The onchain namespace glossary.
Twenty-six words that come up in every quiet file, defined without the jargon. Keep it open during your next call with counsel, a holder or a partner.
A
Aftermarket
Where registered names change hands after their first registration. For TLDs on Freename, the Freename aftermarket provides escrow, and general marketplaces such as OpenSea can also settle a sale. See escrow and transfer.
B
Buy-side
Acting for the party that wants to acquire an asset. The buyer's identity is withheld from the holder until the buyer decides otherwise. See buy-side acquisition.
C
Clean title
A TLD whose onchain record shows a clear current holder, a readable transfer history, and no undisclosed subnames or listings. Anything beyond the record is a question for your counsel.
E
ERC-8004
A draft Ethereum standard for discovering and trusting AI agents through onchain registries for identity, reputation and validation. Still evolving. Relevant to anyone planning agent identities under their own TLD.
Escrow
A neutral mechanism that holds funds and the asset until both sides have performed, so that funds and asset move together or nothing moves.
Explorer
A public website that displays blockchain records: who holds a token, when it moved and which contract issued it. Every private room links to one.
F
First right of conversation
A stated window during which a trademark TLD is discussed only with the organization whose name it matches. Offered only when it is real, with a real end date.
Freename
The registry where the onchain top-level domains we handle are registered, recorded onchain as tokens and traded on its aftermarket.
H
Holder
The person or organization whose wallet holds a TLD or a name. Onchain, the holder is whoever controls that wallet: the public record shows the wallet, not who is behind it. Only the holder of a TLD can issue names under it.
M
Mandate
The written agreement that sets out who Hush Partners acts for, on which asset, on which side, and on what terms. Quoted privately, never exclusive by default.
Market TLD
A TLD made of a generic sector word. It has several possible buyers, such as operators, leagues or platforms, and much of its value comes from the names that can be issued under it. Try the subname revenue calculator.
N
Namespace
Everything that sits under a TLD: the TLD itself plus every name its holder can issue beneath it.
Namespace watch
Ongoing monitoring of onchain registries for TLDs and names that match an organization's marks. See namespace watch.
NDA
Non-disclosure agreement. Hush Partners applies its standard NDA by default to both sides of every file, from the first message.
O
Onchain top-level domain
A top-level domain registered on a blockchain-based registry and held as a token in a wallet, with no annual renewal. It resolves through its registry's resolution layer and compatible wallets and browsers, outside the ICANN DNS root. The complete guide goes further.
P
Private room
An unlisted, noindex page at a tokenized link, prepared for one approached organization. It holds the onchain record, what they would hold, the validity of terms, the partner's first name and a reference.
R
Reference
The short code, such as HP-7C2A, that identifies a file in every note and private room, so a reply reaches the right partner. Reply with a reference.
Registry
The system that records which TLDs exist and who holds them. For onchain TLDs, the registry lives in smart contracts anyone can read.
Resolver
The component that turns a name into the records behind it, such as a wallet address or a website. Which resolver a wallet or browser supports decides whether a name works there.
S
Sell-side
Acting for the holder of an asset who wants to sell it. The holder's identity is kept from every counterparty. See sell-side mandates.
Shortlist
The set of buyers approached for a market TLD. Its size is stated to the parties only when it is real.
Subname (SLD)
A name issued under a TLD, such as pay.yourname. Also called a second-level domain. Only the TLD holder can issue them.
T
TLD
The top level of a namespace, the part after the last dot. Holding the TLD means controlling every name beneath it.
Token ID
The unique number that identifies a specific TLD as a token on its blockchain. It is how an explorer finds the record.
Trademark TLD
A TLD that matches an organization's name. It usually has one logical buyer, and the conversation belongs with legal, IP or brand-protection teams. See brand namespace recovery.
V
Validity date
The date until which written terms stand. After it, terms lapse and can be renegotiated. We state one only when it is real.
W
Wallet
The account, controlled by private keys, that holds tokens. Whoever controls the wallet holding a TLD controls the TLD.
Words are cheap. Records aren't.
Every definition above can be checked against a public record. When you are ready to look at a real one, start with a score or a private valuation.