Launched .polygon domains for NFT and Web3- The Cryptonomist

Unstoppable Domains and Polygon Labs have announced the launch of .polygon NFT domains for Web3.

Through this initiative, users in the Polygon ecosystem can create custom Web3 domains with a .polygon suffix that they can use to access Web3 applications, create decentralized Web sites, create their own Web3 identity, and easily send cryptocurrencies and NFTs without having to use the usual long wallet addresses.

Unstoppable Domains

Unstoppable Domains is in fact a Web3 domain provider, and it has launched this collaboration with Polygon Labs specifically to create the new .polygon domains that enable digital identity within the Polygon ecosystem.

Indeed, thanks to these new domains, users can create a digital identity that they fully own, while also signaling their support for Polygon. This network in particular already hosts some important Web3 projects, such as DeFi apps and services for NFTs.

Unstoppable Domains allows everyone to create portable digital identities that can be used in more than 750 apps, games and metaverses. The main use is to replace the classic very long and unrecognizable public addresses of crypto wallets, so as to simplify the process of receiving tokens and NFTs.

The .polygon NFT domains

These identities can then also be linked to social channels, and feature on-chain tokens such as tickets and rewards, display badges and more.

In addition, they enable dApps on Polygon to create communities through the Login with Unstoppable service, which enables quick access through the new .polygon identity without having to enter passwords or crypto addresses.

Unstoppable Domains will launch exclusive access to premium .polygon gaming and digit domains starting 16 March.

Polygon Labs Vice President and Chief Growth Officer Sanket Shah said:

“Web3 domains will give our community a digital identity that they fully own, so they can log into dApps without giving away their personal information and transact crypto without lengthy wallet addresses. We’re thrilled to make user-owned digital identity a core part of the Polygon ecosystem.”

COO and Head of Business Development at Unstoppable Domains, Sandy Carter, added:

“We’re excited to deepen our partnership with Polygon Labs with .polygon Web3 domains and bring our communities even closer together. User-owned digital identity is the future of the Internet, and with the Polygon ecosystem, we’re putting the power of user-owned digital identities into more people’s hands.”

Polygon and NFTs

Recently Polygon has been somewhat syphoning users away from Ethereum, especially in the NFT world.

Indeed, the transaction costs of sending NFTs on Ethereum have remained significant, even after the move to Proof-of-Stake, and this heavily impacts especially large volumes of low-value NFT transactions.

In contrast, Polygon, which is a layer 2 solution specifically for Ethereum, enables transactions at far lower cost, and has now become the leading alternative to Ethereum for this type of use.

It is enough to mention that while in December and January on OpenSea the monthly volume of NFTs traded on the Polygon network was about 15 million, in February it skyrocketed to over 100 million.

That is still small compared to the 600 million on Ethereum, but the growth on Polygon has been resounding.

However, it is worth noting that in the first two weeks of March, NFT trades on OpenSea on the Polygon network plummeted to $2.3 million, and on Ethereum they fell to $186 million.

The downsizing of the NFT market has been going on now since June 2022, though it had shown signs of recovery in the last months of the year, but it is a consequence of the bursting of the giant bubble that inflated in 2021.

It is important to point out that current volumes remain much higher than pre-bubble volumes, given that, in February 2021, for example, there was no more than $90 million on Ethereum, compared to more than $600 million in February 2023, and on Polygon it only exceeded $1 million in July 2021, at the height of the bubble.