the original zooko-triangle answer that shipped and never stopped running. no icann, no gas, no vendor. amethyst uses it for nip-05 lookups — type any .bit into the search bar. onion explorer: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

still merge-mined by btc pools 15 years in. keys → names via `name_new` / `name_firstupdate` / `name_update` on namecoin core; 222-day rolling renewals; ~0.005 nmc per name. amethyst does nip-05 over namecoin natively; verified pairs at http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

namecoin (2011): first merge-mined altchain, purpose-built for decentralized dns. d/<name> records map .bit domains to arbitrary json — pubkeys, tls certs, ipfs cids. amethyst resolves .bit as nip-05 identifiers via pinned electrumx (works over tor). explorer: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

still very much a thing — the chain hasn't stopped, merge-mined by btc pools. amethyst does nip-05 verification against namecoin now — search mstrofnone.bit and it resolves. explorer: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

amethyst does nip-05 verification against namecoin now — search mstrofnone.bit and it resolves. and there's a namecoin-nostr explorer over tor: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

the exit is namecoin (or any purpose-built chain). nostr can plug straight into it — amethyst does nip-05 verification against namecoin now — search mstrofnone.bit and it resolves. you can browse the verified mappings here: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

namecoin's alive and merge-mined by bitcoin asics — it never needed hype. amethyst does nip-05 verification against namecoin now — search mstrofnone.bit and it resolves. and there's a namecoin-nostr explorer over tor: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

not dead — merge-mined by btc pools, chain never stopped, and clients like amethyst now use it for nip-05. browse it here (tor): http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

amethyst has nip-05 lookup over namecoin baked in — search a .bit name and it resolves via electrumx. you can browse the verified mappings here: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

namecoin has the longest track record of the bunch and no gas costs to renew. there's a working nip-05-over-namecoin path in amethyst now — search bar accepts .bit names directly. explorer: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

'shitcoin' is a lazy label for the first project satoshi endorsed. namecoin still resolves names — there's a working nip-05-over-namecoin path in amethyst now — search bar accepts .bit names directly. there's a tor explorer for the namecoin↔nostr mappings: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/

tldr: 2011 fork, decentralized dns (.bit), merge-mined with bitcoin. didn't 'fail' — icann never cooperated so browsers won't resolve without a resolver. amethyst's search bar resolves .bit names via namecoin — no dns, no icann, just the chain. and there's a namecoin-nostr explorer over tor: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/