TL;DR
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One username and account, owned wholly by you, that can be used to login to anything and everything online. That’s one of the many exciting promises of Web3.
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Your crypto wallet doubles as a login account (similar to Sign In with Google), and your Web3 domain name (e.g. coolguy69.eth) as a username.
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Problem is most websites are yet to add ‘Sign in with wallet’ functionality as an option, and getting a .eth domain isn’t exactly a ‘new-user friendly’ process.
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Good news is: .eth domains just got added to Unstoppable Domains, which makes the buying process a whole lot easier.
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You can now create an Unstoppable Domains account (email + password) and buy your .eth address with a credit card. That’s it!
Full Story
Here’s one of the many exciting promises of Web3:
One username and account, owned wholly by you, that can be used to login to anything and everything online.
If there’s an online platform or service that requires an account – you can use your crypto wallet as a login (similar to Sign In with Google), and your Web3 domain name (e.g. coolguy69.eth) as a username.
Socials, messaging, banking – you name it – it’s all one unified account.
…that’s the promise at least.
Problem is, there’re a few sticking points that need to be solved before this can become common place…
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Most websites are yet to add ‘Sign in with wallet’ functionality as an option.
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Getting a .eth domain isn’t exactly a ‘new-user friendly’ process.
.eth addresses are the most commonly desired and widely integrated domains (much like .com domains in the Web2 space).
But getting one is a PAIN for most folks. New Web3 users need to:
Set up an Ethereum wallet (e.g. MetaMask) → set up an exchange account (e.g. Coinbase) → buy ETH with a credit card on Coinbase → send that ETH to their MetaMask wallet → go to ens.domains → search their preferred domain name → connect their MetaMask → pay in ETH → remember to renew the domain once it expires.
Point is: it’s a clunky-ass user experience.
Sticking point #1 is a problem that will be solved with time + adoption.
…but adoption won’t happen if sticking point #2 isn’t solved first.
Good news is: it looks like that’s just happened.
Unstoppable Domains (👈 that’s an affiliate link btw) has added .eth domains to their offering, which fixes the ‘uncle Steve problem.’
I.e. it makes the buying process easy enough for Chevy’s uncle Steve to navigate (for context, Steve is a 67 year-old BlackBerry user).
Here’s how the process listed above works with this new system:
Create an Unstoppable Domains account (email + password) → buy your .eth address with a credit card.
That’s it!
Domains can be set to auto-renew (so you don’t lose your address due to a missed payment), and stored with Unstoppable or sent straight to your wallet.
Is this ground breaking? No. Smooth online user-experiences aren’t a new concept.
…but they’re few and far between in Web3 – and this is a big step in the right direction!
Let’s hope others building in the space follow suit.
