Being scammed in the crypto world is a harsh reality, as I've personally lost over $5k to scammers in the past year. This shared vulnerability underscores the need for caution in our space. For example, many of you don't know about Cryptoshuffler, the trojan that steals your coins by replacing the copied wallet address in your clipboard. Sounds farfetched, right? Not so unlikely because this shuffler trojan (a scammer's favourite) is responsible for the $68M loss an unknown trader suffered in early May.

The scam was possible because copy & paste is prone to human error. We all know that. There are countless other examples of poor crypto users who lost funds by address poisoning, not verifying the copied address, or sending to the wrong blockchain. Whether you're a crypto newbie or a veteran, we can all agree that dealing with lengthy and complex wallet addresses is not just confusing, but also poses a significant risk. Hence, there is a pressing need for a simpler way of remembering and sharing addresses.

Web2 has a perfect solution: domain name services that convert numerical I.P. addresses to human-readable names, such as the blogging platform you're reading this on. Doing so has made it easier for us to remember and visit our favourite websites without memorizing their IP addresses. Fortunately, blockchain has its own version of DNS, crafted after its Web2 predecessor but without the multiple downsides. This innovation brings a wave of optimism and reassurance about the future of blockchain technology.

Blockchains like Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Polygon already have their native name services. Heck! Even Sui and Zilliqa have a name service. And on August 20th 2024, Base proudly joined the list of blockchains with a native name service. 😎

P.S.: In the early days of Base, Itgel Ganbold (aka JackJack), Sabit Bazar, and Gabit Bazar started Base Name Service (BNS), an independent project providing Web3 domains at ETHDenver 2023. With Basenames' launch, BNS is winding down so users can have a unified on-chain name service experience. In addition, existing users received an exclusive discount to claim names for free by connecting the same wallets that contain their BNS names.

Base Names

Basenames maintain Base users’ on-chain identities through smart contracts. Built for builders by builders, with Base names, you can:

• Connect and collaborate with mentors and builders through your profile.

• Understand your audience if you’re building a product

• Build your on-chain identity with the option to customize your profile with a bio, attested skills, and more.

• Share your growth & experience in the Base ecosystem.

• Seamlessly send & receive tokens with a Basename you remember.

Owning a Basename gives you a Base profile: your on-chain space where anyone can support you, pay you, mint your NFT, RSVP to your event, or buy your products soon. Additionally, Basenames is integrated with Frames, so you can pin personalized frames to your profiles.

As a newer service, Basenames may not yet have the same level of adoption as ENS. However, I reckon that its integration with the Base blockchain and unique integrations with ecosystems like Farcaster will drive exponential future growth. Dune Analytics provides us with crumbs to track the adoption and usage over time since the first Basename was minted.

Also, this is not a Basenames vs. ENS comparison; rather, we’re examining the insights provided by able analysts.

How well has Basenames performed?

It’s been 3 weeks (at the time of writing) since Basenames launched. In less than 36 hours after, >70k names were claimed.

Since then, >400k names have been minted by excited Base users and builders, with minting reaching an all-time high in basenames claimed two days after.

In total, 439 names were registered before public minting, of which owners spent >6ETH acquiring.

This early access is known as a Dutch Auction and is designed so that every name starts at a higher price while decreasing exponentially over the first 36 hours until the normal price is reached. After the Dutch auction, Basenames were priced normally based on name length:

I got mine: Harvesto.base.eth at 0.001 ETH.

Below is the cumulative amount of Basenames purchased since the launch: early access and public mint.

These names have almost 400k unique owners, a healthy amount. The number of names purchased and the unique owners have many positive implications, and I’ll highlight one. The substantial numbers lay a strong foundation for leveraging the strong user base for new features, partnerships, and integrations, ultimately driving the platform's evolution.

In terms of revenue, Basenames has accrued a total income of >$550k (210ETH) in fees.

That is it on the analytics end! Pretty good numbers if you ask me, and a drop in the bucket compared to where Base will be by next year. Two things I wanna see soon are:

• Basescan supporting Basenames as display names

• and Roblox connection

What Basenames mean for Base

According to Base protocol lead Jesse Pollak, Basenames will be the simplest way for users to start living or building on-chain. Basenames exist to enhance the user experience within the Base ecosystem. They represent a significant step forward in the Base team's efforts to make Base more accessible and user-friendly. At its core, Basenames addresses a common crypto pain point: the complexity of wallet addresses.

From a practical standpoint, Basenames will make transactions and interactions within the Base ecosystem more efficient. For developers on Base, they can now create better and more intuitive user interfaces. They can integrate basenames into dapps, improving user experience and increasing dapp adoption. For the community, Basenames give users a consistent identity across all Base dapps, solidifying the sense of ownership and belonging, two powerful features social & community-driven dapps should possess. From a business perspective, Basenames is already a valuable asset.

Over $500k in income in a month is impressive; it shows that users and brands value it. You can think of Basenames as digital real estate—an investment. The financial value of Basenames is significant, not only driving engagement for Base but also creating a new revenue stream through name registration and potential secondary markets. Ultimately, Basenames, like its Web3 counterparts, is making the Base ecosystem—and blockchain technology at large—feel more familiar. By bridging the gap between traditional web experiences and each blockchain utility, we're paving the way for broader adoption of Web3 technologies and Base. The impact might seem negligible at first, but it could have far-reaching effects on how hoomans interact with and perceive blockchain technology.

How to get your Basename

You must first get ETH on Base (BaseETH) to get your Basename. You can do so by depositing ETH on Base from your centralized exchange or by bridging with Base's official bridge. Then head over to the Basenames website:

Search for the name you want… If you search for an unavailable name, the site tells you and recommends other variants if available. If it is available, you can select the number of years you want, whether to set it as your primary name, and the amount, which is based on the number of years and name length. Click ‘register name’, sign the transactions, and voila, you have yourself a Basename.

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