The Zilliqa Foundation is partnering with Unstoppable Domains to launch .zil, a new blockchain domain system. The system will launch on Zilliqa and is the first blockchain domain system to support payments in multiple cryptocurrencies, all to one domain.

Unstoppable Domains is building domains on blockchains. Based in San Francisco, the company has received funding from Boost VC and grants from both the Ethereum Foundation and the Zilliqa Foundation.

Zilliqa is a public, smart contract blockchain with a founding team based in Singapore. The project is focused on scaling and has a working implementation of sharding.

.Zil Auction and Pre-order Phase

.Zil distribution begins with a pre-order phase. Domains can be reserved prior to mainnet launch, but will not be useable yet. Most domains are available now, with only the most valuable reserved for auction. A limited number of top domains are available to reserve in this phase as well. You can see the list here.

To get a sense of how blockchain domain systems work, you can play with a testnet version here or check out a walkthrough video.

When the system is launched in June, a public auction will begin for all remaining domains. Bidding starts at $10. Bids are public, and they must be at least 2% larger than the previous bid. The auction will take place on the blockchain, and anyone can participate.

What can blockchain domains do?

1. Replace cryptocurrency addresses with human, readable names

Today you do this – ask for someone’s cryptocurrency address. They open their wallet and copy an address, they paste the address into an email, send to you, you open the email, copy/paste the address into your wallet, and pay.

With blockchain domains, you’ll do this – ask for someone’s blockchain domain. They tell you their domain, you open your wallet, type theirname.zil, and pay.

By associating cryptocurrency addresses to a domain, you can tell someone to pay you by typing in yourname.zil.

2. Enable censorship resistant websites

Blockchain domains can be used to build censorship-resistant websites. Traditional domain assets are stored on a user’s behalf by custodians like GoDaddy. Blockchain domains are stored in your wallet and can’t be taken away by a company or court order.

What’s new about .zil? The first blockchain naming service to launch with multi-currency support

At launch, .zil domains will support multiple cryptocurrencies. This means that users can add all their Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Zilliqa addresses to one domain. To pay, someone opens up their wallet, types in yourname.zil, selects from a list of currencies that your domain supports, and pays.

If you’re interested in available blockchain domains, check out our website Keep up to date by following us on Twitter.