• Mike Carson emphasizes the urgent need for decentralized domains on the blockchain.
• Carson highlights, that decentralized domains can safeguard against government censorship.

Mike Carson, the founder of the Bitcoin-based naming project Spaces Protocol, argues on the recent DNS attack on Squarespace. He highlights the need for decentralized domains on the blockchain. On July 11, 2024, over 100 crypto projects were affected by an attack on the Squarespace DNS registry, leading to phishing attacks and financial losses.

Carson believes this incident reveals critical flaws in centralized domain systems, underscoring the need for a more secure, decentralized alternative.

Carson sees domain names as digital assets that should be managed on a blockchain rather than by centralized third parties.

In addition, he compares domain registrars to banks, where individuals rely on third parties to secure their assets. Carson questions why people need permission from centralized entities to use their money or domain names, claiming for a decentralized approach.

He also points to incidents of government censorship, such as the Spanish government’s 2017 raid on DotCat (.cat) domains promoting Catalan independence, to highlight the importance of decentralized domains.

Decentralized Naming, the Next Major Application Beyond Money

Also, Carson, who has contributed to the development of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Handshake (HNS), argues that BTC is the best solution for decentralized naming.

Moreover, Spaces Protocol, built on BTC, adheres to cypherpunk ideals. It has no separate token, no premine, and no foundation. It also requires no changes to the BTC protocol.

Carson emphasizes that Spaces Protocol is designed to extend to billions, while maintaining a small footprint on the BTC blockchain. He envisions decentralized naming as a way to bring billions of users to BTC, arguing that it is as crucial as money for society. According to Carson, while Bitcoin’s first major application was money, the next could be decentralized naming.