DARP: Cardano Address Name Service

TL;DR

Smart contracts can be difficult to upgrade/replace due to the immutable nature of the blockchain. Using a resolvable name allows developers to change smart contract addresses without needing to deploy a full update to their applications. The same friendly address name capability can also be offered to application users to remove the complexity of using standard cryptocurrency addresses.

DARP will provide a service that can be offered by anyone (e.g. a value add service for a Stake Pool), that builds on the Decentralised Identity capabilities being implemented by Atala PRISM.

WARNING

This proposal is technical in nature and may therefore not be something all Catalyst participants will be able to understand. Some understanding of Decentralised Identity standards (e.g. DIDs, etc.) is required. Links to more information about these standards are provided in the Gitbook documentation linked in this proposal if required.

For those not able to critique the proposal's technical detail, the value being offered is covered in the TL;DR above.

ATTENTION COMMUNITY ADVISERS

I am hungry for constructive feedback and therefore would like to help you get an appreciation for this proposal before you write your review. This will not only help me with my proposal, but will also allow me to help you to provide a meaningful review that won't be disqualified. Therefore if anything is not clear please contact me in the Discord channel #decentralised-address-resolution-protocol, on Telegram at @phillewis or via Twitter at @phillewisit.

NOTE

This project was originally proposed in Fund3 (https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/DARP-Cardano-s-Address-Name-Servce/334441-48088), however as voting has not been completed, the proposal is being resubmitted to avoid missing the Fund4 submission deadline. If the project is funded in Fund3 then this Fund4 proposal will be removed.

PROPOSAL DETAILS

The DARP protocol will empower developers by addressing a challenge faced by many cryptocurrencies and decentralised applications, the use of complex addresses. The protocol will provide an easy to integrate decentralised lookup service, giving developers a head start in providing a quality end user experience and simplifying smart contract upgrades.

While some services already exist which focus on simplifying the use of cryptocurrency addresses (e.g. Unstoppable Domains, Ethereum Name Service), these services are not implemented on a third generation blockchain, that is provably secure, has been designed using peer reviewed scientific research and developed using formal methods (in case you weren't sure Cardano is all of those). As well as being built on ageing technology with scaling problems, these services also use smart contracts to store records on the blockchain that map a friendly name to an address. While this technically "decentralises" the name resolution service, it unnecessarily adds bloat to the blockchain with data that doesn't necessarily need to be immutable and can also cost through the use of gas.

This proposal is requesting funding for a new service provider called Any Address to implement and test the Decentralised Address Resolution Protocol (as described at https://docs.darp.tech)) to decentralise the control over Address Names without needing to write as much data to the blockchain or incurring gas costs through smart contracts.

Deliverables

The requested funds will be used as follows:

1. Develop all the capabilities of a Decentralised Address Name Registrar (as described in the documentation), which will:

• Allow users to register a DID/DID Document
• Allow users to register an Address Name
• Allow users to edit and store their Address Resolver Document (as described in the documentation)
• Issue a Verifiable Credential for a registered Address Name

2. Test querying the registry, verifying Address Name ownership and resolving an address using the ARD

3. Document the DARP protocol and how developers can build support for its use in their applications

4. Make code used to build a Decentralised Address Name Registrar open source so others (e.g. Stake Pools) can provide the same service

Timeframes

Work is expected to be completed within 4 - 6 months, however specific timeframes are subject to completion of support for Decentralised Identity artefacts (i.e. DID Documents, Verifiable Credential Templates, DID resolution, etc.) on Cardano. While we are liaising with the Atala PRISM team, they don't currently have a published target date.

Cardano Community Implementers

While we have a network of IT professionals (developers, architects, project managers, etc.) that we can leverage, we would be keen to engage implementers in the Cardano community that would like to participate in this project. We would like to use the opportunity that Catalyst is providing to start building implementation teams from the community, so long term we aren't reliant on the original core 3 Cardano entities.