Why we sponsored Devcon5 and how the IOV Name Service is different from ENS?
18 months ago when we started our journey, our mission was simple: bring blockchain to the people. We identified 4 pillars for mass-adoption (https://medium.com/iov-internet-of-values/from-the-crypto-geek-era-to-the-internet-of-value-era-e3aca7ee7605) and today we are about to launch the IOV Name Service which is the first pillar we have been focusing the most on. The IOV Name Service maps human readable addresses into a list of crypto-addresses. We call it starname because it starts with a * like *clarisse.
Our journey started with Ethereum and Cosmos as we were passionate about blockchain and had the conviction it will change the financial system. (https://medium.com/iov-internet-of-values/the-genesis-file-of-iov-25eb695ae9b3)
Before, we started to design the IOV Name Service, we took a look at every ongoing project and spent a lot of time studying open source initiatives. One of them was obviously ENS. So, why did we choose to pursue Name Service after all?
Some differences between ENS and IOV are fundamental and some more minors. We see today IOV Name Service and ENS as two projects working for the common good and this is the reason why we decided to sponsor Devcon5.
The fundamental difference between ENS and the IOV Name Service relies (1) on its token economy and its consensus model, (2) on its interoperability (3) on its design and unique architecture enabling seamless user experience.
1. A dedicated token economy based on a consensus model
ENS relies on proof of work and miners do not get any reward from “.ETH” domains’ sales. The IOV Name Service relies on proof of value which is similar to proof of stake as validators get a slice of the reward from “*starnames” sales. We put lots of thoughts on our economic model and we actually released an economic paper explaining it: https://iov.one/economic_paper On this topic, we have been advised by the Philippe Fevrier, Chief Economist who previously directed the industrial organization department in CREST, the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
IOV blockchain therefore enables sovereignty of its product. By relying on Tendermint, the IOV Name Service has his own sovereignty and will fork only if there is a governance issue regarding the Name Service itself. ENS on the other hand relies on Ethereum, if Ethereum decides to fork for any reason then the ENS might have to deal with a duplicate registry.
We think that a sustainable Interoperable Name Service should have a dedicated economy where all actors are incentivized (validators, name seller) and its own sovereignty.
2. A Universal identity
Can you imagine if you had to issue a passport everytime you are visiting a new country? Identity has to be universal at its very core.
We designed the IOV Name Service from the start to be blockchain agnostic. The IOV Name Service is mapping a human readable address to a list of crypto-addresses. Each crypto-addresses is associated to a chainID. That’s the reason we co-created the initiative of the Universal Chain Registry with Pedro Gomes, Riccardo Montagin, Simon Warta and Antoine Herzog to define properly how we should specify chainIds across different networks. For people attending Devcon5, we will give a lightning talk and we are organizing a meetup inside Devcon5!
3. A Unique Design
The last one is the format. ENS provides an address which looks like a domain clarisse.eth. We wanted something which looked like username people are already using on the web, simplifying user experience. In this spirit we created the starname network which provides a format starting with a * : *cosmostation.
More than a trendy design it is thought so organizations can use their starnames to the complexity of their businesses. Sub-starnames, such as clarisse*cosmostation, will simplify the way organizations communicate to their clients, enhancing clarity.
Last, the starname unlock creativity and personalization possibilities for our users. It looks personal, contrary to a domain format in our opinion.
We believe UX matters. It is actually a very important topic if we are serious about converting 3.9 Billions people from traditional banking system to the blockchain.
At the end, we are all together working to bring blockchain to the people by providing great open-source. That being said, we are looking forward to collaborating with the ENS to define properly the chainIds specification and this is actually why we sponsored Devcon5. We are co-organizing a meetup on October 10th about the Universal Chain Registry Project to discuss about this passionate topic: specifying properly chainsIds across blockchains networks (Ethereum, Cosmos etc..). Join us to talk about the future of chainIds specification:
https://devcon.org/agenda?talk=rec9nFSkWKqdKTwuv
Looking forward to see you in Devcon5!!!🦄🦄🚀🚀
