.bit

.bit [ ˈdɔtbit ] is a pseudo top-level domain of the Namecoin project. It is not subject to the ICANN namespace and is therefore not part of the normal domain name system .

The designation .bit was chosen due to its technical proximity to the peer-to-peer currency Bitcoin , although a different blockchain is used. Every user must keep a complete, regularly updated list of all registered URLs . No central authority is necessary, so censorship is ruled out.

A browser plug-in or a local Namecoin DNS server is required to resolve the .bit addresses. The use of an online proxy is also possible. In the summer of 2019, the OpenNIC project stopped resolving .bit addresses, primarily on the grounds that the .bit namespace was used for illegal content such as pornography. A Namecoin developer had previously criticized that name resolution by a centralized server service would run counter to the principles of the Namecoin project. For this thrust, he is criticized from circles of the community .

In 2014 around 130,000 .bit addresses were registered, but only a tiny fraction of them actually provided content.

See also

• Open Root Server Network

Web links

• bit.namecoin.org - Official website of the project (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ How to Browse Bit Domains ( Memento of March 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), dot-bit.org. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
2. ↑ Should OpenNIC drop support for NameCoin. OpenNIC , July 15, 2018, accessed March 6, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Jeremy Rand, How Centralized Inproxies Make Everyone Less Safe (A Case Study). Retrieved March 6, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Current .bit domains ( Memento from August 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), namecoin.bitcoin-contact.org. Retrieved January 26, 2014.