Decentralized Web Gets Visual Aid With New Blockstack Explorer

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21 February 2017

Blockstack has released a new visual tool that gives a window into its budding bitcoin-powered internet.

The blockchain explorer, launched today as the ‘Blockstack Explorer’, gathers information about Blockstack’s domain name network, including its new “.id” and “.iot” domains, into a visual display for the first time.

As reported by CoinDesk, Blockstack is one of a number of projects seeking to leverage the bitcoin blockchain to build a new decentralized internet, one that will remove centralized servers and have its own dedicated browser.

While that’s not quite in place today, users now have a transparent view of a domain’s ownership history, which includes domain search functionalities grouped by name, address and block number.

Launched in 2013 as OneName, Blockstack made its start by embedding identification information directly into the bitcoin blockchain. Formerly utilizing the Namecoin blockchain, Blockstack began using the bitcoin in 2016, later recounting its lessons learned in a white paper.

Now the company is working to develop a full technology stack with a single, unified platform that developers can use to build a new network of sites.

The company has successfully raised $5.3m from investors in three public rounds, according to data from Crunchbase.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Blockstack. 

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