Thread by @liamzebedee

Has OFAC violated your rights?
You may be entitled to decentralization

..............

Introducing Dappnet 🍸

Dappnet resists capture
It's a permissionless application network
built on @ipfs and @ensdomains

The problem - we access dapps right now through DNS and servers, but they can be taken down, censored, captured, and seized from us at any time

The solution to this so far has been using the ENS decentralized name system, and hosting the content of dapps on IPFS - a BitTorrent-like P2P network

ENS names can't be seized, and IPFS cannot be censored. When one node is censored on IPFS, others can take its place, permissionlessly.

Currently the best way to use dapps deployed on ENS/IPFS is by using an ENS gateway like eth.limo

Gateways make the UX simple for users - simply visit tornadocash.eth.limo, and the gateway will handle resolving the ENS domain to its content on IPFS

However these gateways always fail, because they are centralized.

tornadocash.eth.limo

Go on, click it. You can't access Tornado, because eth.limo is US based, and they had to censor it.

Another big gateway, eth.link, went down earlier this year because the DNS owner, Virgil Griffith, was put in prison and he couldn't renew it.

(my heart goes out to that legend, btw)

This will happen, time and time again, because centralized servers don't work for decentralized apps.

They either get censored, start enforcing restrictions because of political pressure, or run out of money.

The only solution is true decentralization - putting IPFS/ENS tech into the browser.

and you know the big brain illuminati is thinking about this too-

https://twitter.com/brockjelmore/status/1540476997390024705

So, a couple weeks ago, as I was being helped by the incredible @GuthL & @gregoireljda on figuring out a GTM for my decentralized database network, Goliath, I got thinking - fuck, this wouldn't be too hard to build?? I know exactly what it should look like.

So I straight hyperfocused and built it

Here's a demo of Dappnet in action-

This is the demo of the Dappnet client. One install and the user’s browser is upgraded to connect to dappnet.

Now anyone can access .eth domains like any other website, and they never have to configure ANYTHING.

https://uniswap.eth

It’s just seamless, just beautifully simple

In the background, everything is downloaded P2P via the capture-resistant IPFS network.

The Dappnet client runs a local IPFS node in the background. The node is preconfigured to be fast - it automatically peers with big IPFS providers like Cloudflare and Fleek.

The client runs a local ENS gateway - equivalent to eth.limo or eth.link - but rewritten to run completely locally on the user’s machine.

And there are lots of other details that make this experience beautiful.

HTTPS everywhere for .eth, useful 404 error pages for .eth names (including linking out to ENS), linkouts to IPFS, etc.

All of this put together, means that for the first time ever we can own a place on the Internet that can’t be taken away from us, and doesn’t rely on a single host who dictates what is allowed.

I think that will have a profound impact for the web

For users, that means frontends can’t be censored. For the first time, .eth becomes a signal for public infrastructure - a website that won’t disappear, a tool that is accessible forever.

For protocols, that means greater operational freedom, security and workflows. An ENS frontend can be owned by a DAO, deployed and hosted permissionlessly.

More broadly tho, this makes the web a hyperstructure.

Imagine writing a blog, citing some links, and that can be read and built on by someone 1000yrs later.

Your content doesn't die with you, it can always be found on IPFS, and so on for the things you link out to.

There's lots to do before we get there though:

- We gotta improve IPFS: lighter nodes, imprv observability into dloads (nothing like # seeders/leechers atm), dissemination (how mirrored/pinned is this content), and better tooling
cc @juanbenet @ipfs

- We need to build decentralized Vercel for protocols. Right now it's extremely complicated to deploy to IPFS (chat to @dappbeast, he just did it for lyra) in a way which is truly decentralized (unlike Fleek).

It should be one-click - visit dapploy.eth, connect ENS, connect github, pay some $$ to the decentralized IPFS accelerator, and boom - your dapp is now available worldwide

To do that, we'd need an IPFS content accelerator - basically a pinning service that is fast and decentralized (like a protocol). So you could pay via smart contracts to seed IPFS content, decentralized unlike Pinata/Fleek, and provably fast

got some ideas brewing on this: potentially a chainlink-style trusted consortium which monitors the QoS (speed) of the decentralized seeder/pinning network. v2 could be true p2p, closer to eigentrust rep than anything else, collaboratively generated/shared using MPC/ZK tech

and finally, aside from the fun stuff - we need to make dappnet universally available - currently it works for macOS, on Chrome/FF.

So yeah! If this interests you, reach out :) My DM's are open, let's build something that changes the game

Last of all - to commemorate the death of dapp centralization, I'm launching an NFT.

When decentralized frontends are ubiquitous, you will have proof that you were there when it started.

Mint lasts 1 week. $ goes towards dev. Utility TBA

create.zora.co/collections/0x…

cheers to @litocoen for helping review this thread, @GuthL & @gregoireljda for their ongoing help, @shunkakinoki for believing in me, and @dappbeast for giving me feedback on launching too

this thread was sponsored by - fuck around and find out