What is Handshake?

[handshake-enthusiast]

Handshake is essentially decentralized domains. Think of it as a decentralized counterpart to what ICANN, DNS root servers, and certificate authorities do. It's a brilliant project, not controlled by any company and operates similarly to Bitcoin.

Namecheap: "It’s a new approach to domain name ownership."

Below you can find how different sources describe Handshake. Upvote those you like the most.

• Namecheap
• handshake.org
• Opera
• Namebase
• HNS.ID
• Messari
• and more...

[handshake-enthusiast]

Namecheap:

What is Handshake?

The Handshake Naming System (HNS) is a new approach to the Internet that uses a decentralized system with blockchain technology to offer a freer and more secure option for web users. Handshake offers access to new domains that you won’t find with most domain name registrars.

Instead of working within the traditional naming conventions of the Domain Name System (DNS), which consists of familiar options like .com, .org, and .gov, Handshake allows for millions of new, unique domains. These names are available on the Handshake blockchain — which is free from oversight from organizations like ICANN — to give owners more control over their websites.

Namecheap is the second most popular domain registrar in the world. It's also the biggest company involved in Handshake. I recommend visiting https://www.namecheap.com/domains/handshake-domains/ to learn more about Handshake.

[handshake-enthusiast]

https://handshake.org:

ABOUT HANDSHAKE

Handshake is a decentralized, permissionless naming protocol where every peer is validating and in charge of managing the root DNS naming zone with the goal of creating an alternative to existing Certificate Authorities and naming systems. Names on the internet (top level domains, social networking handles, etc.) ultimately rely upon centralized actors with full control over a system which are relied upon to be honest, as they are vulnerable to hacking, censorship, and corruption. Handshake aims to experiment with new ways the internet can be more secure, resilient, and socially useful with a peer-to-peer system validated by the network's participants.

Handshake is an experiment which seeks to explore those new ways in which the necessary tools to build a more decentralized internet. Services on the internet have become more centralized beginning in the 1990s, but do not fulfill the original decentralized vision of the internet.

[handshake-enthusiast]

Opera:

About Handshake

Handshake is a public blockchain that acts as a decentralized, permissionless naming system that disintermediates the old guard of Certificate Authorities operating in the traditional DNS namespace hierarchy by providing a more advanced, secure, open, and accountable network. It acts as the most viable alternative to the legacy Domain Name System by replacing ICANN with a public blockchain.

[handshake-enthusiast]

Namebase:

Handshake

Handshake is a naming protocol that’s backwards compatible with the existing DNS system. It does not replace the DNS protocol, but instead decentralizes the root zone file where TLD ownership information is stored by adding a distributed and decentralized blockchain-based system that no one controls and anyone can use. This allows for a root zone that is uncensorable, permissionless, and free of gatekeepers like ICANN.

Every peer in the Handshake network cryptographically validates and manages the root zone, which completely removes the need for the Certificate Authority system (CAs). Names are logged on the Handshake blockchain, which is essentially one big distributed zone file to which anyone can add an entry.

Namebase is originally the biggest startup on Handshake. It was acquired by Namecheap in 2022. That's the company that contributed the most to Handshake. I recomment visiting https://learn.namebase.io to learn more about Handshake.

[handshake-enthusiast]

HNS.ID:

Handshake

Handshake is an open-source and decentralized naming protocol that runs on its own lightweight proof-of-work blockchain. Handshake is designed for managing TLDs (Top Level Domains). The current internet relies heavily on centralized certificate authorities and a few large corporations, which leads to censorship, surveillance, and a lack of sovereign identity. Handshake aims to address these issues by providing a fully decentralized alternative to the root zone.

HNS.ID is one of the newest, but the most innovative projects on Handshake. It requires at least a basic level of knowledge and experience of the crypto world. I recommend visiting https://hns.id to learn more about the decentralized future on Handshake.

[handshake-enthusiast]

Messari:

Overview

Handshake is a decentralized naming protocol for allocating ownership rights to Top Level Domains (TLD), such as a .com or a .org, which one can use for websites, email addresses, or crypto addresses. Handshake users can purchase the rights to a TLD through an auction system, where participants submit bids in the form of HNS tokens. The winning bidder then registers the TLD under their cryptographic keys by entering the pair into Handshake's Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain, which acts as a distributed alternative to Certificate Authorities (CAs).

I recommend visiting https://messari.io/project/handshake/profile to learn more about the founding story of Handshake.

[handshake-enthusiast]

A few more places to read about Handshake:

• https://www.kraken.com/learn/what-is-handshake-hns (The Beginner’s Guide)
• https://news.bitcoin.com/cryptos-dotcom-era-begins-as-handshake-launches-decentralized-domains/ (General)
• https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-are-handshake-hns-domains-and-how-do-they-work (General)
• https://brandsec.com.au/handshake-domains/ (General)
• https://hackernoon.com/everything-you-didnt-know-about-the-handshake-naming-system-how-this-blockchain-project-will-483464309f33 (detailed)