[announce] Namecoin - a distributed naming system based on Bitcoin

[d5000]

Cool. I will try it out tomorrow. Do you know some bit-domains or some site for browsing bit-domains so that I can play around with the name resolution? Thanks in advance.

Try http://nf.bit (Namecoin forum) and http://nx.bit (Blockchained.com). Both still work.

There is a (pretty old) list here.

I today earlier tried out the leveldbtxcache option and it didn't work (it threw a "Connection refused" error) but it's well possible that the blockchain part that is needed for name resolution wasn't fully downloaded.

[rainypu]

Hi guys. I have been interested in Namecoin for quite some time, but I'm not sure of exactly who are the relative representatives (assuming Coblee would be for Litecoin, Gavin would be for Bitcoin, etc).

[mt55]

Namecoin has many useful functions, therefore it is impossible to consider it simply as an ordinary coin. It is an innovation that will show itself to the world. I read information about the Safinus project as an investment platform. I also see a lot of revolutionary innovations there

Namecoin also has an incredible history in the crypto space. I hope it can go back up again as it is one of the oldest coins out there!

I agree in many respects with you and your opinion. Now probably have to still look and technology that will be in demand in the future. But this coin test of time and I think it is still manifest themselves in the future.

True though that the technology also needs to advance as it also does for other coins with active development. Standing the test of time is one thing, active development the other.

[versprichnix]

Hi guys. I have been interested in Namecoin for quite some time, but I'm not sure of exactly who are the relative representatives (assuming Coblee would be for Litecoin, Gavin would be for Bitcoin, etc).

It's decentralised, so there's no single "god" for namecoin. This increases the propability to survive attacks.

[d5000]

True though that the technology also needs to advance as it also does for other coins with active development. Standing the test of time is one thing, active development the other.

There is active development.  I've already mentioned the ConsensusJ light client.

The full client, namecoin-core follows Bitcoin development closely, the last update was 7 days ago.

The problem, for me, is still usability. It is still too difficult for the "general public" to use Namecoin. The Blockchain DNS project (browser extensions) I mentioned earlier is a big step forward as it works on two of the most popular browsers and works out-of-the-box. I think porting the Blockchain DNS extension to the remaining browsers (Safari and Edge/IE) and with a stable light client (ConsensusJ or Electrum) Namecoin can be a success.

[trantute2]

True though that the technology also needs to advance as it also does for other coins with active development. Standing the test of time is one thing, active development the other.

There is active development.  I've already mentioned the ConsensusJ light client.

The full client, namecoin-core follows Bitcoin development closely, the last update was 7 days ago.

The problem, for me, is still usability. It is still too difficult for the "general public" to use Namecoin. The Blockchain DNS project (browser extensions) I mentioned earlier is a big step forward as it works on two of the most popular browsers and works out-of-the-box. I think porting the Blockchain DNS extension to the remaining browsers (Safari and Edge/IE) and with a stable light client (ConsensusJ or Electrum) Namecoin can be a success.

Since you mention that: I stumbled over the signatures (https://github.com/namecoin/gitian.sigs) of the current namecoin version (https://namecoin.org/download/) which obviously is 0.13.99.

There are also signatures for version 0.15.99! Does anyone know more?

As a finger exercise:

How to use those signatures? (Because it always works a little bit different for each project (here I stay with version 0.13.99). E.g. BitcoinUnlimited signs hash sums via Bitcoin's message signature system, which is only consequent: https://www.bitcoinunlimited.info/download. Some projects do not even provide signatures.)

Firstly download the software, e.g. via

Code:

wget https://namecoin.org/files/namecoin-core-0.13.99-name-tab-beta1-notreproduced/namecoin-0.13.99-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.gz

Then import the corresponding gpg-key:

Code:

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv F8F7BF85

Which returns something similar to:

Code:

gpg: requesting key F8F7BF85 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key F8F7BF85: public key "Jeremy Rand (Master Key) <[email protected]>" imported
gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

You can find the key here:

https://keyserver.ubuntu.com/pks/lookup?op=vindex&search=JeremyRand&fingerprint=on

Via searching for "JeremyRand" at

https://keyserver.ubuntu.com/

Then, you must clone the signature repository of namecoin

Code:

git clone https://github.com/namecoin/gitian.sigs.git

And enter the corresponding directory

Code:

cd gitian.sigs/0.13.99-name-tab-beta1-linux/JeremyRand/

Check the signature

Code:

gpg --verify namecoin-linux-0.13-build.assert.sig

Which returns

Code:

gpg: assuming signed data in `namecoin-linux-0.13-build.assert'
gpg: Signature made Sa 15 Okt 2016 22:13:13 CEST using RSA key ID 786D6570
gpg: Good signature from "Jeremy Rand (Master Key) <[email protected]>"
gpg:                 aka "Jeremy Rand <[email protected]>"
gpg:                 aka "Jeremy Rand <[email protected]>"
gpg:                 aka "Jeremy Rand <[email protected]>"
gpg:                 aka "Jeremy Rand <[email protected]>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: 5174 0B7C 732D 572A 3140  4010 6605 55E1 F8F7 BF85
     Subkey fingerprint: 541D DF77 302B 6847 2806  D912 B3F2 D165 786D 6570

Or alternatively

Code:

gpg --verify namecoin-linux-0.13-build.assert.sig namecoin-linux-0.13-build.assert

Output is similar without the "assuming bla fasel". This shows that the information in the assert-file is signed by Jeremy Rand. The sig-file contains the signature and the assert-file contains sha256sums of the namecoin files.

Finally, find the sha256sum of the downloaded file in the assert-file

Code:

ef0fee861afe66cbf06de162ee5ee3cb88b43d281341d2f3f24ee9e9494ce5a1  namecoin-0.13.99-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.gz

And do something similar with the downloaded file like

Code:

sha256sum namecoin-0.13.99-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.gz | grep -o ef0fee861afe66cbf06de162ee5ee3cb88b43d281341d2f3f24ee9e9494ce5a1

If this returns

Code:

ef0fee861afe66cbf06de162ee5ee3cb88b43d281341d2f3f24ee9e9494ce5a1

Everythin seems fine.
 

[hornetsnest]

True though that the technology also needs to advance as it also does for other coins with active development. Standing the test of time is one thing, active development the other.

There is active development.  I've already mentioned the ConsensusJ light client.

The full client, namecoin-core follows Bitcoin development closely, the last update was 7 days ago.

The problem, for me, is still usability. It is still too difficult for the "general public" to use Namecoin. The Blockchain DNS project (browser extensions) I mentioned earlier is a big step forward as it works on two of the most popular browsers and works out-of-the-box. I think porting the Blockchain DNS extension to the remaining browsers (Safari and Edge/IE) and with a stable light client (ConsensusJ or Electrum) Namecoin can be a success.

The main reason namecoin is not heavily traded is because traders don't have a lite client to store their coins off exchanges.Same goes for regular Joe who has no interest in bit/dns and only wants a solid coin to use to buy his trash on the internet wherever a shop accepts namecoin.It all boils down to economics and the whole namecoin economy is wrong by only appealing to a niche audience.We are not all geeks but have a lot of respect for the developers of this legacy coin and many want to trade and use it for non geek stuff too.

[trantute2]

True though that the technology also needs to advance as it also does for other coins with active development. Standing the test of time is one thing, active development the other.

There is active development.  I've already mentioned the ConsensusJ light client.

The full client, namecoin-core follows Bitcoin development closely, the last update was 7 days ago.

The problem, for me, is still usability. It is still too difficult for the "general public" to use Namecoin. The Blockchain DNS project (browser extensions) I mentioned earlier is a big step forward as it works on two of the most popular browsers and works out-of-the-box. I think porting the Blockchain DNS extension to the remaining browsers (Safari and Edge/IE) and with a stable light client (ConsensusJ or Electrum) Namecoin can be a success.

The main reason namecoin is not heavily traded is because traders don't have a lite client to store their coins off exchanges.Same goes for regular Joe who has no interest in bit/dns and only wants a solid coin to use to buy his trash on the internet wherever a shop accepts namecoin.It all boils down to economics and the whole namecoin economy is wrong by only appealing to a niche audience.We are not all geeks but have a lot of respect for the developers of this legacy coin and many want to trade and use it for non geek stuff too.

Firstly, there are so many scam coins (check coinmarketcap), which have a higher market cap than Namecoin. Those projects are traded for speculative reasons, the additional benefit is limited, especially compared to Namecoin. You can't even buy something with those coins. Namecoin was once traded on kraken. They removed it. I do not know why.

Secondly, go back a few pages. There, we discussed ways to make Namecoin and the corresponding DNS more prominent. Even though our result is still limited. But I hope this will change in future.

Thirdly, I think, that there is relatively much development under way. E.g. I am looking forward to Namecoin version 0.15.99, which seems to be still in beta state (https://namecoin.org/2018/02/01/namecoin-core-0-15-99-name-tab-beta1.html).

Fourthly, the next Namecoin halving is scheduled for end of October.

Thus, it is time for this coin to shine again (imho)!

[trantute2]

Signature verification (https://asktom.cf/index.php?topic=6017.msg36620285#msg36620285)

I provided the wrong PGP-Key: D9D72D3A

The correct PGP-Key is: F8F7BF85

The verification worked in my case, because I had the correct key already imported!

Always check twice, what is posted in the internet!!!

[CoinsInTheCan]

Good news !!!

Namecoin is added to Blocknet / BlockDX (Decentralized exchange & communication protocol between many different blockchains). You can trade and build dapps for your favorite coin.      

(Full launch with Litewallet and beautiful gui is July 1st)  https://asktom.cf/index.php?topic=829576.0

[glandulaHewq]

Namecoin is one of the few tokens I have added to my portfolio for a long time. Presently ready to hold it for a long time.

[ngocthach]

Has anyone else got this working? There is no namecoind target in the makefile, so i built bitcoind.  My daemon is currently sitting at 0 blocks and doesn't recognize calls such as name_list and name_scan.

[truxton]

Namecoin is now ready for cross-chain dapps with the Blocknet Protocol!




Now that namecoin is compatible with the Blocknet Protocol, it can be used in cross-blockchain dapps and traded on beta Block DX!

You can read more about Blocknet, the Blocknet Protocol, and Block DX here:

https://blocknet.co

https://sites.google.com/view/blocknet/directory

To get started with trading on Block DX, follow this setup guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ciwLFSXwv6CXd3QEvVW88lHXo9CSIlweYOoSbDHkies/preview

The setup is in the process of being automated/abstracted so it's much easier and streamlined to use for beginners. In addition to that, in July we are planning to release SPV support which will allow for the creation of litewallets so whole blockchains will not need to be downloaded.

[domob]

Has anyone else got this working? There is no namecoind target in the makefile, so i built bitcoind.  My daemon is currently sitting at 0 blocks and doesn't recognize calls such as name_list and name_scan.

What exactly have you built?  There should indeed be a namecoind.  If you got bitcoind, then perhaps you checked out the wrong branch?  We do keep "bitcoin" and "auxpow" branches in our repo for the purpose of tracking upstream development.  You want the "master" branch.

[mishax1]

When Namecoin ?

[robot2019]

Wouldn't there be a way for someone to set up a server that acts as a DNS that includes namecoin domains?

[cointopper]

Hello Namecoin believers,

Our aim is to add value to the whole crypto community by giving the best user experience to analyse cryptocurrencies.

It would be really great help from your side if you can spend 60 seconds of your time and give us your valuable feedback for our two recent updates 1) Snapshot and 2) Colourful interface of Namecoin at: https://cointopper.com/coin/namecoin

Constructive criticisms are always welcome at CoinTopper.  Thank you!!

[hornetsnest]

The only reason I never bought namecoin is because there is no electrum.Not too many peeps want to spend all day downloading a whole blockchain and less want to leave coins sitting on an exchange either.

https://github.com/Multicoin-co/electrum-nmc nearly there bud 

[22naru]

The only reason I never bought namecoin is because there is no electrum.Not too many peeps want to spend all day downloading a whole blockchain and less want to leave coins sitting on an exchange either.

https://github.com/Multicoin-co/electrum-nmc nearly there bud 

after how many years will be done?

and who are the devs right now who work at namecoin?

[domob]

I'm trying to build contacts with Namecoin miners.  I may have some questions about mining-related features from their point of view in future development (as I'm not a miner myself), and also for planning of potential future forks.

If you are mining Namecoin and are willing to get in touch, please reply or send me a PM with contact information.