The Journal
When leaving an onchain TLD alone is the right decision
Inaction is a decision like any other, provided someone made it and wrote down why.
Tax and accounting questions to settle before you sell a TLD
Nobody can answer these for you in an article. What an article can do is make sure you ask them in time.
Verifying a counterparty by its onchain name
A name narrows the question from which address to whose name. The second question still needs an answer.
Contention sets: when several applicants want the same TLD
The DNS resolves competing claims through a process. Onchain, the first registration simply stands. Two models of priority.
The records an onchain name can carry
A name does nothing until records are set. The kinds of record, and the discipline they need.
Privacy on a public record: what others see about your TLD
Nothing on the record says who you are. A good deal can still be learned from what you do.
The Trademark Clearinghouse and sunrise, absent onchain
Sunrise gave trademark owners first refusal on their own names. Onchain, whoever came first simply registered.
Registry risk: what a TLD holder depends on
Holding the token is certain. What it does for you depends on others. A holder should know on whom.
What a buyer map is, and how one is built
A list of companies is not a buyer map. A map says who, why, through whom, and in what order.
One name, several blockchains: how a name maps to addresses
The same name can lead to different places depending on the network. Useful, and a source of costly confusion.
AI agents that pay and get paid under a name
An agent with a budget is a new kind of counterparty. Identity and payment have to be thought about together.
Geographic names: what the DNS learned, and onchain
A place name has many claimants and no owner. The DNS built rules for that. Onchain has none.
Interoperability between naming systems: why it is hard
Nobody designed these systems to agree. Interoperability is negotiated one piece of software at a time.
The terms of a TLD sale, explained line by line
Most failed sales fail on a term nobody discussed. The lines to look at before the number.
Lookalike characters in onchain names: the homoglyph problem
A name can look exactly like yours on a screen and be a different string. An old problem in a new setting.
Testing an onchain name before you publish it
A name that fails in the one wallet your largest customer uses is worse than no name. Test first.
Abuse handling in the DNS and onchain: who can stop a name
Suspension is the DNS reflex. Onchain, the question is which piece of software will stop answering.
The regulatory questions around onchain names
There is no dedicated regime. That does not mean no rules apply.