The unstoppable force of Web3: How Unstoppable Domains is creating the identity layer for Web3
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The unstoppable force of Web3: How Unstoppable Domains is creating the identity layer for Web3
Broadhaven Ventures' investment into Unstoppable Domains
Imagine a world where the internet is crypto.
Every internet user is a crypto user.
And every crypto user has a NFT domain.
Every internet user will connect services to a NFT domain that they own.
The website that I log into. Type in michaelsidgmore.crypto. Hit enter. Access granted. The website recognizes michaelsidgmore.crypto as a valid identity.
The money I send and receive. Wire USDC to boostvc.crypto to invest into their fund.
Right now? I have to do the “token test” transaction and wire a nominal number (i.e. $1 worth of ETH or crypto) to a 28 character wallet. A single error in the wallet address? Poof, the money that’s been wired is gone. A human readable name as a wallet address solves both the possibility of human error and identity issues.
This domain will enable them to log on to websites, send and receive payments to their unique domain name, receive rewards and personalized services.
Each internet user’s NFT domain, which they own, will be their passport for the digital world.
Just as every Web2 user has an email address, every Web3 user will have a NFT domain.
NFTs will be the way in which users interact with the internet and own their identity on the internet.
Much like internet domain providers enabled the creation of the internet economy by making it possible for businesses to mark their identity on the web with website domain names, Web3 needs its own version of a domain provider.
But for something bigger — user owned identities on the internet. And not just for businesses, but for individuals as well.
NFT domains are someone’s identity in Web3.
The unstoppable force of crypto is changing the internet as we know it. And there will need to be Web3 domain providers that enable the creation of user owned identity in the form of crypto domain names.
Unstoppable Domains is making it possible to create a world of decentralized digital identities, in the form of NFTs owned by internet users.
The next phase of crypto is about on-ramping users to the world of Web3. Enabling users to own their identity and have a passport that enables them to travel around the world that is the internet is critical to ushering in the next wave of the internet.
Much like Coinbase is an on-ramp for internet users to own assets in the cryptoeconomy, Unstoppable Domains is doing the same for identity.
Coinbase is to crypto as Unstoppable is to Web3.
We’ve invested in a number of on-ramps to crypto and Web3 across investing (Republic, Bitso, CoinList, Shakepay), gaming (Sorare), and now identity (Unstoppable).
We believe that each of these categories are key to making crypto go mainstream – and these companies are a major part of enabling that to happen.
We’ve just begun to scratch the surface of mainstream crypto adoption. We are so early. MetaMask, one of the largest crypto wallets, has over 30M users. Coinbase, which recently launched a NFT platform in addition to their crypto exchange and investment platform, has roughly 98M users. In a world where over 4 billion people have internet access, we are at the dawn of time in crypto.
In 20 years, we will be laughing about our first NFT domains on Unstoppable just as we now laugh about our first AOL AIM names.
It takes an unstoppable team to build something that changes the internet. And this team, led by Brad Kam and Matt Gould, has aptly named their business to match who they are. They are unstoppable. They are driven, focused, and passionate about building the cryptoeconomy. When you spend time with them, it becomes abundantly clear why they are the team that build a business that is foundational to the cryptoeconomy. They are repeat entrepreneurs who have built a profitable business and grown rapidly since 2019 (5x growth in 2021 alone) on under $7 million in VC funding prior to today’s round.
They’ve built a community that has registered 2.5 million domains, which people can now use to connect with more than 300 integrations. Today, people can use their Unstoppable Domains to replace lengthy crypto wallet addresses on over 80 wallets and exchanges (like Coinbase, Blockchain.com, Circle), create decentralized websites, and build their Web3 identity.
We are thrilled to work with Brad, Matt, and team (and thanks to Adam Draper and Brayton Williams at Boost VC for connecting us) and a fantastic group of investors as Unstoppable raises $65 million to help build a company that is at the core of helping millions of users own their identity on the internet.