Behind legal pushback against Unstoppable Domains — Namecheap is

Firm’s Namebase business is funding legal challenge.

Picture of two boxers with the words "blockchain domain fight"

NameBase, a Handshake domain platform owned by domain registrar Namecheap, is funding a legal challenge to Unstoppable Domains.

Unstoppable Domains sued Gateway Registry, a rival to NameBase, following Gateway started offering .wallet domains in the Handshake system. Unstoppable offers a competing .wallet extension in its own platform.

Gateway quickly folded. Then Scott Florcsk, owner of the .wallet domain name in Handshake, put out a call for help to the community to help him fight back.

Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall hinted on Twitter that his firm would help fight back:

Fret not, the fight for the HNS tld .wallet and it’s domain holders has just begun.

— Richard Kirkendall (@NamecheapCEO) August 2, 2022

Florsck filed to intervene in Unstoppable Domains’ lawsuit against Gateway, and he also filed a separate lawsuit.

Today, Florsck notified the court that Namebase is funding his legal challenge. In return for funding Florsck, Namebase will get a split of any value received from the monetization or disposition of Florcsk’s .wallet top level domain and a split of recoveries, either by settlement or judgment, procured by Florcsk in related litigation.

Namebase does not have approval rights for litigation or settlement decisions.

Unstoppable Domains probably thought it was picking on an easy target with its lawsuit against Gateway. Now, it has a much more formidable foe.