Unstoppable Domains, a startup creating identity applications suited to a blockchain-based Web 3 world, has launched a single sign-on service using non-fungible token (NFT) domains for Ethereum and Polygon.
Announced Tuesday, “Login with Unstoppable” allows users to log in using an NFT domain, a concept boosted in terms of adoption potential by the surge in NFT ownership over the past year or so.
Choosing a unique username in the form of an NFT (such as “yourname.crypto”) is 100% user-owned, unlike traditional emails and logins, where websites can mine and sell your data. The solution works like Google sign-in, without the snooping and with much more flexibility, Unstoppable Domains CEO Matthew Gould said in an interview.
“We think NFT domains are a really great place for building digital identity,” he said, adding that his firm has been exploring ways to use the technology since early 2018, when it was normally referred to as the ERC-721 standard.
“If you want to share some private information about yourself, like your email address, or maybe your credit score, or some KYC [know-your-customer] data, by tying a single sign-on protocol back to your NFT domain, you can now permission applications to look that stuff up about you,” said Gould.
Read more: Sign-In With Ethereum Is Coming
There’s been quite a lot of work done on decentralized identity, with applications like Ethereum Name Service (ENS) gaining attention in recent months. It’s more secure and more user friendly to sign in with an NFT rather than an address, according to Gould.
“If you sign in with an NFT, you also have the ability to store it with a custody provider, for instance, and still use it as an identity, but without having to worry about losing the keys,” he said.
It’s also a good way to address the user experience pain points associated with Web 3, said Gould, and drive adoption amid the general NFT buzz.
Crypto domains
So far, Unstoppable Domains has some 2 million registered domains ending in .crypto, .nft, .wallet and more, and over 50 companies are now integrating Login with Unstoppable, which launched in beta in October 2021.
As well as NFTs as (now ubiquitous) collectibles, Gould likes exploring what he calls “utility NFTs.”
“I’m a big fan of NFTs that you can use to make your life easier, not just for art,” Gould said. “As well as domains, you also see NFTs used in DeFi [decentralized finance] to mark your position. So, marking certain events or proving your membership and inside specific communities is very interesting and there’s a lot more exploration.”
