Support alt-root .Crypto domain names — Opera to

Opera users can now visit alt-root .crypto domain names from their browser.

Unstoppable Domains, a blockchain-based domain name system alternative, disclosed today that the Opera browser for Android will support its .crypto domain name.

.Crypto is an alternate-root domain name, meaning it’s not part of the domain name system that most people use. Users need to use a supported browser or browser plugin in order for the domains to resolve to a website.

Opera’s Android app is the first browser to support the domain names. The app by now has a built-in crypto wallet, so it’s a natural fit for the domain. The app has been downloaded over 3 million times from the Google Play store.

Unstoppable Domains’ top level domains can also be accessed in Chrome if the user installs an extension.

Like most alt-root domain names, the biggest struggle to adoption is that the domains don’t work universally. While Unstoppable Domains faces this challenge, it has a unique advantage selling point compared to the alt-root challengers of decades ago: blockchain. Its domain names work with some cryptocurrency wallets in addition to functioning as website addresses, and it pitches its domains as immune from censorship.

Eventually, we ought to see a .crypto domain name on the “real” DNS. I suspect multiple parties will apply for the domain name in the next round of top level domain expansion. This will create a conflict with Unstoppable Domains’ .crypto domain.

Unstoppable Domains has 200,000 paid domain registrations across its top level domains, which include .zil and .crypto.