Unstoppable Domains now offering encrypted messaging for Web3 domains
Unstoppable Domains integrated the sale of ENS domain names on its platform in July 2023
Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Unstoppable Domains is bringing a messaging feature onto its app after announcing it in March.
Now, users with any of the Web3 domains that Unstoppable offers can send encrypted messages to one another. Since Unstoppable Messaging was built to be interoperable with Extensible Message Transport Protocol (XMTP), people with a domain can communicate with anyone on XMTP-enabled platforms, including the apps Lens and Coinbase Wallet.
Lisa DeLuca, senior director of engineering and product at Unstoppable, told Blockworks that this is a major step toward making Web3 domains useful for more people beyond what’s already been done in terms of functionality.
For example, Unstoppable introduced a single sign on (SSO) service for Ethereum and Polygon applications in January 2022. Decentralized websites are also a major use case for Unstoppable domains and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains.
“We absolutely believe in utility over hype, and it’s exciting to give our community another way to use their Web3 domain in their day-to-day life. Our community has been asking for decentralized messaging,” DeLuca said.
DeLuca added that people can use Unstoppable Messaging for any of the reasons a person would use a Web2-based messaging app.
It could be something as simple as “making plans with a friend or checking in with a contact you met at a conference,” she explained.
Or it could be used to “negotiate an NFT trade or domain purchase with the owner.”
Read more: Unstoppable Domains chooses integration over competition with ENS
The key difference between Unstoppable Messaging and other Web2 clients like WhatsApp is that you can interact with others without sharing your personal phone number, email or other information.
Blocking functionality and notification management, two major features of traditional social media, are included in Unstoppable Messaging as well.
DeLuca also sees messaging as a great way to build community across Web3, particularly with NFT projects. Unstoppable created badges last June that users could attach to their profile to, among other things, display which NFT project they’re interested in.
“Many people in Web3 use their domain as their alias,” DeLuca told Blockworks. “People could check out fellow owners of a badge for their favorite NFT community and message people who have similar interests.”
Consumer messaging is the primary focus for the initial rollout of Unstoppable Messaging, DeLuca shared, but there is an effort underway to allow decentralized apps and businesses to send mass messages to their communities.
This feature, powered by Push Protocol, doesn’t yet have a specific time table.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
- 0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.
