ADA Handle: subHandle FAQ
ADA Handle is developing a new feature: subHandles. In this document we consolidated the FAQs about the feature explaining what subHandles are, who can issue subHandles, how they are issued, the difference between NFT-based and Virtual subHandles. We tried to keep it as simple as possible, without including technical terms but we are working on a more technical white paper, demonstrating the engine behind the concept. If you’d like more information, feel free to message us (contact details below) and we’ll be glad to answer all other (including tech-related) questions.
1. What are subHandles?
SubHandles are an extension of Handles designed to allow individuals, companies, dApps and everyone else that need more than one Handle associated with a name or brand. Examples of subHandles, using a fictitious company name: ACME, are: $john@acme and $treasury@acme. In this example, $acme is the root Handle and $john@acme the subHandle.
2. Who can issue subHandles?
Any wallet that holds a root Handle, such as $acme, will be able to issue subHandles, directly from our minting portal, using any Cardano-compatible wallet.
3. How many subHandles can I issue?
As many subHandles as you want. There won’t be a limit. Provided that the subHandle has not been previously minted, you’ll be able to mint them. We are also improving the minting portal so that you can checkout with multiple subHandles in a single transaction, pay for them with a single transaction and receive them all in a bundle.
4. What’s the difference between NFT-based and Virtual subHandles?
There will be two types of subHandles: NFT-based and Virtual. NFT-based subHandles will be almost identical to the current root Handles, such as $acme, and will exist in the same CIP-25 NFT format (CIP-25).
Virtual subHandles is a new implementation of the Handle Standard, designed to expand the security of subHandle ownership. subHandles will exist in association with a Smart Contract that root Handle owners will–directly from our user friendly control panel–issue, edit or revoke subHandles.
5. Why are you creating the Virtual subHandle implementation?
We are creating Virtual subHandles because multiple of our partners described the need for subHandles that they could easily retrieve should a wallet be compromised or in the event of a team member leaving their company without returning the subHandle. It would be troublesome for any brand to have one of their subHandles unaccounted for.
6. Can Virtual and NFT-based subHandles coexist?
Yes, they can both coexist. Provided that at the time of minting the subHandle name is available, the owner of a root Handle can issue it in the NFT or Virtual formats. For example, $john@acme can be created as a Virtual subHandle and concurrently $treasury@acme can be an NFT-based subHandle.
In the event that the root Handle owner decides to convert an NFT-based subHandle to a Virtual subHandle, they will also have this option by burning the NFT-based and re-minting it in the Virtual format. The same applies to Virtual subHandles being converted to NFT-based subHandles.
7. How much will subHandles cost?
We are still deciding on cost but it will be a fixed price that will make it possible for platforms to issue hundreds or thousands of them. The cost to mint $john@acme and $john@aa will be the same. In other words, the rarity of the root Handle will not affect the price of subHandles.
8. Can subHandles be sold on marketplaces?
Yes, the NFT-based Handles can be listed on marketplaces, exactly as you would when listing a root Handle. Virtual subHandles, given that they won’t exist in the NFT format, will not be immediately available on marketplaces but one could sell them in a peer-to-peer format and in the near future we will also have an API dedicated for minting subHandles so the owner of $acme could create a dedicated solution to sell its subHandles to the community.
9. Will subHandles support the Personalization feature?
Yes, root Handles and subHandles can be equally personalized once the feature is ready. The same Personalization datasets (profile pictures, social media, encrypted datasets, etc.) will be available for root and subHandles.
The wallet holding the subHandle is the one that will have the permission to set Personalization details to the subHandle.
10. I love it! How soon will subHandles be available?
Our development timeframe is 3–6 months so if everything goes well, by the end of the year subHandles will be a reality.
11. How can I support the development of subHandles?
Vote for us on Catalyst: https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/416678
12. I have more questions. What should I do?
You can join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/HFAYdJTNfY, send us a support email: hello@adahandle.com, or a Twitter message: https://twitter.com/adahandle.com.
