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The Evolution of BNS
THE BIRTH OF BNS
It all started in 2014.
Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea launched OneName, one of the first decentralized apps allowing users to register and manage BNS names. The names were stored on the Namecoin blockchain under the/u namespace, with the first registered name believed to beu/ryan.
At the time, Bitcoin was a mere $6, and this daring new app allowed early adopters like Fred Ehrsam (co-founder of Coinbase), Naval Ravikant, and Arianna Simpson to claim BNS names on the Namecoin blockchain.
But little did they know,
the journey was about to face its first real test.
Soon, the cracks in Namecoin's foundation began to show—spam, sluggishness, and security flaws threatened the very future of BNS. The team had to act fast.
And the decision they made would change everything.
Migration to Bitcoin
In 2015, they burned 40 BTC.
Worth $2.4 million today, this monumental decision anchored BNS to the Bitcoin blockchain, ensuring greater stability and security. It was a defining moment that cemented .id names as some of the oldest NFTs in the world.
This migration anchored BNS name operations to Bitcoin, using the OP_RETURN field to log essential details while storing extra information, like zonefiles, off-chain. From then on, names registered on Namecoin were transferred to the Bitcoin blockchain.
Enter Stacks
By 2021, Stacks entered the picture.
BNS was fully anchored to Bitcoin until 2021, when Stacks (formerly Blockstack) launched as Bitcoin's layer-2 blockchain. The BNS smart contract was deployed on the Stacks network, making it more scalable and functional.
All previously registered BNS names, including .id, were transferred to their historical owners through the Stacks mainnet's genesis block. This monumental transition meant that some names could now trace their journey from Namecoin to Bitcoin, and finally to Stacks, making them almost 7 years old by that point.
THE BNS ROOM
In June 2021, the launch of the .btc namespace triggered a frenzy.
And users scrambled to claim their BNS names.
This namespace quickly dominated BNS registrations, now accounting for 87% of all BNS names. Users flocked to register memorable names like wallet.btc, which sold for a whopping 30,000 STX.
Over 310,000 BNS names have been registered to date.
THE PRESENT
BNS has evolved into a cornerstone of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
BNS names have generated substantial marketplace activity, with sales volume reaching 1.5 million STX (an estimated $2 million). The launch of the BNS marketplace on Gamma.io in October 2022 gave the community a dedicated space to buy, sell, and trade names. This has helped to solidify BNS' status as a leader in the decentralized domain market.
In the last two years, BNS has seen rapid growth, with over 2,000 community members on Discord and 5,000 followers on the BNS X account.
In February 2024, BNS celebrated its 10th anniversary, marking a decade of progress in decentralised naming and identity on the Bitcoin blockchain.
And as BNS looks towards the future,
one thing is clear
The story is far from over.
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