Bitcoin is at a very interesting junction in its humble journey. As we approach one of the Bitcoin halving milestones, there is a surge of Bitcoin layer 2 solutions emerging.
Bitcoin layer 2 solutions work very differently from what we have seen in Ethereum layer 2 solutions, but the promise of these layer 2 solutions is immense and might unlock utility in Bitcoin that has always been deemed to be missing.
Stacks (STX) is one of those Bitcoin layer 2 solutions that seems to be leading the category, and there is a ton of development happening around it. I often talk about them on my Twitter handle, and if you’d like to keep up with updates, you can join me here.
In this tutorial, I wish to guide you on how you can buy a .btc domain name.
How does .btc domain name works?
.BTC names are registered by sending two transactions to the BNS smart contract on the Stacks chain. BNS is the “Bitcoin Name System”, a decentralised name registration app that can be compared to its Ethereum counterpart ENS. Transactions are finalized on Bitcoin. BTC names are fundamentally under your control and resistant to seizure or censorship.
What are the uses of .btc domain name?
Right now .btc domain name can be used for receiving lightning payment, and as BTC layer 2 usage will increase, we can expect many more usage. See instructions here.
Use .btc domain name as your webpage. See instructions here.
Link your Nostr profile to .BTC name.
Inscribe your .btc name on Ordinals. (This is the website)
More over, as Bitcoin gets more adoption, these .btc domain could be highly useful and may be valuable.
What do you need to buy .btc domain name?
The STX token can be purchased on KuCoin, Bybit and others.
You’ll also need an STX wallet like Xverse. As per the official website btc.us, the Bitcoin Name Service is currently not compatible with .btc domain names. However, if you have a premium domain name idea, my suggestion is not to miss it just because there is no hardware wallet integration at this moment.
Lastly, choose a cool domain name like CoinSutra.btc or something similar. Duh! 😉
What is the cost of buying .btc domain name?
At the time of writing this guide, you can buy .btc domain name for 5 years for 2 STX. The price of STX at the time of writing is about $2.5, so it’s about $1 for 5 years.
Step by Step guide to buy .btc domain name?
Step1: Set up STX wallet: Xverse wallet
Download and set up Xverse wallet from official App Store. It is available for Android, iPhone and also as a chrome add on.
Step 2: Buy STX token and transfer it to Xverse Wallet
Once you are done setting up wallet, it is time to buy STX token and transfer it from your exchange to Xverse wallet.
Here are the steps:
Where to buy STX token:
Once you have bought STX token, head over to your Xverse wallet and copy your STX address. (See screenshot below)
Use this address to withdraw STX token from your Crypto exchange account to the Xverse wallet.
When you are withdrawing STX to your private wallet such as Xverse or Leather, the memo field will be empty.
When you are transferring STX from one crypto exchange to another, you need memo
It could take a few minutes before you receive the STX token.
Step 3: Buy .btc domain name
Once you have received the STX token in your Xverse wallet, use the browser feature of Xverse wallet to head over to https://btc.us and search for the domain name that you wish to buy.
Now, complete the usual signin with wallet, and head over to final payment page.
Here you have two options:
Basic and advanced
The Advanced is a two step process, and if you are buying an important BNS (.btc) domain name, it is better to use the advance feature, as it avoids front-running. And if it’s a common name, then step 1 is fine.
For serious users, I recommend you to read more about the difference before you pick one.
Note: When I was using it for my domain purchase, the advanced feature was failing, and that’s why I used the basic feature.
It would be interesting to see if .btc domain name will become as popular as .ens domain name or not. This is something only time will tell, but for now $1/year per domain name is not too bad and may be an opportunity for future Degens and domainers to buy a premium domain name.
Important facts about .btc domain name:
One wallet can store only one domain name. However, with Xverse wallet, you can create multiple sub-account with single seed-word.
.BTC names can range from 1-48 characters.
To manage your .btc domain, head over to BTC.us and use the login feature to connect with your wallet.
Twitter profile @stacks
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