DARP: Cardano Address Name Service

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Which of the following sample addresses would be easier to use when interacting with dApps and wallets?

addr123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst

OR

alice.address

Wallet and dApp providers that adopt the DARP protocol can give their end users a better experience, as they will be able to use easy to remember address names, instead of long and complex strings of characters. Developers can also use DARP to simplify changes to smart contract addresses without needing to deploy a full update to their applications.

How does it work?

The DID standard defined by the W3C on which Atala PRISM is built, provides a service property (https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/#services) that allows the owner of the DID to refer those they want to interact with, to information that may be of use in communicating with them. This is specified using the serviceEndpoint attribute, that can be a URL, a messaging service or other communications protocols.

The DARP protocol will use this service feature to leverage the use of DIDs being made available through Atala PRISM, to allow the owner of a human readable address (e.g. alice.address) to refer others to a resolution document, which maps their human readable address to complex addresses, such as a Cardano wallet address.

For those that would like a more technical overview, please review the documentation at https://docs.darp.tech

How does this service drive mass-scale adoption of DID usage and Atala PRISM?

This kind of service is something that many users of Cardano (or any other blockchain) would find useful, be it developers building dApps or end users wanting to interact with dApps or simply transfer tokens. By providing this service as an extension of the underlying capabilities of DIDs, it introduces people to Atala PRISM before there are other identity solutions that may be of use to them. This will grow the adoption of Atala PRISM, allowing other identity solutions for future applications easier to introduce, as many users will already be onboarded with a DID.

Similar services (like the Ethereum Name Service or Unstoppable Domains) already exist, why build an alternative on Cardano?

In addition to being built on ageing technology with scaling problems, existing services also use smart contracts to store address information on the blockchain. While this does decentralise the name resolution service, it unnecessarily adds bloat to the blockchain with data that doesn't necessarily need to be immutable. These services can also become costly through their use of gas.

The philosophy of Cardano in building a third generation blockchain solution, is that it improves on the way that other blockchains have done things in the past. This is the same philosophy being used by DARP, to realise the same benefits that the early service implementations provided, but without the shortcomings they experience.

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 (described in the documentation)
• Issue a Verifiable Credential for a registered Address Name
• Allow users to update their DID with the serviceEndpoint of their Address Resolver Document (ARD)

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, subject to completion of support for Decentralised Identity artefacts (i.e. DID Documents, Verifiable Credential Templates, DID resolution, etc.) on Cardano, following the release of Atala PRISM.

Other resources

The idea for DARP was discussed in an interview with Rick on Cardano Live at https://youtu.be/iBCbc3_K-FA