One of the biggest hurdles facing cryptocurrency adoption is confusion. Anyone who has tried to explain how Bitcoin works to a complete beginner is well aware of this issue. To get someone to understand crypto, you have to first explain how decentralized networks operate. If you can get past that, then you have to deliver crash courses in economics and cryptography.
Blockchain software may also be deterring the crypto-curious from making their first investments. Crypto wallets are by no means foolproof. Wallet addresses are very long, and this makes them cumbersome to use; and if you make a mistake and send crypto to the wrong address, there’s no way to reverse the transaction once it’s been processed. Employers that pay their employees in cryptocurrency have to be mindful of the fact that it’s easy to make mistakes when copying and pasting large groups of crypto addresses. In addition, since crypto addresses do not contain identities, it’s easy to fall victim to scams. Moreover, there is no way for crypto users to understand their transaction histories because all they see are numbers.
That’s where Starname comes in. Starname is a digital identity platform that makes it easy to send and receive all kinds of different cryptocurrencies. Instead of having to manage and keep up with separate wallets for each coin that you invest in, you simply set up a profile and connect all the cryptocurrency wallets you want to use with it. After you get everything set up, anyone who wants to send you crypto can do so freely simply by sending funds to your Starname account. Instead of sending money to a number, Starname lets you send it to a name. Since these names are verified, you can have confidence that the identity of the person you want to send crypto to is authentic. There is no need to copy and paste addresses anymore, either, and your transaction history is much easier to understand, too.
How to get started with Starname Manager
Paris-based blockchain company IOV has been working on Starname Manager since its inception in 2017. It’s now officially available for anyone to use. All you have to do is click the “get started” button at starname.me. That will take you to the Starname app. Next you’ll be prompted to install Kepler, which is an open-source browser extension wallet for the Cosmos interchain ecosystem. In addition, you can buy IOV tokens on Uniswap and then transfer them to the Starname manager to use and stake.
Setting up a Starname Basic Edition profile is free, but you do have to pay a small fee to the IOV token network to set it up. This only costs 3 IOV, or about nine cents. Starname Premium Edition profiles cost the equivalent of anywhere from two to 15 USD. Both profile types have the same basic features. However, Starname Premium Edition removes the *iov ending from whatever profile name you choose.
The minds behind Starname
Starname is led by CEO Antoine Herzog, CTO Dave Puchyr, Co-founder Karim Ganem and CFO Benjamin Simatos. Before coming to Starname, Herzog was the co-founder and CTO of marketing automation service Lydi. Puchyr was an Associate at Goldman Sachs, then became the Director of investment management firm Ninealpha Capital. Ganem worked with Herzog at Lydi and served as its CEO. Like Puchyr, Simatos got his start as an Associate at Goldman Sachs. He later became an Executive Director at J.P. Morgan.
Other features
In addition to making life much easier for crypto users, Starname provides better security, since using a Starname profile avoids the necessity of sending out your wallet information when you want to make a transaction. Anonymity features are coming soon as well, according to Starname’s website.
Notable Starname partners
Leading up to the launch of Starname Manager, IOV has been forming partnerships with a number of key players in the crypto industry. In November, IOV teamed up with the blockchain-based invoicing service Request. As a result, Starname is now built right into the Request interface.
Earlier in the same month IOV forged a partnership with Aleph.im, which provides decentralized storage and computing services to blockchain-based DeFi projects. Aleph now provides the means for Starname to store username data, profile pictures, bio information and links to social media.
Promotions and giveaways
Starname routinely hosts giveaways on Twitter. To take part all you have to do is follow Starname on Twitter, join the Starname Telegram community, like the promotion and retweet it to your followers. Winners of these contests are usually given IOV tokens along with themed Starname Premium Edition usernames. Check @starname_me on Twitter for more details.
