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Imagine: a browser plugin which analyzes web site content, searching for native public blockchain addresses, and on page render swaps them out for a wallet name instead. Instead of seeing 1BvBMSEYstWetqTFn5Au4m4GFg7xJaNVN2 on a coinbase deposit page, for example, the plugin would rewrite the display to show something like coinbasedeposit@stokes or coinbasedeposit.lukestokes.eth instead.
From Pawel: I think the security concerns with a plugin overwriting a public address would be huge obstacle top adoption.
From David: I think there can be ways to do this to reduce security concerns and I think there are plenty examples of crypto applications that have been very successful in spite of security concerns (e.g., centralized exchanges that are huge hacking targets). So, we should not dismiss this idea just because there is some security risk. Rather we should explore avenues to reduce security risks to an acceptable level. For example, the plug in could identify when a user is on a page asking for a public address (e.g., an exchange withdrawal page). Then it could pop up a box that prompts the user to enter the FIO Crypto Handle they want to send to. The plug in then would resolve any entered FIO Crypto Handle and put it into the copy/paste buffer and user could just past it into the window.
From Eric: I like this idea and think that working with other naming solutions really fits the FIO mission.
If plugins are a concern, one way to start could be to create some very simple libraries that do lookups that web app builders could drop into their project. For the initial libraries you could leave out the tasks that require a transaction being sent to a chain and just focus on lookups and reverse lookups.
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User is shown a deposit address on Coinbase. The plugin notices the address, and displays an icon next to it where the user can view a menu of options. They select to register a FIO address for that domain or they register an ENS name (depending on which naming provider they have configured as their default). Future visits to the page show the human readable address after doing a reverse lookup to find the wallet name previously registered.
Comments from the initial document:
From Pawel: I think the security concerns with a plugin overwriting a public address would be huge obstacle top adoption.
From David: I think there can be ways to do this to reduce security concerns and I think there are plenty examples of crypto applications that have been very successful in spite of security concerns (e.g., centralized exchanges that are huge hacking targets). So, we should not dismiss this idea just because there is some security risk. Rather we should explore avenues to reduce security risks to an acceptable level. For example, the plug in could identify when a user is on a page asking for a public address (e.g., an exchange withdrawal page). Then it could pop up a box that prompts the user to enter the FIO Crypto Handle they want to send to. The plug in then would resolve any entered FIO Crypto Handle and put it into the copy/paste buffer and user could just past it into the window.
From Eric: I like this idea and think that working with other naming solutions really fits the FIO mission.
From David: I really like this concept and I think we should pursue a full design of what a plug in like this could/would be. Use that to scope out the level of effort required to build. And, also, create screen designs that then can be used in some market research surveys of crypto users to feedback/input before we build anything.