.Crypto Domains Now Available on Brave Browser

Popular privacy-focused browser Brave now supports decentralized domains thanks to a new integration with Unstoppable Domains, Brave said in a press release on 13 May.

According to the announcement, the integration will enable Brave to provide native support for “.crypto” domains, expanding the use of Web 3.0. Now both Android and desktop Brave users will have the ability to access more than 30,000 decentralized websites and over 700,000 blockchain domain names that are registered with Unstoppable Domains. Brian Bondy, co-founder and CTO of Brave, said in a statement:

“At Brave, we see Web3 as a stepping stone to the future of digital ownership and decentralization. Unstoppable Domains was a natural fit for us, giving our users access to the decentralized web with the ability to visit any .crypto domain name.”

While traditional domains are hosted on centralized registers, such as GoDaddy and Google Domains, decentralized domains are stored on users crypto wallets. Unstoppable Domains’ domain name system (DNS) is essentially a suit of smart contracts written on a blockchain. When a users claims a blockchain domain, he receives a non-fungible token (NFT) that gives him full ownership and control over the domain.

The .crypto domains can not only point to content hosted on the Web, but also to content from the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and crypto addresses, making it easier to send and receive over “70 different cryptocurrencies across 40+ cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges”.

Once a user has registered a .crypto domain, and received his NFT, he has full control over the domain, meaning he does not have to rely on a centralized DNS provider for his security. While rare, there have been several incidents involving DNS providers.

Back in November 2020, Japanese crypto exchange Liquid suffered a data breach when its domain hosting provider incorrectly transferred control of one of its “core domain names” to an unknown entity. The intruder was given enough access to change DNS records and take control over a “number of internal email accounts”, enabling him to access stored documents. While the exchange’s funds were not affected, it warned its users to change their passwords and 2FA credentials.