Document: WM-054 P. Webb
Category: Handshake 2022.06.10
A hard fork in the Handshake community
Abstract
What a mess
Body
…I really don’t want to write this post. SIGH
The Handshake community is confused, divided, and looking for
answers. As someone who has been engaged in the community since late
2019, I feel some sort of responsibility to document what’s been
happening to enlighten those who came into the Namebase Discord where
digital fires and ad-hoc attacks were happening. Hopefully, this post
will also serve as several cautionary tales.
First, I will lay out the facts as I know them, objectively.
Everything in this post can be verified by public Discord/Twitter
messages/posts. My personal thoughts will follow.
1. The backstory
Namebase is a convenient on-ramp for the Handshake blockchain. You
can create auctions for TLDs and buy/sell them on the secondary
market. About a year ago, they created a program called, "Namebase
Registry." This registry allowed people to stake their TLDs with
Namebase and sell domains on said TLDs through partners in the
program; Encirca, Gateway, Porkbun, &c.
A few months ago, Namecheap bought controlling interest in
Namebase (51%). This was widely hailed as A Good Thing, and why
wouldn’t it? The second-largest registrar in the world is
interested in helping grow an alternative namespace! We have
growing legitimacy! Well…not everyone was happy.
Gateway, one of Namebase’s registry partners, built out and
maintained the back-end for the registry. There was an agreed-upon
contract between the two companies, signed, sealed, delivered.
Either leading up to or shortly after Namebase was acquired by
Namecheap, Namebase stopped paying Gateway for their continued
work. In addition, TLD owners in the program weren’t getting paid
either. For whatever reason, Namebase wasn’t talking to Gateway
nor providing answers to TLD holders. The only representative for
Namebase (and only community manager), Johnny Wu, repeatedly
promised that answers were forthcoming.
Finally, Gateway cut off access to Namebase due to non-payment.
The exclusivity clause in the registry contract between Namebase
and Gateway prevented the latter from being able to survive on
non-communication and non-payment. Public attacks towards Johnny
ensued, as he was the only public-facing employee of
Namebase; the messenger.
A few weeks ago, Namebase announced an upgrade to their registry
program NOT backed by Gateway, and promised TLD owners
back-payment. Gateway employees became increasingly irate due to
yet another breach of contract; Namebase was not allowed to
reverse-engineer the SLD data, which was apparently done to make
the improved registry happen. James Stevens, one of the Gateway
employees who built/helped build the original registry backend,
proceeds to make his frustrations about the situation known
to Johnny.
Comments and screenshots about private conversations between the
two are shared by them on Discord and then…things get even
more uncomfortable.
Johnny emerged the following day, a totally different person from
what we’ve seen the past two years — he’s more brash, posts
rapidly, and dishes insults. He also outlined a plan/manifesto for
his company via an multi-page Google Doc. It lists his ideal team,
what he expects from his employees, and how he plans to run said
company. Additionally, he attempted to galvanize the Handshake
community by tweeting grandiose things and encouraged folks to
retweet him for visibility. He seemed almost proud that he had not
slept much in four days.
His plans came with ultimatums:
1) he would need $5 million to build his team
2) he would cease his involvement in Handshake after his team
built the missing parts of the ecosystem
These two points came with timeframes that changed later that day,
confusing even those who enjoyed this "new Johnny" and were eager
to join his team.
Amidst a wellness check by a community member, Johnny effectively
took over the Namebase Discord and began to proclaim his dislike
for anyone who disagreed with him. In the Handshake Discord, folks
were attempting to piece together what was going on. After hearing
that Johnny called a community member who operates the Handshake
Institute and demanded it be handed over to him, it became clear
that Johnny was/is mentally unwell.
Since Namebase’s only public-facing employee was unreachable,
several of us in the community reached out to Richard Kirkendall,
CEO of Namecheap, for some semblance of guidance amidst
uncertainty about Namebase. Long story short:
- Johnny was fired, with a hefty severance payment
- the Namebase Discord was never official and Richard deemed
it "rogue"
- the "Namebase" Discord is no more, it is now Johnny’s
personal Discord
- Namebase support is now only possible via the Namebase site (if
you have an ad-blocker enabled, you may not see it) or via
support@namebase.io
- a new Namebase Discord, sanctioned by the company,
is forthcoming
2. My thoughts
What a shitshow.
Isn’t it ironic that I @mention both Richard and Johnny about how
much Johnny has been working these past two years and that he
needs a break and a team…and then, all this happens? Quite
frankly, I blame James for Johnny’s mental break. Sure, he didn’t
send Johnny to the ledge but he sure as hell pushed him off.
I never understood why James was so adamant about focusing his
anger and frustrations on Johnny, of all people. He was the only
Namebase employee but he wasn’t the one making decisions. He
wasn’t the one reverse-engineering registry data. Dude was
COMMUNITY. MANAGER. For TWO YEARS. He isn’t able to code his way
out of a translucent bag. So, why target Johnny? Bullying is not
okay. CLEARLY.
I repeatedly asked James why he didn’t take his frustrations to
Richard. THE GUY RUNNING THE COMPANY. But of course, that’s when
the tone changes and back-pedaling happens. I don’t respect that.
My mantra is KEEP THAT SAME ENERGY.
To that end, I also blame the current and previous owners of
Namebase. Although, for most of Namebase’s life…I…only saw Johnny?
There was a CTO and a designer at some point but they’ve since
moved onto other projects and there never seemed to be ill will
between anyone. Regardless, I’ve mentioned several times over the
past two years that Johnny should not be taking on the task of
community management by himself. I struggle with placing blame on
Richard but I do not think he is absolved of blame. Inaction is
just as bad.
I’ve never been a CEO and I’ve never acquired a company but I’ve
worked for enough startups to understand what "due diligence" is.
That’s essentially research you do before deciding to acquire a
company. You look at the finances, the business model, the team,
and you make a decision based on all of that (and other aspects).
What happens next is, you formulate a plan (or several plans) to
shore up deficiencies in that business.
It is wild to me that what we thought was "the official Namebase
Discord" was actually an employee’s personal Discord for
company use.
It blows my mind that a community manager was left being the human
shield for a company and endured vicious mental/emotional
onslaught from a business representative.
The mind boggles. Seriously.
3. The Future
I hope Johnny gets help. I hope his family/close friends can reel
him in and let him know he’s loved. I hope the Handshake community
comes back from this, stronger and healthier than before. I hope I
didn’t make any typos, it’s 1am as I type this. I hope everyone
realizes that petty squabbles are distractions and do nothing good
for your mental.
For the newbies in the Handshake space who have TLDs on Namebase
and are scared as hell (rightfully so), don’t worry.
1) Your TLDs are safe on Namebase.
2) Bob Wallet is better though, send your TLDs there and secure
with a Ledger.
3) Namebase has no official Discord right now but if you need
assistance there, click the chat/support button.
4) Johnny doesn’t have access to Namebase’s internals, he can’t
delete your TLDs, despite what he may say on his Discord.
For the OGs in the Handshake space, there’s always opportunity
in chaos.
1) We’ve used Namebase for years, we could create another one if
its desired.
2) Keep building, the ecosystem need us.
3) Connect with the newbies, they’re impressionable
I think we’re outgrowing the word "community" to be quite honest.
Handshake is a village now, let’s build as such. 🕸