Namebase

Namebase operates a web platform for searching and registering decentralized domain names. Users type a desired name and see live availability and pricing across what the site describes as more than 1,480 decentralized top-level domain endings, including .hns, .wallet, .web3, .lab, .bitcoin, .os, .x, .xp, .vm, .dojo and .token. Listed annual prices range from about $0.99 to $15 per year, and the site notes that each price is set by the owner of the corresponding TLD. After registration, the holder controls the domain and can point it at a website, a cryptocurrency wallet or an online profile. Registration is presented as a process completed in roughly a minute.

Historically, Namebase was a platform for buying, selling and managing Handshake (HNS) blockchain domains, functioning as both a digital asset exchange and a domain registration and auction marketplace that let users own top-level domains on an alternative naming root. In July 2026 the company announced a relaunched Namebase operating as a non-custodial registry and registrar for the decentralized web. Assets held under the prior custodial model remained accessible at a separate sunset.namebase.io property, with users directed to withdraw or transfer their names and HNS before October 1, 2026; an August 2026 "Namebase Sunset Guide" post covered asset withdrawal and registry migration.

Ownership has changed at least twice. Registrar Namecheap acquired Namebase around 2022 while it was promoting Handshake names, and in January 2026 domain-industry press reported that Namecheap had sold Namebase to buyers who were not publicly identified. Namebase's owners stated on X that the system would shut down for a migration in February before reopening.