Verisign granted patent for connecting domain names to blockchain addresses

Patent covers the lifecycle of a domain name that is connected to a blockchain address.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted patent number 12,003,615 to Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) for “Lifecycle administration of domain name blockchain addresses.”

The patent (pdf) describes a way of connecting domain names, such as example.com, to a blockchain wallet address.

Once a person associates a domain name with a wallet address, users can send cryptocurrency and other items to that user using their domain name, rather than a difficult-to-remember wallet address.

The patent includes the entire lifecycle of such an association, including establishing an association between the domain and blockchain address, as well as deleting, updating, transferring, and renewing that association.

The overarching idea is not new. Ethereum Name Service has worked with select top level domain names since 2018, and opened to all domain names in 2021. However, the Verisign patent covers a broad range of activities related to the lifecycle of a domain name, rather than just manually connecting and disconnecting a domain to a blockchain address.

Verisign filed for the patent in May 2021, and it was granted today.

The company has several other patents related to blockchain technology.