Introducing the Fetch Name Service

Fetch Name Service: an overview

Blockchains are a bit reminiscent of internet in the olden days: people had to connect directly to websites using IP addresses, a series of numbers not unlike a phone number. This all changed with the introduction of Name Services, which mapped IP addresses to human-readable addresses like www.twitter.com.

So why is this similar for blockchains? Addresses are usually long chain of alphanumeric characters which are just not meant for human usage. For example, my personal Fetch.ai address looks like this: fetch1ls6mvp589q7qlzrev4pfdsdwn5wtvzgvd87ht3. Not so easy to remember right?

With the Fetch Name Service, we bring the possibility of using custom addresses which are much more practical and easy to remember. With it,the adress above becomes azoyalabs.fet. Quite the improvement! This service is native to the Fetch.ai blockchain, and every Fetch user can participate. It also enables you to create a true decentralized digital identity, by linking to your twitter, email, Fetch address... It can also serve as a proxy for your website!

The Fetch Name Service will launch on Monday 24th October, but we are organizing a giveaway to celebrate the launch: make sure to follow us on Twitter, the giveaway will start on Friday.

How does it work?

Fetch Name Service (or FNS) provides domains for sale. Users can register particular domains with the extension .fet and assign data to it, such as a blockchain address, their twitter handle or even a PFP NFT.

The ownership of the domain is also represented by an actual NFT, that the user is free to transfer or sell to other people. This is once again inspired by traditional Name Systems where users are free to resell their owned domains.

It is important to note that FNS ownership is not forever. A domain is only valid for a year (365 days) after registration, but the owner can renew for another year once the last month of ownership has been reached. This helps fluidify the market and prevent name squatting: if you didn't get the domain you wished for, it might become available again soon enough!

Still, we want domains to remain affordable and buying a domain is done using the Fetch token (FET) so we'll be updating pricing periodically to reflect changes in the price of FET. Pricing depends on domain length and is expected to be as follows:

  • 3 characters: 50$ (~600 FET)
  • 4-6 characters: 25$ (~300 FET)
  • 6-14 characters: 10$ (~125 FET)

Future Outlook

The Fetch Name Service was created by our team at AzoyaLabs. We are also developing FetchStation, the all-inclusive, interactive dashboard the Fetch.ai blockchain. This means that your domain will be a first class citizen on every future AzoyaLabs project.

We are also hard at work to provide building blocks for both smart contracts and dApps developers to facilitate integration: a single drag & drop is all it will take for your domain to be usable everywhere (or almost). We'll make available libraries in Typescript, and later Rust to enable builders to easily integrate FNS into their platforms.

We've also already announced an upcoming community proposal for a NFT marketplace in the FetchStation Roadmap. We want to make sure that everyone can participate in the success of FNS and be part of the community.

Anyways, We'd love to have your support, and we don't want you to miss the giveaway so show us some love and follow us on twitter!