Are Unstoppable Domains NFTs? (Blockchain Domains Explained)

Blockchain and NFT technology are often talked about with the rise of technologies like Unstoppable Domains. This new type of domain functions differently than traditional domains. But are Unstoppable Domains actually NFTs?

Unstoppable Domains are decentralized domains stored on the blockchain as ERC-721 NFTs. These domains are stored in a web3 wallet and can’t be revoked, censored, or changed by anyone but the owner. Since these domains are NFTs, they can be bought, sold, and traded using crypto, similarly to any NFT.

Considering Unstoppable Domains are a new type of domain, you probably have many questions. Here’s everything you need to know about these innovative NFT domains. 

What Is an NFT Domain?

An NFT domain is a web extension created as a smart contract on the blockchain. Unstoppable Domains are ERC-721 tokens (the token standard for NFTs on Ethereum), published on the Ethereum blockchain and Polygon sidechain. This type of domain is decentralized, meaning the owner maintains complete control and ownership indefinitely.

NFT domains differ from traditional domains mainly in the form of ownership and control.

Unlike traditional domains (.com, .net, .org, etc.) an NFT domain can’t be censored or controlled by a third-party entity. Only the owner of an NFT domain has control over what happens to the domain.

How is this possible?

Thanks to an NFT domain’s decentralized nature, the domain exists on multiple nodes (computers) around the world making it near impossible to censor or control in any way.

To modify an NFT domain, someone would need access to the wallet where the domain is stored. Without access, an NFT domain remains unstoppable.

Why Would I Want an Unstoppable Domain?

There are several reasons why you might want an Unstoppable Domain, these include:

• Inability to be censored. Traditional domains can be tracked by the government. The government even has the option of blocking the site or removing it entirely. With an NFT domain, this type of censorship is impossible. The decentralized nature of the network ensures that one group can’t gain complete control.

• Complete ownership. Rather than having to pay rent on a domain for the life of the site, an NFT domain gives you complete ownership. Just pay a one-time upfront fee, with no other charges to worry about.

• Verifies site ownership. The blockchain ledger makes it easy to determine who is the rightful owner of a particular site. This can resolve any disputes by simply checking the publicly displayed information on the blockchain.

• Can be sold or transferred. If you want to sell your NFT domain, you can. There are existing NFT marketplaces that you can take advantage of. For example, OpenSea is a popular option, allowing you to auction off your domain. Or you can list it on the Unstoppable Domains website.

• Secure network. Thanks to blockchain technology, there is little chance that your domain could be hacked or stolen. Like any NFT, your Unstoppable Domain is as secure as the wallet you store it in. So as long as you know how to store your NFTs safely, your domain will remain secure.

• Cheaper than traditional domains. NFT domains are significantly cheaper than traditional ones. You can buy an Unstoppable domain for as little as $5 for the less popular names and up to $100 for more premium options. After the initial purchase of your domain, you don’t pay any other fees. Whereas a traditional domain can end up costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in ongoing fees over the long term. 

What Can You Do with an Unstoppable Domain?

There are multiple functions that an unstoppable domain can serve, these include: 

Create a Decentralized Website

These can function in a similar way to a traditional domain. You will type it into the browser and see the website and its content. Though you might need to use a special browser, like Brave, to view the decentralized web.  On other browsers, like Google, a special extension might be required. 

Own your online identity

Whether you run a small business or are working to build your personal brand, Unstoppable Domains allows you to own your online identity by purchasing your personal or business name. 

Of course, if a domain name is already taken by someone else, you can’t own that same domain name. You have to buy it from the current owner. But, with an unlimited amount of potential domain names and various domain endings, you’re sure to find a name that represents your online identity.

Use your domain name as your wallet address

Generally, your web3 wallet address is represented by a long string of letters and numbers. Because this address is randomized, it’s difficult to remember. When you own an Unstoppable Domain, you can use your domain name as your wallet address instead. 

This is better for business owners, as it’s easier for customers to remember and verify that they are dealing with the actual brand and not a potential scammer. 

Easily buy, sell, and trade your domain

NFT domains can also be bought sold, and traded as a normal NFT would be. With traditional domains, you would generally need to use a domain broker to sell your domain name. 

Many of these brokers aren’t very efficient and take 7% to 15% of the profit that you make from selling your site. 

However, you can easily list your NFT domain on the Unstoppable Domains’ marketplace or on a secondary NFT marketplace, like Opensea, in a matter of minutes and keep more of the profit.

Ultimately, selling an NFT domain is a lot easier compared to trying to sell a traditional domain.

Send and receive emails

Unstoppable Domains email provides you with an anonymized way to send emails while maintaining the privacy of your personal email address. 

Every Unstoppable Domain comes with a free “ud.me” address you can use with your personal email (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) or with Skiff, an end-to-end encrypted inbox.

If you choose to enable your ud.me email using your personal email address, all emails sent to your UD address will be forwarded to your personal email. 

This allows you to maintain the privacy of your personal email address while still being able to send and receive messages, and sign up for various platforms without sacrificing privacy.

What Blockchain Are Unstoppable Domains On?

Unstoppable Domains operate on the Polygon sidechain using the Crypto Name Service (CNS) smart contract. However, Unstoppable allows owners to bridge their NFT domain to the Ethereum mainnet from within their account. Polygon is used because it offers users no transaction fees for minting a domain.

There are a few levels to the infrastructure of Unstoppable Domains, all of which are based on the Ethereum blockchain. In particular, the ERC-721 token. This is used for the creation of most NFTs on Ethereum. 

The next layer is the Crypto Name Service (CNS) smart contracts. This is what governs the way that the token will function. In this area, there are two critical functions. 

First, there is the registry contact. This will govern the way new domains are minted. It also helps to control who has ownership of the domain name. It should be noted that there is no authority in this part of the contract. This provides some added security as no one is capable of removing or transferring an address without the owner’s approval.

The second element is the resolver contract. This part of the technology is responsible for translating the domain name into the blockchain address, so people can send you coins. 

Which Wallets Work with Unstoppable Domains?

There is a growing network of wallets that are compatible with Unstoppable Domains. Here are some of the most prominent options:

• Ledger
• Trezor
• Metamask
• Coinbase Wallet
• Trust Wallet
• MyEtherWallet
• Alpha Wallet
• Atomic Wallet
• 1inch Wallet

Here’s a comprehensive list of wallets supported by Unstoppable Domains.

Supported Unstoppable Domains Wallets	Type of Wallet
Ledger	Hardware
Trezor	Hardware
Metamask	Software
Coinbase Wallet	Software
Rainbow Wallet	Software
Trust Wallet	Software
MyEtherWallet	Software
Gemini Custody Vault	Software
Pillar Wallet	Software
Ownbit	Software
QuiverX	Software
K5 Wallet	Software
Atomic Wallet	Software
1inch Wallet	Software
Zelus	Software
Defiant Wallet	Software
Cobo Wallet	Software
ZilPay	Software
Neblio Core	Software

What Cryptocurrencies Does Unstoppable Support?

Unstoppable Domains allow you to receive over 280 types of cryptocurrencies from numerous blockchain networks. The list only continues to grow. Included in this extensive list of supported cryptocurrencies are popular networks like Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, Binance, and OMNI.

In addition to these main chains, there are thousands of smaller chains that can be sent through an Unstoppable domain. This will number will likely continue to increase in the future as Unstoppable Domains gain more acceptance from society.  

How Much Do Unstoppable Domains Cost?

Buying a new Unstoppable domain will cost between $5 to $150 depending on the domain ending and name length. Shorter domain names cost more, whereas longer names cost less. Premium endings like “.x” cost more than non-premium endings like “.blockchain”.  Buying a domain on secondary can cost over $100k.

There are two methods of purchasing an Unstoppable Domain. You can either mint a new domain directly from the site. Or you can buy an existing name on a marketplace like OpenSea. Each of these will have slightly different costs.

Cost to buy a new domain

Buying a new domain will be very low-cost. Usually, it will be between $5 to $150. If you own a business, you might want to purchase multiple name extensions. For example, you might want to own both the .nft and .wallet extensions. 

While this can increase the initial costs, it will pay off in the long run. You will be able to reduce the chances that customers will accidentally send a payment to the wrong address. 

Cost to purchase a pre-owned domain

Usually, when you are buying an existing domain, you will need to go through a marketplace like OpenSea. This is a popular NFT marketplace where all kinds of NFTs are bought and sold. 

Several elements will affect the purchase price of a pre-owned Unstoppable Domain including: 

• The popularity of the domain. If the domain name is a single word or a short name, it’s generally more desirable.

• Number of interested buyers. There’s no greater factor for determining the price of something than supply and demand. If there’s only one domain name, but there are 100 interested buyers, you can expect it to cost much more due to the increased demand.

• Current owner. Depending on who owned the domain name previously, it may or may not increase the value of the domain. If an influential person or brand has owned it before, then it could significantly increase its value.

• Domain history. If the domain name itself is attached to another successful website or company, this will play a large role in determining the overall value of a domain— assuming everything else is included with the purchase.

Generally, the cost of purchasing through a third party will be higher than going directly to the company. 

This ensures that the owner will be able to see a return on their initial investment. Though many of these domains can be fairly expensive. The most basic names will start at 0.01ETH.

Of course, the names that are the more popular will be able to demand a higher value. A good example of this was the sale of sex.crypto for 230 ETH. At the time, this was worth over $90,000. 

Are Unstoppable Domains A Good Investment?

Unstoppable Domains are a good investment if you want to secure ownership of your online identity via NFT technology, maintain complete control of your domain, simplify your wallet address for easy and trustworthy transactions, and send emails without sacrificing your privacy.

Considering Unstoppable Domains is still in its infancy, there’s no telling what other use-cases might come from owning your own NFT domain.

If you are able to claim a popular domain name, you might be able to sell it for a huge profit.  Like many other NFTs, valuable domains will continue to increase in value over the coming years.

Ultimately, Unstoppable Domains provide brands with an easy solution for dipping their toes into the world of web3. By securing your NFT domain early, you have more time to adapt to the technology and its use cases before it goes mainstream. 

How Do I Buy An Unstoppable Domain?

Buying an Unstoppable Domain is easy. Follow these four simple steps below.

1. Search for a domain

First, head over to Unstoppable Domains’ website to search for your domain. You’ll notice that there are numerous domain endings (TLDs) to choose from (.nft, .crypto, .x, etc.). All the endings provide you with the same functionalities.

After you decided which ending you want, enter your desired domain name into the search box. From there, you will be directed to the purchasing page.

2. Buy your domain

Once you have confirmed that the domain you want is available and the price is acceptable, you can buy your domain. Generally, Unstoppable will display the same domain name with different ending options in case you want to purchase a variety of endings for that same name.

Currently, there are four payment methods to choose from:

• Credit card
• Paypal
• Crypto (BTC, BCH, ETH, DAI, LTC, USDC)
• Crypto.com pay

If you are sending your payment from a crypto exchange like Coinbase, make sure you send enough to cover the fees implemented by the exchange. These fees are typically only a couple of dollars. You can preview the transaction before sending it to know exactly how much the exchange fee will be.

3. Connect your wallet to your account

You can buy your NFT domain name without connecting your web3 wallet. However, if you want to mint your domain, you’re going to need to connect your wallet.

To connect your wallet:

1. Go to your Account Setting, and choose Add Wallet.
2. Sign the transaction using your wallet to connect it to the Unstoppable Domains website.

If you don’t have a wallet, I recommend using Coinbase Wallet to get started. That being said, you should learn how to properly store your NFTs for maximum safety before buying one. Otherwise, you risk losing your NFTs to hackers and scammers.

4. Mint your domain

Your domain is not functional until you mint it. After you purchase your domain, it will appear under the My Domains section of your profile. This is where you will go to officially mint your NFT to the blockchain.

Follow these steps to mint your domain:

1. Go to My Domains
2. Click, Free Mint
3. Enter your 2FA verification code
4. Connect your wallet
5. Confirm and sign the transaction

Final Thoughts

Since Unstoppable Domains are NFTs, it allows owners to utilize all the benefits of this technology. Most importantly, complete ownership, protection against censorship, the inability to be hacked, and an easy way to verify ownership of your domain name and web3 identity.

It’s likely that as the technology develops further, the CNS smart contracts will advance even further, becoming more sophisticated and offering users even greater value.