Document: WM-074                                                 P. Webb
Category: Project                                             2025.08.21

                      Dap, the Handshake successor

Abstract

   From the ashes like a phoenix

Body

   The irony isn’t lost on me that four years ago[1] I blogged about the
   opportunity I saw for the Handshake community to build a thriving
   ecosystem while ICANN twiddles their thumbs doing whatever it is that
   they do…and at this time of writing, I’ve stopped working on
   Handshake[2] for a year. No amount of motivational speeches and
   presentations will spur people into action unless they have
   motivation to do anything. Even just this week I’ve tried to shake
   people out of their WAGMI ("we’re all gonna make it") mindset, to no
   avail. Oh well.

   I’ve had this dream[3] of an upgraded online world for most of my
   life, which is wild to even think about; I just didn’t know how to
   get there. When I stumbled upon the Handshake blockchain[4] and it’s
   mission to democratize the issuance of top‑level domains, it hit me
   that I could make that dream a reality. In the early days, it felt
   like there was real progress and motion. It was exciting! I was so
   focused on my mission that I wasn’t able (or, willing) to see cracks
   in the foundation.

   Having had some time away from Handshake I am able to objectively see
   what went well, what was terrible, and what could be improved. My
   fork of Handshake is called, "Dap," another kind of handshake that us
   Black guys use. Also, the dap.sh[5] domain was available and that
   looks fantastic.

   So how does Dap improve upon Handshake?

   There are no "directors." The Handshake community likes to give that
   title to anyone who even holds 1 HNS (their token). Which…sounds cool
   and gives people warm and fuzzy feelings of importance but if
   everyone’s a director, who’s building? Currently there’s two
   businesses and they’re both focused on being a custodial wallet and
   marketplace; Namebase and Shakestation (better Namebase). Namebase
   was there since the beginning of Handshake’s launch and got acquired
   by Namecheap. It’s no secret that most of the team is gone and it’s
   been hemorraging money. Shakestation is a two‑man operation and might
   be breaking even. That’s it. Everyone else left, including the guy
   who proposed a takeover.

   Aside from Bitcoin, every other successful blockchain has clear
   leadership, which makes sense. The Handshake community feels that
   because it’s a fork of bcoin (and thus a fork of Bitcoin), it should
   retain the same leaderless position, completely ignoring the fact
   being first is a major advantage that cannot be replicated.

   With Dap, I am the BDFL (benevolent dictator for life). Decisions
   should be made, period. As like‑minded people discover Dap and start
   building on it or exploring, the leadership team will fill out.
   Decentralized purity tests are lame.

   During the testnet, tools and SDKs for developers will be built.
   Launching a blockchain for TLDs without giving people tools to
   actually use said TLDs is nuts. I’ve open‑sourced the
   registrar[6] I was building for Handshake. The one I build for Dap
   will be much better but that’s just an example of what should be
   available at mainnet launch.

   During my research on how to build blockchains better, I learned
   about VDF (Verifiable Delay Functions) and VRF (Verifiable Random
   Functions). Coupled with Blake3 Proof‑of‑Work, you get 95% energy
   reduction versus traditional PoW with excellent security. Do I
   understand the first sentence of this paragraph? Absolutely not. I
   just know enough code to get things done and if I can build a
   successor to Handshake that’s also healthier for the environment, I’m
   gonna figure it out (I have blockchain friends much smarter than me
   and I bug them with my questions all the time).

   Another area where Handshake suffers is the overabundance of
   squatters. You will never get rid of squatters, look at Web2 domains.
   The aftermarket industry makes billions annually. What I want to do
   is make it uncomfortable to squat on TLDs and have that built into
   the protocol.

   I’m on version 4 of the whitepaper[7] and I’m pretty satisfied with
   it thus far. The only thing I haven’t quite figured out is how to
   integrate VDF/VRF into my Deno fork of Handshake’s
   full node software.

   Remember when you were excited to “go online”?

   I never lost that feeling and I truly belive Dap could restore that
   in you. 🕸️