Written in front: DID, decentralized identity, is a distributed identity authentication technology. Its purpose is to provide a decentralized way to identify identities and avoid relying on centralized certification authorities. Regarding the three DID domain names of .eth, .bit and .sol, they can actually be used as DID storage and management methods.
Cognitive misunderstandings about "cross-chain"
Is full-chain resolution a real advantage? A common misunderstanding is that ENS (.eth) can only parse ETH addresses, while .bit can parse all mainstream public chains on the market, so its application scenarios are wider. It is a cross-chain player in the DID field and has huge potential in the future. However, there is more than meets the eye.
As far as the author knows, ENS is currently able to parse four chains: ETH, BTC, LTC and DOGE. Although it currently seems to support fewer public chains than .bit, this does not mean that it cannot do it, because it is not difficult to add new chain parsing, just add a new pair of key values. This is also the most basic full-chain analysis function of the DID project, and it can be implemented at any time.
This misunderstanding has led to many incorrect perceptions: for example, many new users mistakenly believe that each chain has its own DID system, so they naively think that it is best to buy the ENS domain name .eth to play in the ETH ecosystem, .bnb to play in the Binance Chain ecosystem, and .sol to play in Solana... This has led to investors naturally betting on DID projects on some unpopular public chains, thinking that when the public chain prospers, the DID of the chain will rise and make a fortune.
Correct understanding of "cross-chain"
Through the above analysis, everyone has understood that the future DID is not for one chain, one DID system, but one DID can theoretically serve as the payment address for all chains.
This will lead to an important inference, that is, DID projects on unpopular chains are likely to fail in the long run. Because their integration level is very low and the consensus is also very small, such as the DID projects of Polkadot and Flow chain. .eth and .bit are DIDs with high consensus and high integration. They are compatible with the functions of other chains, so they are difficult to be surpassed by competition.
At this point, the "cross-chain features" promoted by .bit are not just full-chain analysis. What is its real meaning?
The precise meaning of "cross-chain" is: it supports any public chain to register and manage .bit accounts.
This means that no matter which public chain users are on, they can register their own account and manage this account. In this way, assets and information between different public chains can be integrated together without worrying about compatibility issues between different public chains.
At the same time, the .bit domain name system supports full-chain address resolution, so there is no need to register other domain names again in order to use the DID system of different public chains, making it more convenient and concise. Therefore, users with .bit accounts can use a unified address on all public chains to achieve cross-chain communication.
Cross-chain underlying logic
Previous conclusion: Any DID project on an unpopular public chain will die. However, .bit based on the Nervos (CKB) public chain is an exception. Nervos CKB provides strong technical support for .bit, giving .bit a wider influence and thus becoming an important driving force for the expansion of .bit’s influence.
Nervos CKB is a powerful and flexible public chain:
1. Compatible with the account system of any public chain: Compatible with the account system of any public chain, such as BTC, ETH, BSC, Polygon, Tron, etc.;
2. Cross-chain capabilities: Supports using wallet addresses of many public chains to register .bit accounts, and has strong cross-chain capabilities.
3. Flexible signature algorithm: Supports any signature algorithm. Anyone can deploy any signature algorithm on Nervos CKB, so that any public chain address can hold assets on Nervos CKB.
4. High reliability: Nervos is a decentralized public chain with no single point of control, making it more reliable.
More importantly, all operations are 0 Gas, which makes .bit a completely barrier-free lightweight tool.
Other DID projects, taking the typical ENS as an example, share the glory of Ether, but also bear its negative effects, sharing weal and woe, such as the sky-high price of Gas during the bull market.
But .bit is more like a USB flash drive. It is flexible and can be inserted into any public chain, including BTC, ETH, SOL, etc. Any ecological user can register, hold and manage .bit without any threshold. In addition, .bit also has the ability to transfer across chains. For example, BTC users can transfer .bit to ETH, TRC addresses, etc. This cross-chain capability originates from Nervos technology. Please refer to the CKB white paper for more details.
To sum up, the advantage of .bit is that it is not limited to any public chain. Any public chain can register, hold and manage .bit. At the same time, .bit can also be transferred across chains and operates with 0 Gas. This is The true meaning of "cross-chain"!
There has always been a concept in the community that seeks to rely on the power of large public chains, "fighting for fathers", and finding a big backer. However, if .bit is really transferred to other chains, then its cross-chain advantages cannot be realized. This is an unwise choice for .bit to cut off its own meridians and learn to walk by imitating others. At the same time, because Nervos technology makes the bottom layer invisible, users do not need to know that there is CKB to use .bit.
write on the back
What factors determine the success or failure of DID?
My answer is: look at the popularity in the short term, the product in the medium term, and the suffix in the long term.
How did ENS soar from 300,000 registrations in November 2021 to more than 2 million registrations today? Some people think it is the support of Ethereum, while others think it is the platform of V God. However, this is only one factor affecting the success of ENS. In fact, the issuance of ENS and the hype of the 10k club in May 2022 ignited the concepts of Web3 and DID, which is the core reason for ENS.
Therefore, in the short term, the main driving forces of the DID market are the hype effect and the get-rich-quick effect. In the medium term, DID's product quality, safety, recognition and overall rating will become the public's choice. Although ENS has a strong consensus, whether it can occupy the entire Web3 in the future depends on the coexistence of chains and whether Ethereum is the only one. ENS can only be held through Ethereum addresses, but because Gas consumption is affected by the bull market and there are hidden dangers of zwj, if the application layer cannot avoid risks, the consequences will be unpredictable. ENS needs other advantages in order to continue to develop in addition to consensus.
Finally, the long-term success or failure factor of DID is the suffix, which represents a cultural identity. It is precisely because .com represents globalization that it has become the king of the Web2 era, not .us, although it is endorsed by major powers. For companies that serve the world, choosing a global suffix is an inevitable consideration.
Web3 is naturally international, which needs to be kept in mind.
Suffixes that are closely bound to the public chain, such as .eth and .sol, have a balance of risks and benefits. This bonding is not wise in the long term, as Ethereum’s supremacy may be temporary. The advantage of .bnb and .eth being strongly bound to the public chain is that it can quickly gather community consensus. The disadvantage is that the Terra chain DID project with the .ust suffix has been buried with the Terra chain. After all, the path chosen is " We share weal and woe.”
Overall, .bit has significant advantages in the short, medium and long term. Its technology is ahead of its time, coupled with an efficient project team, making it expected to become a leader in the DID industry.
Please note that the above content is personal opinion. I hope today’s article is helpful to you.