Openalias, should we invest in it this year?

The Plaza
#1

BAKuK27iCAaNxkM5LGbAYdoY8CXSCSP8A7
That didn’t read well, did it? One of the things preventing cryptos from worldwide adoption is the uses of the typical addresses as BAKuK27iCAaNxkM5LGbAYdoY8CXSCSP8A7 which I used for the Android wallet donations. Although generating the QR codes and have them scanned works reasonably well, it is not great for short messages like Twitter, TXTs or even emails. And did you know that it was actually an address in my control?

cybnate@android.nubits.com
Wouldn’t it be great to have an address just like a domain name for a website which most people are used to and are lot easier to remember or to search for. For example sending money to e.g. cybnate@android.nubits.com instead of BAKuK27iCAaNxkM5LGbAYdoY8CXSCSP8A7 would be very convenient wouldn’t it? And it would be more clear that you are sending the funds to the actual intended recipient.

Openalias.org
Peerchemist found this solution a while ago here: OpenAlias, this could ease merchant adoption of NuBits (linking to https://openalias.org) but I like to revive the discussion.

Worth investing?
I’m just wondering whether shareholders are interested on adding this functionality to the Nu client or to the Android client. Where does this sit on the priority list? Should it be added to the roadmap for Nubits wallet or Android wallet and what would the timeline be? It will clearly require a bit of research ensuring all the required infrastructure is there or can be made available. I would advocate to have it side-by-side with current addresses/QR codes and not as a replacement, but it would make things potentially even more complicate to code. I would estimates that It would be an investment about the same size as the Shapeshift code, possibly even higher depending on the infrastructure already being in place or not.

My opinion
My opinion would be to have it on the roadmap for the Android wallet for developing later this year. This following the Shapeshift implementation (R2) and strengthening the robustness of the platform (R3). Openalias would further increase the ease of NuBits use for merchants and consumers and with that likely increasing the demand for NuBits.
In addition to that I would love to see it on the roadmap for the Nu Client (v1.1?).

Your opinions please
Is it too early to do this, wrong focus, should we be doing other things first e.g. more accessible multi-sig, adding parking/Nushares/blockexplorers/email etc. to Android client? Please your opinions.

2 Likes
#2

What I believe Nu should focus on in order of importance:

  1. Open Source (almost!)
  2. A safe and reliable exchange (decentralized exchange built into protocol cough cough)
  3. Usability (apps/wallets, openalias, ethereum style scripting, scalability etc…)
  4. Marketing
  5. Massive walls
  6. Automate supply expansion/contraction as much as possible
  7. Develop sources of income for dividends
3 Likes
#3

I think anything that enhances the ease of use for non-technical users is important, so I would definitely support an exploration into what it would cost to add that functionality to the wallet. Great idea @Cybnate!

Adding features like parking or NuShares to the Android wallet should be a lower priority because the desktop client already handles those functions.

1 Like