The activation of the transactions and functionalities of the blockchain will take place on February 17th. The platform allows mining the network’s native tokens, called handshake (HNS).
It was announced that Handshake, a DNS (domain name system) protocol based on the proof-of-work (PoW) system and led by Bitcoin Lightning Network co-creator Joseph Poon, launched its core network. This launch is aimed at decentralizing this type of service, as well as replacing organizations such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that govern top-level domains (TLDs) on the Internet, such as “.com” and “.Org”.
Handshake has kept a low profile since its debut in August 2018, when it was reported that the project had stealthily raised USD 10.2 million of large investment funds such as a16z Crypto, Draper Associates, Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital, inter alia. It should be noted that Handshake’s main net was officially launched at 1700 UTC on February 3rd.
Meanwhile, Name base, a domain registry also backed by a16z Crypto, launched its exchange and wallet services for Handshake’s native token HNS. Name base users will eventually be able to buy domains and receive bitcoins and other tokens, similarly to what is done on the Unstoppable Domains platform based on Ethereum, which recently added support for MyEtherWallet.
Handshake users can negotiate with Namebase to have unique top-level domains, such as “.guy”, using HNS tokens. Besides, they can earn more of these tokens when a subdomain is registered to that TLD.
Full Launch
Even though Handshake’s native tokens are mineable in the blockchain, transactions and full functionality will not be activated on the main net until February 17th. At the same time, the protocol will dispense USD 115 million valued in HNS, equivalent to 85% of the coin’s supply, which will be allocated to open source developers, in a decentralized airdrop.
Handshake’s main developer, Joseph Poon, outlines this strategy as a challenge to the initial coin offer (ICO) model. Consequently, the airdrop will distribute the tokens among users with accounts available on Github, Hackerbase, or PGP (pretty good privacy) keys, which ensure the protection of online communications in a web of trust.
In this way, Internet users can now configure their search engines to search for IP addresses in Handshake’s public blockchain, rather than in a traditional centralized infrastructure. According to Alexa’s ranking, the main 100,000 websites have already been assigned to Handshake domain names.
Mining Handshake Tokens on Coinmine
It is worth mentioning that Handshake can also be mined on the Coinmine One platform. In this regard, Coinmine CEO Farbood Nivi stated that Coinmine’s mission is to allow people to be present at the beginning of new tokens such as Handshake, which aims to make the Internet freer and more directed by people.
The firm seeks to make it possible for those without technical knowledge to generate tokens with their equipment by clicking on the application. The executive adds that the goal is to help Handshake reach hundreds of people worldwide in the first few days. He concludes that these people will help educate others about this new protocol.
By Alexander Salazar
