The NEAR Foundation, in partnership with D3, a leading digital infrastructure provider specializing in domains, is applying to obtain the '.near' Top-Level Domain (TLD) during the upcoming ICANN application window. The collaboration will integrate D3’s interoperable digital identities into the NEAR ecosystem, enhancing utility for both users and developers.
Integrating web domains and the existing Domain Name System (DNS) presents a significant opportunity to advance mainstream adoption of the open web. With over 356 million domains currently using the DNS and more than 5.3 billion internet users worldwide, decentralized and interoperable domains could be a game-changer.
The goal is to catalyze mainstream adoption by extending NEAR’s reach beyond the blockchain community to include the broader Internet infrastructure. The partnership between NEAR and D3 highlights the importance of interoperability in achieving widespread adoption of the open web, offering users and developers enhanced utility and a more expansive definition of identity.
Users will have the ability to use a single domain for various functions, such as a website, email address, or wallet address, and will also serve verified credentials within the NEAR ecosystem.
“We're excited to work with D3 to secure the .near top-level domain and extend the power of NEAR accounts across the entire internet. As the functionality of NEAR accounts expands with Chain Abstraction, combining Web3 identity with existing internet infrastructure will help drive mainstream adoption,” said Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol and Chief Executive Officer of the NEAR Foundation.
Merging domains and identity for an accessible open web
D3’s patent-pending technologies enable Web3 digital identities to be interoperable with the Internet, using the DNS as a foundation. Through these interoperable, human-readable digital identities – i.e. alice.near – users can use a single domain as a website, email, or wallet address. This also opens up the potential for cross-platform usernames through verified credentials.
For the NEAR ecosystem, this means broader utility for developers and projects building on the open web, using identities that are interoperable between the traditional Web2 internet and a decentralized open web. As D3 helps expand functionality of NEAR accounts, along with Chain Abstraction, it potentially paves the way for broader mainstream Web3 adoption.
“In order for Web3 to accelerate its growth, it will require interoperability with existing Internet infrastructure,” says Fred Hsu, Chief Executive Officer at D3. “We’re pleased to welcome NEAR on our journey to redefine digital identity, while offering NEAR users and projects alike more utility by bringing the ‘web’ to Web3.”
Bringing identity innovation to the NEAR ecosystem
The collaboration with D3 to bridge the traditional internet and the open web using domains could lead to a host of innovative use cases on NEAR, from NFTs to SocialFi. Furthermore, D3’s mission of integrating traditional internet and Web3 for utility, security, and universal access dovetails with the NEAR ecosystem’s chain abstraction initiative. Making Web3 experiences feel familiar and smooth, while abstracting the blockchain hurdles away from end users, will improve the usability of decentralized applications for mainstream internet consumers.
