “name”, English coin - “coin”) is a Bitcoin technology-based storage system for arbitrary combinations of the name-value type ^[2] , the most famous application of which is the system of alternative root DNS servers . Namecoin is resistant to censorship and is not managed by any one organization. Each node of the Namecoin network has a full copy of the distributed database .

Namecoin’s main application is a censorship-resistant .bit top-level .bit , which is functionally similar to .com - or .net - domains, but does not depend on ICANN , the main governing body for domain names. ^[3]

The principle of a peer-to-peer network and the absence of an administrative center make it impossible to remove a name. To calculate the blocks, standard Bitcoin mining software is used, redirected to the server and port where Namecoin works. Simultaneous mining of Namecoins and Bitcoins is possible without reducing the efficiency of mining Bitcoins through the use of the Merged Mining technology ^{[4] [5]} . There was also the opportunity to purchase a domain for Bitcoin cryptocurrency through an intermediary ^[6] . The term for registering a name is considered to have expired after calculating 36,000 new blocks. ^[7]

Now in Namecoin only domains are registered in the .bit zone, for which the d / namespace is used (for example, the domain record “bitcointalk.bit” uses the name “d / bitcointalk” ^[8] ). The power of a distributed computer network ensures that two identical names do not appear and that your name-value correspondence (domain-address in a particular case) cannot be assigned and changed by any unauthorized person.

To gain access to domains located in the .bit domain zone and tied to IP addresses, you can use a proxy server or DNS servers specified in the project wiki ^[9] . Namecoins are also used as DNS in ZeroNet and Bitmessage .

The disadvantage of Namecoin is that names cannot be legally protected from cybersquatters .