My Crypto Address is Ugly. Can I give it a public nickname?
How to turn ugly crypto address into wow, nice, slick address.
TL;DR: How to give your ugly named blockchain wallet a better nick name that you can remember and share.
Hi Curious Readers of Professional Curiosity!
Blockchain Wallet Address are ugly.
I’m talking about you 9X05F, QUY50, and 7XUF3. I will never remember the full length name of them. Yet the usage of the entire blockchain ecosystem rests on wallet addresses.
Turns out, you can make give these wallets a nickname that acts and is your crypto wallet, so much so that people can interact with the nickname you set. Today’s piece is on just that. Inspired by my fiasco setting up a Mirror.XYZ account.
As always, you’ll find TL;DR: and graphics at the beginning of each section.
Cheers!
In Case You Missed It
Sections You Can Skim To
Whats a blockchain wallet address?
What’s the problem with blockchain wallet addresses?
What’s a blockchain name service?
What’s the implication of a blockchain name service?
What about your wallet address being compromised?
How do I get one for myself?
What’s a blockchain wallet address?
TL;DR: You login to Web3 applications using your wallet address, similiar to how you log into websites using your Google Account, Facebook Account, or even your username you setup.
It took me a while to understand the value of a blockchain wallet, let alone a blockchain wallet address, beyond storing some crypto coin.
As I’ve explored the different blockchain apps in existence, I’m starting to appreciate the utility of wallet address a lot more.
A blockchain wallet address functionally represents three things:
Your username (to login)
Your email address (to get and send messages)
Your bank account number (to get cash)
If you go to Opensea.io, an ebay-like NFT marketplace, you can only log in with your wallet.
It is very similar to a screen like this
Alternatively, if you open Coinbase or any other crypto exchange application that allows you to send currency, you can send it to a wallet address - provided that you know it.
What’s the problem with a blockchain wallet address?
TL;DR: It’s not for people, that’s for sure.
I need you to remember the above digits.
Just kidding.
As a human, I can’t remember my wallet address. I barely remember other people’s phone numbers, and that’s with 9 characters only.
When it comes to blockchain wallet address, none of it is memorable to a human. Sure you can bypass it with a QR Code, provided you have your phone near you. Or go into the OCD of “double checking” and “copy-pasting” and “Recopy-pasting”.
Can you remember 0xb4bf0a5bd790e3b5013b723f58a402f850db5fa9?
Do you know the difference between that address and this one? 0xb4bf0a6bb790e3b5013b783f58a4O2f850db5fa9?
It’s…difficult to constantly maintain.
The complexity of a wallet address is great for computer systems to talk to each other.
It’s terrible as humans to talk about.
Turns out you can make the hassle of remembering and communicating your wallet a lot easier using a Blockchain Name Service.
What’s a Blockchain Name Service?
TL;DR: It’s like website domain or creating an email name, but for the blockchain world.
A blockchain name service is similar to a website domain service. The apps you would use to buy yourwebsite.com, mywebsite.org, whoseWebsite.net - those all partake in the same name service process.
You claim the nickname you want, pay crypto for it, and assign the nickname to your blockchain address - voila, your ugly wallet address now has a second usable alias - the nickname you gave it - and both can be used interchangeably.
It’s how I went from this ugly thing: 0xb4bf0a5bd790e3b5013b723f58a402f850db5fa9
To this nice thing:
AllenAu.eth
I can use my nickname, or my full wallet address, interchangeably. To prove that it works, go to Etherscan, and type “AllenAu.Eth”. It will show the associated address (Resolved Address) - click that and voila, its one of my accounts.
Go ahead and send your ETH based tips that way. <3
At the time of this writing, you can see 1 of my NFTs that are at this address.
If you want, you can use “Blockchain Chat” to message me.
What’s the Implication of Blockchain Name Service?
TL;DR: MAKES THE WEB3 INTERNET EASIER TO USE!
The implication of Blockchain Name Service is that it can make this above model a lot more accessible to the rest of us.
I’m a prolific user of “Login with Google” and “Login with Facebook”. In fact, Facebook solely exists so that I can reduce the amount steps I take to login to things.
Unfortunately, Meta, the company behind Facebook, isn’t great.
Having a blockchain wallet with a blockchain wallet address is my substitute. I “own” the address, and it isn’t kept or maintained by a third-party company. I “rent” a name service which helps to broad or publish my blockchain wallet address into a human name.
I can take that blockchain wallet address and interact with many different applications and websites out there without the need for “create your account” again.
That, I very much enjoy.
What about your wallet account being compromised?
TL;DR: It’s like Windows Admin Access. Every time you try to do something that it needs you to double check, it requires you to “elevate your access”.
You might be wondering - if you login with your wallet, does that mean that website has your wallet information and so forth?
Usually not.
When you log in, usually you are giving “Read only permissions”. That is to say, you are only allowing the application to read the publicly available information.
If I know your wallet address, I can essentially do the same thing.
If you want to take action, or if the application wants to take action, let’s say send a message, or pay for a good, or move information - you need to confirm that action using your actual wallet management tool. This is known as “signing a transaction”, which is better understood as “authorizing a transaction or action”.
As an example - I get a notification on my Ledger hardware (USB stick with an LED screen on it) that 1) notifies me that something is making a request, and 2) asks me what I want to do. Once I selection an option, I have to input my password (like a phone password #), and then confirm / authorize an interaction.
I <3 this.
How do I get one for myself?
TL;DR: 5 steps to get you going - ETH edition.
Step 1. Choose the Name Service for the Blockchain you like.
Bitcoin /// Ethereum /// Solana
Step 2. Connect your wallet. Your wallet will need to have some funds in it (less than $50) based on the blockchain you are interacting with. This step feels like a “Create your account”, except you already have your Google account (for example) and are logging in with Google (Your wallet).
Step 3. Request to Register. This is a verification step. You’ll be using your wallet to “sign a transaction” to initiate the filing step. You’ll then wait a minute. This step feels like “confirm you are you on your email address”.
Step 4. File Registration. This is where you’ll pay the stated fees and acquire the rights to ownership and usage based on the duration. This step feels like an ecommerce check out.
Step 5. Reverse Register. This is an odd phrase but essentially what this steps does is have all applications that would use your wallet address, and display your wallet address, would instead display a nickname you would want. “Reverse Register” is another way to say “Publish Nickname”.
Wait wait, what’s the difference between a name service and Unstoppable Domains?
Unstoppable Domains follows the same model as Namecheap and Godaddy - you can buy traditional domains. It does not take a crypto wallet address and make it legible, or transactable.