The NEAR Foundation, the Swiss non-profit organization fostering the growth and decentralization of the NEAR Protocol and ecosystem, today announced it has exclusively partnered with D3 Global, a next-generation domain name company developing interoperable digital identities, to apply for and obtain the .near Top-Level Domain (TLD) during ICANN’s upcoming application window.
The NEAR Foundation, the Swiss non-profit organization fostering the growth and decentralization of the NEAR Protocol and ecosystem, today announced it has exclusively partnered with D3 Global, a next-generation domain name company developing interoperable digital identities, to apply for and obtain the .near Top-Level Domain (TLD) during ICANN’s upcoming application window.
D3 is developing future-proof, interoperable digital identities with the Domain Name System (DNS) at the foundation, ensuring native resolution across all forms of the ‘web.’ The company will enable partner ecosystems to expand their reach beyond their existing communities and provide universal access to their services in a trusted manner. Bridging the gap between the Internet and Web3 will allow the NEAR ecosystem to provide seamless access to over 5.3 billion Internet users worldwide.
Through these interoperable digital identities, users will be able to use a single domain as a website, email or wallet address; cross-platform username, and serve verified credentials. Projects and developers will be able to develop dApps and services with enhanced utility, tapping into existing Internet infrastructure, while offering new identity and verification solutions catered to the NEAR ecosystem, which currently boasts over 88 million unique accounts.
“We’re excited to work with D3 to secure the .near top-level domain and extend the power of NEAR accounts across the entire internet. As the functionality of NEAR accounts expands with Chain Abstraction, combining Web3 identity with existing internet infrastructure will help drive mainstream adoption,” said Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol and Chief Executive Officer of the NEAR Foundation.
“In order for Web3 to accelerate its growth, it will require interoperability with existing Internet infrastructure. We’re pleased to welcome NEAR on our journey to redefine digital identity, while offering NEAR users and projects alike more utility by bringing the ‘web’ to Web3,” said Fred Hsu, Chief Executive Officer at D3.
D3’s patent-pending platform is set to integrate traditional Internet and Web3 ecosystems to deliver enhanced utility, security, and universal access for what the company calls ‘real Web3 domains.’ The D3 team boasts over three decades of combined industry experience across DNS and Web3 technologies.
