What Are .Sats Names on Bitcoin?

The Sats Names System (SNS) provides human-readable domains linked to Bitcoin wallet addresses to facilitate clearly identifiable Web3 identities for the Bitcoin ecosystem. 

Read on to learn more about .sats names, how they work, and how you can get your own .sats domain using your Xverse wallet. 

What Are Sats Names?

The Sats Names System (SNS) is a standard for creating human-readable Web3 usernames on the Bitcoin blockchain. 

It leverages Ordinals, a protocol that allows users to inscribe (attach) arbitrary data to individual satoshis. An inscribed satoshi (sat) is identified by a unique number that makes it easily trackable and transferable.  

The Sats Names standard is completely neutral, meaning it neither has gatekeepers nor uses smart contracts. Moreover, names are registered and updated through Bitcoin transactions, which are, in turn, recorded and stored on the blockchain.  

Anonymous developers rolled out SNS on February 22, 2023, intending to build a name ecosystem created by Bitcoiners and developed directly on the Bitcoin network. 

They introduced the .sats extension at launch. However, various communities have since built additional namespaces on SNS, such as .ord, .btc, .xbt, and .gm, enabling users to create Web3 names with their preferred extension.

The .sats namespace utilizes the first-is-first rule, which means the first person to inscribe a particular name will own it and earn the right to update it. This rule helps settle disputes in the case of duplicate names.

How Does the Sats Names Standard (SNS) Work?

Creating a Web3 name within Sats Names entails attaching a human-readable name to a Bitcoin wallet address by inscribing the wallet name information to an individual satoshi. 

Once the name is registered on the blockchain, it can be tracked and transferred from one wallet to another. Also, a Bitcoin-based name within SNS can be traded on Ordinals marketplaces.

Here are the inscription details for the registered name, satoshi.sats, on the Ordinals Explorer.

Source: Ordinals

The code for satoshi.sats is as follows: 

{ 

  "p": "sns",

  "op": "reg",

  "name": "satoshi.sats"

}

“P” denotes the SNS protocol, while “op” informs indexers that this is a new registration. 

SNS also allows users to customize their names by adding extra details through advanced registration. The format for an advanced registration looks like this:

{ 

  "p": "sns",

  "op": "reg",

  "name": "satoshi.sats",

  "avatar": "7f9c06b712c5b60c0b66868c69568b2d198533553c347cd732fc3c87e62efe86i0",

  "rev": "bc1psvggtp7mzr3lu8x5vrycqjqqkk5e7urtu2axjvwejea0ctjfdl3qqrctsf",

  "relay": "85b10531435304cbe47d268106b58b57a4416c76573d4b50fa544432597ad670i0"

}

Avatar, rev, and relay are optional details. You can use the “avatar” variable to create a name that includes a profile picture or avatar. This variable is specified with an inscription ID. The “rev” key specifies the Bitcoin address for your name. Lastly, the “relay” variable tells indexers that your name points to the inscription ID of an existing Ordinals inscription.

Inscription service platforms take care of the coding part of creating .sats names. That means you don’t need to worry about the technical bits. All you have to do is provide your name of choice, observe the standard’s rules for writing names, and pay for the inscription.

Sats Names rules state that capitalization isn’t essential since all names are registered in lowercase. Also, .sats names shouldn’t have spaces.

Sats Names Use Cases

The Sats Names standard is still relatively new, and its use cases aren’t fully defined. Nonetheless, below are a few application scenarios for Sats Names.  

Replace Your Bitcoin or Lightning Wallet Address With Your .Sats Name

Bitcoin wallet addresses are made up of long strings of numbers and letters that make them hard to memorize. On the contrary, a human-readable .sats name is short and easy to remember. It is also familiar since it resembles Web2’s .extension method of writing domain names. 

Currently, most wallet providers don’t support this feature yet. However, this could change in the future as more .sats names are created. It's possible that one day, Xverse users will be able to replace their Bitcoin wallet addresses with .sats names.   

Use Your .Sats Name as Your Twitter or Nostr Handle

Sats Names can be used as Twitter or Nostr handles to support the SNS project. If this use case catches on and turns into a “cool” trend, more and more people could create .sats names, boosting Bitcoin adoption. Nostr is a decentralized, open-source social media protocol backed by Twitter’s former CEO, Jack Dorsey. 

Hold Your .Sats Name as a Collectible

NFT collectors can hold .sats names as collectibles, which they can also trade on Ordinals marketplaces like Unisat, Magic Eden, Ordswap, and Ordinals Wallet. Some Sats Names have reportedly fetched high prices, selling for tens of thousands of dollars, according to Ordinals Domains.

How to Inscribe a Sats Name Using Xverse Wallet

You’ll first need to download the Xverse wallet on your mobile phone or computer to inscribe your .sats name. Xverse also has a Chrome extension, which we will use in this example.

Once successfully added, open the Xverse browser extension and follow the prompts to create a new Bitcoin wallet or restore an existing one. 

Next, visit the platform OrdinalsBot. 

Then, click the “Connect” button at the top right side of the website, and connect to your Xverse wallet. 

Next, click on the “.sats” tab, and write the .sats name you would like to inscribe. Then, click on “Next”. 

The platform will then conduct an availablity search of your chosen .sats names. Next, you will be required to confirm that you have read and understood the site’s warning on name availability. Click on “Next” to confirm.

You will then be required to log in to your Xverse wallet to complete your payment. 

The following prompt will show you your Xverse wallet address, the fees you will pay and, the time it will take to receive your .sats name. Proceed to click on ‘Submit & Pay Invoice’ to complete your transaction. 

The platform will then ask you to make your payments on-chain or using the Lightning Network. 

To pay with your Xverse wallet, choose on-chain and copy and past the wallet address and the BTC amount into your wallet to make the payment. 

Next, you review your transaction before confirming your payment.

Afer you have pressend ‘Confirm,’ Xverse wallet will show you that your transaction has been successfully submitted. 

Moreover, OrdinalsBot will also show you that your payment has been made, giving you the option of tracking your transaction as it is being processed in the mempool. 

To view your new Bitcoin-secured name once the transaction is complete, go to ‘Collectibles” in your Xverse wallet. You’ll find the .sats name displayed together with any other Ordinals you have collected. 

And that’s it! You are now the proud owner of a .sats domain, providing you with your own Bitcoin Web3 identity. It's possible that one day, you will be able to use it to receive Bitcoin and Ordinals in your wallet with Xverse. 

‍Download Xverse today to inscribe your own .sats name!

FAQs 

Why should I own a .sats name? 

A .sats name makes it easier to navigate the Bitcoin Web3 ecosystem, allowing users to make payments, interact with dApps, and send and receive BTC. It replaces the somewhat daunting alphanumerical wallet addresses with short and clear names that anyone can understand. The Sats Names Standard also enables users to own decentralized online identities recorded on the most secure blockchain in the world.

How much do .sats names cost? 

The cost of creating .sats names could range between $6 and $10 if you’re creating one name. It includes the inscription platform’s service charge plus the Bitcoin network fee. If you’re inscribing multiple names, you’ll pay more.

Service charges will differ from platform to platform, while Bitcoin network fees are determined by network activity. Bitcoin transaction fees tend to be high when the network is congested and low when it is not. You can pay more during peak hours to incentivize Bitcoin miners to prioritize your transaction.