Unstoppable Domains, a software company building domains on blockchains, today announced its $4 million Series A led by Draper Associates. Boost VC, having previously led Unstoppable Domains’ $730,000 seed round in December 2018, also participated in the Series A. With this new round of funding, the San Francisco-based company is building tools so that anyone can build a website that can’t be taken down.
Tim Draper, managing partner of Draper Associates, said, “By decentralizing domain names, Unstoppable Domains has the potential to spread free speech around the world. Get your blockchain domains and don’t let them be controlled by anyone else, ever!”
This news followed Unstoppable Domains’ recent announcement that the company would remove any renewal fees for blockchain domain purchases. Unstoppable Domains creates its own domain extensions (like .com or .info) and sells domains directly to consumers at unstoppabledomains.com. They recently launched their 1st extension called .zil. Pre-orders for .zil domains are open now and a public auction for the most valuable domains will begin June 20th.
Blockchain Domains Do Two Things:
Payments – Blockchain domains replace crypto addresses with a single human readable name. With just a few clicks, users attach their Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and any other cryptocurrency address they want, all to one domain. When someone wants to pay, just tell them yourname.zil, they type that into a wallet send field, and send. That’s it.
Uncensorable Websites – Blockchain domains are stored in a user’s wallet, just like a cryptocurrency. No 3rd party can seize the domain. Website content is stored on IPFS or other decentralized storage networks, making a takedown request impossible. The combination of a domain held by the user and content stored on decentralized storage, means that anyone can easily create a website that can only be taken down by the user.
“There are more than 350 million traditional domains registered,” said Matthew Gould, Unstoppable Domains CEO, “and they’re worth more than $20 billion, but only businesses use them. Everyone needs a blockchain domain because it makes it easier to receive cryptocurrency. We think the number of blockchain domains could be more than 2 billion.”
The company intends to use the funds to expand its product team, build integrations with more wallets/exchanges, and hire sales and marketing talent.
Follow their upcoming auction at unstoppabledomains.com/auction.
About Unstoppable Domains
Unstoppable Domains is a San Francisco-based company building domains on blockchains. The company is backed by Draper Associates and Boost VC and has received grants from the Ethereum Foundation and the Zilliqa Foundation.
For more information visit www.unstoppabledomains.com.
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