Minds + Machines Group Limited (MMX), an owner of the internet’s new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), recently announced that it has committed to an “exclusive agreement” that will allow Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to acquire a “top-level domain.”

Per the agreement, ENS will be “integrated into the services marketed by registrars to [Ethereum’s] consumers.” This means that the consumers will have the option to register their Ethereum-related websites or services on one of MMX’s “soon to be launched” top-level .luxe domains (short for “Let U Xchange Easily”).

“User-Friendly” Names For Digital Assets

Notably, the .luxe extension was recently approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organization that manages the namespaces of the internet.

In its August 3 press release, MMX also revealed that the .luxe extension will soon begin its pre-launch phases and then go on sale to the public toward the end of October 2018.

Moreover, websites that will use the .luxe extension will reportedly be able to associate their domain name with Ethereum’s blockchain, in addition to its related products and services such as smart contracts, decentralized apps (DApps), and distributed storage.

All Ethereum assets, MMX notes, are pegged to a unique 40-character hash string and these hash identifiers will be linked to user-friendly or “memorable” domain names, selected by users. This way, any “item or service supporting Ethereum” is easily identifiable.

Currently, there are well over 26 million cryptocurrency wallets being actively used, MMX noted. In order to transfer Ether or ERC-20 tokens from one to another, users have to work with complex 40-character hash strings.

By using the .luxe service, Ether recipients will just have to share their simple blockchain-based .luxe word, which would be linked to their crypto wallet, MMX explains. For instance, John.luxe could be used instead of something like 0x314159265dd8dbb310642f98f50c066173c1259b. MMX further stated there will likely be a “significant” market for the .luxe service, which would include crypto wallet providers, smart contract developers, and DApps

Support For Most Ethereum Wallets

When the .luxe ENS service is launched, it will reportedly offer support for most wallets used by Ethereum users. The .luxe extension will allow for the easy-to-remember words associated with crypto wallets to “resolve over the internet in the normal way for email and web-based traffic.” This will let users engage in their normal internet activities while also being able to use a simple identifier for their Ethereum-based assets and services.

MMX CEO Toby Hall stated:

MMX is committed to working alongside ICANN and leading technology partners to ensure domain names continue to have real relevance to entrepreneurs, developers and end-users in the twenty-first century. We already know from Ethereum's test in its non-ICANN authorised .eth zone that there is a real proven demand for word-based identifiers that are blockchain enabled, ENS having received deposits of over $28 million on approximately 300,000 seven character words and above in the .eth zone.

Toby Hall