Quick Overview

How the current prototype works, what is live today, and where to go next.

How It Works

Follow one name from a Bitcoin-secured claim to the destinations apps can use.

01

Bitcoin

Claim It

Claim alice for a small fixed fee, then a public notice window opens. If no one contests it, it's simply yours; if someone else claims it too, the name goes to whoever locks the largest returnable bond. Either way Bitcoin records that an owner key controls it.

namealice

claimuncontested

owner8f3c...12ab

cost₿1,000 (~$1)

02

Resolver

Publish Off-Chain

The owner signs the current destinations for alice. Resolvers store that signed record.

btcbc1qxy...0wlh

lightninglno1q...9sa

emailalice@example.com

websitealice.example

03

Client

Resolve And Verify

Clients check Bitcoin ownership, verify the owner signature, and use the destination type they understand.

alice

resolves to

website -> alice.example

One Name, Many Destinations

The chain owns the name. The signed record says what it points to right now.

Bitcoin anchor

alice

Ownership and transfers stay public and auditable on Bitcoin.

owner 8f3c...12ab

Resolver record

Latest owner-signed bundle

Resolvers keep the mutable destination layer off-chain. The current owner can update this bundle without putting every change on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin

bc1qxy...0wlh

Lightning

lno1q...9sa

Email

alice@example.com

Phone

+1 415 555 0123

Website

alice.example

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/alice

Signal

alice_12

Cash App

$alice1234

Clients

Use what they understand

A wallet can use the Bitcoin or Lightning destination. A browser can use the website. A contact app can use email or phone.

Small on-chain footprint, flexible off-chain records, and client-side verification of the latest owner-authorized data.

Use The Website

The common path is intentionally short: set up Sparrow, bid on a name, then inspect live ownership.

Setup

Connect Sparrow to the hosted demo wallet server and fund the wallet you will use for bids.

Claim

Check a name, prepare the unsigned PSBT, then review and sign it in Sparrow. A contested name settles by bonded auction.

Explore

Inspect only the names and activity currently visible to the resolver.

After You Own A Name

Use the detail page to update destinations or prepare a transfer. Those tools are secondary until a name exists.

Start setup Claim a name Open explorer

Reference Guides

Read these when you want the why, edge cases, or deeper review context behind a tool.

Wallet Setup

Use the setup tool for the short path. Use the guide for Sparrow network details and wallet compatibility.

Open setup Setup guide

Auctions

Use Auctions to build PSBTs. Use the guide for settlement, ownership, and launch-rule context.

Open auctions Auction guide

Transfers

Use Transfer for the current handoff prep. Use the guide for relay limits and safer redesign options.

Open transfer Transfer guide

Recovery Kits

Auction bids create separate name-control recovery material. Read this before reviewing owner-key recovery behavior.

Recovery guide Testing guide

Current Status

The hosted demo is real, but it is still a prototype. Use this page to separate what works now from what is still under active design.

Works Today

  • Hosted signet setup and auction inspection
  • Self-hosted website and resolver
  • Browser destination publishing
  • Sparrow PSBT handoffs and live auction smoke checks

Still Prototype

  • The cheap uncontested ₿1,000 (~$1) claim path is designed and measured, but not live here yet; claiming in this demo runs the bonded/contested path end-to-end.
  • Transfers still rely on external signer and CLI steps.
  • Resolver availability is only partly decentralized in v1.
  • The one-path claim flow is partly prototyped and still not mainnet-ready.
  • Mainnet-ready usage is not ready yet.