"The Happening" is an upcoming soft fork that coincides with Handshake's fourth anniversary. It signals the end of a four-year reservation period for the Alexa Top 100K domains. As this period concludes, over 78,000 reserved names will become accessible for public auction. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire unique and coveted digital real estate!
Need more info?
We've compiled an FAQ below to help answer your questions about this exciting event. If your question isn't covered in the FAQ, don't hesitate to reach out to the Namebase support team at support@namebase.io or join the conversation on the Namebase Discord.
Dubbed the “The Happening,” this important update will occur in early 2024, marking Handshake’s 4th anniversary. It unlocks over 78,000 top-level domains (TLDs) that were previously held in reserve from the Alexa Top 100K list. These names include many highly sought-after single-word TLDs.
For more insights check out this Hey TX article on Substack:
The Happening Event for Handshake (HNS)
The domains were reserved to be claimed for up to four years with the goal of preventing monopolization of key domains. Now, as Handshake has matured, releasing these domains allows broader access to these digital assets.
To bid, you’ll need Handshake’s native cryptocurrency, HNS. Auctions can be accessed via platforms that support Handshake bidding like Namebase, or directly via Bob Wallet.
The soft fork could impact HNS’s value due to heightened demand for bidding and the burning of HNS used in these auctions, reducing its supply.
The full list of names can be downloaded from this Google Sheet.
To honor intellectual property rights and prevent legal conflicts, Namebase has disabled bidding on certain trademarked domains during the Happening. These domains will remain visible on our platform, but direct bidding is disabled. Learn more
Interested parties can bid using a self-custody wallet such as Bob Wallet.
If you are the owner of a reserved name, you can claim your Handshake name by following the instructions outlined on the Handshake documentation page. For a detailed guide on this process, please visit: https://hsd-dev.org/guides/claims.html. This resource will provide you with the necessary steps and information to ensure you can successfully claim your Handshake TLD.