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Opera The Internet The Almighty Buck

Opera Integrates Blockchain-Powered Domains, Providing Access to the Decentralized Web (businessinsider.com) 50

Posted by EditorDavid from the web-3.0 dept.
"Chromium-based web browser Opera is all set to fully integrate with blockchain domain name provider Unstoppable Domains," reports TechRadar, "in a bid to provide millions of its users with decentralized web access." Opera users will now be able to access decentralized websites hosted via the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) using Unstoppable Domains' popular .crypto NFT addresses from the Opera browser. This will include platforms such as iOS, Android, Windows, Mac or Linux. Right now, Opera has over 320 million monthly active users across its offerings, following the addition of a crypto wallet to its browsers in 2019.

Unstoppable Domains was launched in 2018 and provides domain names to users with no renewal fees. Users of Unstoppable Domains are granted full ownership and control when they claim a domain because it is minted as an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain. Domain names such as .crypto replace complex wallet addresses for payments across over 40 cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges in addition to accessing the decentralized web through Opera.

Maciej Kocemba, Product Director at Opera said that the company believes in giving all people the ability to access the full web, regardless of the technology behind it.
The Opera product director was further quoted by Business Insider: "We have always supported web innovation, and the decentralized web or Web3 is the natural next wave. Making Unstoppable Domains accessible in the Opera browsers means our users can try blockchain technologies for themselves. Registering your .crypto domain, which is forever yours, is a great first step into Web3," the company's product director Maciej Kocemba said.

Opera is quickly becoming a leader in pushing for the adoption of Web 3.0, also often described as the decentralized web.
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Opera Integrates Blockchain-Powered Domains, Providing Access to the Decentralized Web More

Opera Integrates Blockchain-Powered Domains, Providing Access to the Decentralized Web

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  • What? (Score:3)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Saturday May 01, 2021 @11:53AM (#61335892) Journal

    "Opera users will now be able to access decentralized websites hosted via the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) using Unstoppable Domains' popular .crypto NFT addresses from the Opera browser."

    Can someone explain to me what this actually means? I started to read about it but them more I read the less I understood.

    What is this, what does it do, and what is it good for? What the hell am I actually doing when I use it?

    In other words, "What?"

    • Re:What? (Score:4, Informative)

      by samwichse ( 1056268 ) on Saturday May 01, 2021 @12:03PM (#61335952)

      Basically, instead of paying for a domain through a regular provider, you buy an NFT... basically a few bytes in Ethereum... for a one time fee. People can then look up your domain through this NFT-based service instead of DNS. That's pretty much it.

      • Without DNS issues, although if one's going through Unstoppable Domains then it's not terribly decentralized.

        • Exactly. What will happen when they get bought out or go bankrupt? Sounds like another data collection scheme.

          • If the blockchain network is still being run, it should continue to serve existing domains, though it's not clear how you would register new ones.

            • This whole DNS thing has to go. The whole thing is too centralized and fragile to be practical. The WAN has to go ad hoc to avoid concentration of authority.

      • Re:What? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Nkwe ( 604125 ) on Saturday May 01, 2021 @12:15PM (#61336022)

        Basically, instead of paying for a domain through a regular provider, you buy an NFT... basically a few bytes in Ethereum... for a one time fee. People can then look up your domain through this NFT-based service instead of DNS. That's pretty much it.

        And when your IP address changes, then what? Do you need a new token, or is there some shadow DNS under the covers and you are still vulnerable to the whims of whomever is running the shadow DNS?

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Please a minimum due diligence is required. ETH is not innovative nor useful!

          Here are 7 reasons I am not optimistic about Ethereum’s long-term future.

          #1. It is not immutable and can be censored. The developers can roll back transactions and change the rules whenever they want. They can also be pressured by others – such as governments.

          #2. ETH's scarcity is artificial. The developers – who prefer inflation – control its monetary policy, which is arbitrary, uncapped, and challenging to

        • Re:What? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Arnonyrnous Covvard ( 7286638 ) on Saturday May 01, 2021 @01:16PM (#61336240)
          I've tried to figure this out for at least five minutes, so I think I can explain this, up to a point. There is a "unstoppable domains" smart contract in the Ethereum blockchain, which means there is a bit of code and key data that can't be changed because there is consensus about it. This smart contract is what constitutes an "alternate root". As long as people agree to use this smart contract as the basis for name resolution, the domains derived from it can be used by those people. This smart contract is how people agree what information is in this alternate root and allows anyone to query the domains by reading the Ethereum blockchain. You can of course run a "caching" service which does the blockchain parsing and extracts just the domain information. The point is that there is consensus what that information is. Selling a domain means signing that the buyer's key is in control of the domain. The buyer can then sign configuration information with his own key to make the domain resolve to something. The buyer adds this information to the blockchain.

          Here is what I don't understand: Who would pay these sums for such an obvious scam? Alternate roots have come and gone. There was no point in using any of them because they never achieved noticeable acceptance among technical users. Non-technical users have not heard about them at all. Querying this crypto alt-root is tedious and slow, so there have to be proxies, which means these domains are perfectly stoppable in practice, even before you get to rubber-hose cryptanalysis. And while they have "first" mover advantage, anyone can replicate this and there is nothing stopping anyone from using the same "TLD" for their alternative root. So why would anyone pay a hundred grand for coin.crypto, when there is no guarantee that next year people won't decide some other smart contract, possibly on a different blockchain, represents the crypto TLD? This is insane even before you go into any technical details.

          • You could change it, but you should have good relations with the Ethereum database administrators.
             

            #1. It is not immutable and can be censored. The developers can roll back transactions and change the rules whenever they want. They can also be pressured by others – such as governments.

            • I am aware that the Ethereum blockchain has been forked to reneg on smart contracts on multiple occasions. My intention was to explain how it's supposed to work, assuming the technology and participants behave as advertised.

          • Hmmm, okay, but could you repeat the part about the things and stuff?

          • *Querying this crypto alt-root is tedious and slow, so there have to be proxies, which means these domains are perfectly stoppable in practice, even before you get to rubber-hose cryptanalysis. *

            But you don't need proxies if you just run an ethereum node. So it shouldn't be that slow. Everyone just has the information on their own machine. That's independent of how much any address might cost. I see what you mean there. However squatting has historically proved pretty lucrative.

      • https://unstoppabledomains.com... [unstoppabledomains.com]

        A bit pricey for a few bytes in Ethereum...

      • So instead of relying on multiple redundant DNS servers, I'll rely on one shady company who can hold my domain hostage whenever they want?

        Cool, where do I sign?

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward
          The company can stop signing over new domains, or sign over many domains to assholes, ruining the reputation of the namespace (I am typing this with a 100% straight face), or stop operating the resolver service that makes using the domains practical. They cannot however revoke a domain they've sold or hold a domain hostage. That's the "smart contract" part, which defines what the information in the blockchain means, i.e. who can add what information about any domain. So all 5 people who will use your domain
    • It's a form of a ponzi/pyramid scheme. The only real way to make money is to start your own investment fund, with the word blockchain in the title. To gave it more credibility, you could also combine it with a technical sounding word such as domain. Then wait for real people to deposit real money into the scheme. Use their deposits to trade in the product. Forcing up the baserate. Wait until it peaks then get out rapidly.

      • I'm in, as long as the logo vaguely resembles a pair of boobies. I hope it has something to do with faster browsing of sites with boobies. So is it like a flat, decentralized holographic network with a token-based topography based on something like boobies, or not? If it's not about that then I might only invest half of my life savings.

        • @JustAnotherOldGuy [slashdot.org]: “I'm in, as long as the logo vaguely resembles a pair of boobies. I hope it has something to do with faster browsing of sites with boobies. So is it like a flat, decentralized holographic network with a token-based topography based on something like boobies, or not? If it's not about that then I might only invest half of my life savings.”

          Perhaps it's like those badly typed email from some Nigerian Prince asking you to help him transfer $20,000,000.00 dollars by giving him

    • Can someone explain to me what this actually means? I started to read about it but them more I read the less I understood.

      Brother, as a fellow old guy, I think it means that we're just too goddamn old.

      What is this, what does it do, and what is it good for? What the hell am I actually doing when I use it?

      Pretty sure it's time for us to start a penny-a-point gin rummy game and leave this nonsense to the kids.

      • Brother, as a fellow old guy, I think it means that we're just too goddamn old.

        I had a sneaking suspicion that's what it was, but then I forgot what I was in such a tizzy about, so I took a nap.

        Pretty sure it's time for us to start a penny-a-point gin rummy game and leave this nonsense to the kids.

        Right on, I'll have my son bring me and my pennies over as soon as Matlock is done.

    • IPFS is a way of providing webpages in a BitTorrent-like manner using DHT (think: magnet links but for webpages). This is a good thing, as it prevents static content from being removed from the Internet entirely, provided at least one person retains an unaltered copy of said content. This would provide for an Internet where users (rather than big corporations) get to choose what is or is not available. Integrity protection is provided within the links themselves and this (in the world of NAT-less IPv6) woul

      • Thank you for posting a clear and understandable explanation.

        So in essence, it's a system of decentralized servers for content. Is that the gist of it, more or less?

  • Is unstoppable domain really unstoppable, or can they update their smart contracts to avoid The DAO type problems when they turn out to be buggy?

    • since blockchain is an awful distributed database solution that badly scales they'll become constipated and slow, if not stopped

      seriously I thought the hype train for anything with "blockchain" in name that didn't have to do with making carbon poluuting busywork for coin mining would have died by now

  • Check out my POG NFT! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It is a sustainable decentralized blockchain paradigm shift that agilely empowers influencers to curate Pineapple Orange Guava Alf tokens.

  • I'm sure we'll start to see some shills from the big four soon enough arguing against this, ignoring the fact that Microsoft has been doing it for decades and Google for at least a decade. That boat has already flown the coupe.

  • Come on! Let's find ever more creative ways to waste electricity & create shortages of GPUs. We've got to keep all those coal-powered generators working or the planet might not kill enough of us in a few decades. Nihilism! Oh, blessed nihilism! Where art thou? Taketh me into thine cold, empty void!!

    • oh boy have I got some more news for you! the latest fad (Chia) is staking your hard disk space, so expect SSDs to follow the lead shortly and rise in price as much as GPUs if not more..

  • It's funny, but I thought cracking would get harder and harder, and it actually gets easier and easiery while the scales have become *massive*. All it takes is to *want* it, and you can fuck up *so* much, simply due to the fact that there are so damn many retards out there.
    I guess this must be how Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and all the others like them feel. How many morons begging you to rip them off does it take, before it feels like an obligation to humanity to become an agent of natural selecti

  • 1. these domain names are stored as data part of an NFT (a type of "smart contract") which are in turn are part of a transaction on Ethereum blockchain. these NFTs make sure they can only be issued by Unstoppable Domains.
    2. anyone can create a standard on domain names (or pretty much anything else for that matter) stored on a blockchain; all that matters is whether majority (and eventually everyone) agrees to use one service and not some other. I'm not sure if there is competition to Unstoppable Domains, bu

  • It's 2003 again and Kazaa is being bundled with New.NET Domain Names.

  • Who the fuck uses Opera? (Score:3)

    by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Saturday May 01, 2021 @04:51PM (#61336778)

    They got bought by China a few years back, who's still trusting anything they say at this point?

  • There are many Blockchain companies out there. Depending on your budget you can choose from an established ones or a start up. Though even many Blockchain start up are capable of building comprehensive Blockchain solutions. Another thing to look out is whether you want to get ethereum developed or a completely new Blockchain. Try to contact via this link https://devqode.com/ [devqode.com]

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