Namecoin is Bitcoin’s little brother. It’s a decentralized peer to peer currency and name database system. It basically allows you to register .bit domain names

Here is an explanation:

“Namecoin gets its name from its parent project, BitCoin. In fact, much of the code that is used within the Namecoin project is taken from the original BitCoin source and hacked to achieve the ends that its originators are trying to reach. That’s because ultimately Namecoin works as a currency, that just happens to have its own P2P DNS system built into it.

In fact, purchasing a .bit domain is actually a namecoin transaction. The difference between this and traditional DNS is that once you own your domain, it can’t be taken away from you, because this would require that the entire P2P platform is compromised. That said, domains still expire as normal, and you will still need to renew ownership every year.”

Excerpted from an interview of Khalahan Henkh, the Lead Developer of the Namecoin project, by ‘Jon’ of the Coinabul blog:

“Jon: What led you to Namecoin?

Khalahan: I first discovered Bitcoin and immediately liked the project: a digital currency without central control and thought “wow, really impressive”. I read a lot about how it works to be sure it was a serious project and then I involved myself a bit in development. I like decentralized/p2p technologies and all that permits a community participation. This is the future of internet, and our governments will surely be shaken by that.

Then, Vinced launched Namecoin, and I followed him, because DNS is still something where you don’t have a full control. And we can see today, more and more domains are seized… and things are getting worse day by day. Plus, Namecoin is more than a safe DNS system, it also allows any type of data to be stored in the blockchain. It can be used to build all sort of trusted things on it, like an alias system for Bitcoin, Namecoin, Anycoin or a more global identity storage, a messenging system, a encrypted system to exchange data between addresses, etc. There is no limit.

Jon: What’s the current status of the Namecoin project?

Khalahan: The software is usable to store any type of data. The DNS system is already usable and used. Server admins can build their own DNS or proxy and share it with other people. The alias system has been implemented in Namecoin as a proof of work and can be implemented by others. You can now send money to an alias instead of an address. It still needs some documentation to explain how it works and how to add it in other softwares. There is still a lot to do and any help is appreciated (C++, python, documentation, translation, donations, anything!)

Jon: Do you think Namecoin will ever gain the amount of users Bitcoin has?

Khalahan: Namecoin has some technological barriers that Bitcoin does not have (it needs some modifications on computers configuration), but, once this is automatic, the barriers will disappear. I guess a DNS system will not interest as much people as a currency, but an alias system can be widely used and who know which other usages will be added. So, reaching current Bitcoin popularity seems feasible.”