Kinetic – an experimental decentralized naming protocol

Name: Kinetic – an experimental decentralized naming protocol
Availability: InStock
Author: saifmukhtar

by saifmukhtar·Jul 9, 2026·3 points·2 comments

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AI Analysis

●●SolidBig BrainBold BetWizardry

VDF-based name registration replaces blockchain fees with computational friction.

Strengths

•Verifiable Delay Functions prevent squatting without tokens, gas, or renewal fees.
•Split-DNS interception at OS level works without breaking standard internet traffic.
•Mobile delegation via Nostr lets phones hold keys while desktop handles heavy math.

Weaknesses

•Author admits economic sustainability model is unresolved; still experimental.
•Zero stars, zero forks on GitHub signals minimal adoption or community validation.

Post Description

Hi HN,

I started this while working on another project. I needed peer-to-peer connections and realized I still depended on domains, so I started wondering if there was another way to do naming.

This became Kinetic. It's an experimental naming protocol written in Rust. The idea is to use VDFs for name registration while libp2p and Kademlia handle discovery. Things are still changing a lot and I'm still testing different ideas.

One thing I'm currently struggling with is the economic side. If users don't pay for names, how does an open protocol sustainably fund long-term development? I'd be interested in hearing different perspectives on that.

I'd appreciate technical feedback on the protocol and any obvious flaws in the design.