Decentralized Domain Name System Using Blockchain Python — Complete Documentation & Simulation

Overview & System Context

Decentralized Domain Name System Using Blockchain Python: Comprehensive Web-Sourced Technical Investigation Exhaustive Research Dossier · Pure Web-Scraped Content: ~9516 Words · Real Software Screenshots: 3 1. Executive Overview & Technical Background Ethereum Classic is a blockchain-based distributed computing platform that offers smart contract (scripting) functionality.

Ethereum Classic was created in a hard fork with the mainline Ethereum blockchain, and maintains the original, unaltered ledger prior to the attempt to reverse a hacking attack on the Ethereum-based DAO in July 2016. It is now the largest smart contract platform secured by a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, following Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake in 2022. It is open source and supports a modified version of Nakamoto consensus via transaction-based state transitions executed on a public Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Ethereum Classic maintains the original, unaltered history of the Ethereum network. The Ethereum project's mainnet was initially released via Frontier on 30 July 2015. However, due to a hack of a third-party project, The DAO, the Ethereum Foundation created a new version of the Ethereum mainnet on 20 July 2016 with an irregular state change implemented that erased the DAO theft from the Ethereum blockchain history. The Ethereum Foundation applied their trademark to the new, altered version of the Ethereum blockchain. The older, unaltered version of Ethereum was renamed and continued on as Ethereum Classic. Ethereum Classic's native Ether token is a cryptocurrency traded on digital currency exchanges under the currency code ETC. Ether is created as a reward to network nodes for a process known as "mining", which validates computations performed on Ethereum Classic's EVM.

On 20 July 2016, as a result of the exploitation of a flaw in The DAO project's smart contract software, and subsequent theft of $50 million worth of Ether, the Ethereum network split into two separate blockchains – the altered history was named Ethereum (ETH) and the unaltered history was named Ethereum Classic (ETC). The new chain with the altered history was branded as Ethereum (code: ETH) with the BIP-44 Coin Index 60 and EVM Chain ID 1 attributed to it by the trademark-owning Ethereum Foundation. On this new chain, the history of the theft was erased from the Ethereum blockchain. Some members of the Ethereum community ignored the change and continued to participate on the original Ethereum network. The non-fork chain with an unaltered history continued on as Ethereum Classic (code: ETC) with the BIP-44 Coin Index 61 and EVM Chain ID 61.

After the Ethereum Classic and Ethereum Foundation hardfork in 2016, multiple versions of the EVM existed. This led to the realization of the need for an interoperable EVM standard to connect multiple EVMs. In an attempt to modernize the Ethereum Classic EVM, several protocol upgrades were scheduled to activate features that the Ethereum network already enabled over the past years. Atlantis, activated in September 2019, enabled the Agharta upgrade, which included the outstanding Byzantium changes. Agharta was followed by the incorporation of the Constantinople patches through the January 2020 upgrade. Finally, with the Phoenix upgrade, Ethereum Classic achieved protocol parity with Ethereum, allowing for fully cross-compatible applications between the two networks. The Ethereum Classic development community continues to maintain protocol parity with the greater EVM standard. Development moves slowly, only updating stable versions of EVM standard.

Figure 1: Handshake Decentralized Domain Marketplace And Blockchain Naming Service As with other cryptocurrencies, the validity of each ether is provided by a blockchain, which is a continuously growing list of records, called "blocks", which are linked and secured using cryptography. By design, the blockchain is inherently resistant to modification of the data. It is an open, distributed ledger that records transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. Unlike bitcoin, Ethereum Classic operates using accounts and balances in a manner called state transitions. This does not rely upon unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). The state denotes the current balances of all accounts and extra data. The state is not stored on the blockchain, it is stored in a separate Merkle Patricia tree. A cryptocurrency wallet stores the public and private "keys" or "addresses" which can be used to receive or spend Ether. These can be generated through BIP 39 style mnemonics for a BIP 32 "HD wallet". In the Ethereum tech stack, this is unnecessary as it does not operate in a UTXO scheme. With the private key, it is possible to write in the blockchain, effectively making an ether transaction. To send Ether to an account, the Keccak-256 hash of the public key of that account is needed. Ether accounts are pseudonymous in that they are not linked to individual persons, but rather to one or more specific addresses.

Arvicco acted as a coordinator, facilitating communication among developers, miners, exchanges, and community members during the network's early stabilisation period. Dr. Avtar Sehra focused on strategy and governance-related work, including early discussions on monetary policy, protocol governance, and ecosystem development. Key focus was on driving engagement with legal, institutional, and developer communities. Igor Artamonov served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), leading technical stewardship of Ethereum Classic clients and supporting protocol continuity following the split. This group did not function as a formal governing authority but helped provide organisational coherence during a period when the network lacked established structures.

Elaine Ou, who focused on product thinking and helped articulate Ethereum Classic's positioning and narrative during its early development. Cody Burns, who supported client and protocol development alongside other developers, many of whom remained anonymous. libp2p is a modular network stack and open-source library that enables developers to build decentralised, peer-to-peer (P2P) applications. It originated as a part of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and was later spun off into a standalone project.

The software was developed to provide a set of tools for handling the networking challenges of P2P systems. This includes peer discovery, routing, identity management, and secure communication. There are multiple implementations of libp2p across multiple programming languages. Major projects such as Ethereum's consensus layer and Filecoin use libp2p as their foundational networking layer.

Figure 2: 10 Best Crypto Domain Services In 2025 /ip4/192.168.1.100/tcp/8001 This describes a peer accessible via an IPv4 address 192.168.1.100, using the TCP protocol on port 8001. TCP UDP QUIC WebSocket WebRTC WebTransport A machine running libp2p can listen for incoming connections on multiple transports simultaneously which increases the likelihood of successful connections between peers across different network environments.

For transports such as TCP which do not natively support streams, libp2p layers a dedicated multiplexer protocol (such as mplex or yamux) on top of the connection. For modern transports like QUIC and WebRTC, libp2p leverages the protocol's built-in, native multiplexing capabilities directly, without needing an additional layer. Bootstrap Lists: A list of known, peer addresses used by new nodes to join the network. mDNS: Used for discovering peers on a local area network (LAN). Distributed Hash Table (DHT): For discovering peers on the wider internet, libp2p networks often employs a Kademlia-based DHT. A peer can query the DHT to find the addresses of other peers.

Figure 3: Top 10 Blockchain Domain Name Systems go-libp2p (Go) js-libp2p (JavaScript) rust-libp2p (Rust) Other official implementations include: py-libp2p (Python) cpp-libp2p (C++) swift-libp2p (Swift) nim-libp2p (Nim) jvm-libp2p (Java or Kotlin) zig-libp2p (Zig) dotnet-libp2p (C# with .NET) c-libp2p (C) litep2p (Rust) erlang-libp2p (Erlang) An anonymous P2P communication system is a peer-to-peer distributed application in which the nodes, which are used to share resources, or participants are anonymous or pseudonymous. Anonymity of participants is usually achieved by special routing overlay networks that hide the physical location of each node from other participants. Interest in anonymous P2P systems has increased in recent years for many reasons, ranging from the desire to share files without revealing one's network identity and risking litigation to distrust in governments, concerns over mass surveillance and data retention, and lawsuits against bloggers.

Censorship at the local, organizational, or national level Personal privacy preferences such as preventing tracking or data mining activities The material or its distribution is considered illegal or incriminating by possible eavesdroppers Material is legal but socially deplored, embarrassing or problematic in the individual's social world Fear of retribution (against whistleblowers, unofficial leaks, and activists who do not believe in restrictions on information nor knowledge) A particularly open view on legal and illegal content is given in The Philosophy Behind Freenet. Governments are also interested in anonymous P2P technology. The United States Navy funded the original onion routing research that led to the development of the Tor network, which was later funded by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and is now developed by the non-profit organization The Tor Project, Inc.

Anonymous blogging is one widespread use of anonymous networks. While anonymous blogging is possible on the non-anonymous internet to some degree too, a provider hosting the blog in question might be forced to disclose the blogger's IP address (as when Google revealed an anonymous blogger's identity). Anonymous networks provide a better degree of anonymity. Flogs (anonymous blogs) in Freenet, Syndie and other blogging tools in I2P and Osiris sps are some examples of anonymous blogging technologies. One argument for anonymous blogging is a delicate nature of work situation. Sometimes a blogger writing under their real name faces a choice between either staying silent or causing a harm to themselves, their colleagues or the company they work for. Another reason is risk of lawsuits. Some bloggers have faced multimillion-dollar lawsuits (although they were later dropped completely); anonymous blogging provides protection against such risks.

Like conventional P2P networks, anonymous P2P networks can implement either opennet or darknet (often named friend-to-friend) network type. This describes how a node on the network selects peer nodes: In opennet network, peer nodes are discovered automatically. There is no configuration required but little control available over which nodes become peers. In a darknet network, users manually establish connections with nodes run by people they know. Darknet typically needs more effort to set up but a node only has trusted nodes as peers. Some networks like Freenet support both network types simultaneously (a node can have some manually added darknet peer nodes and some automatically selected opennet peers) . In a friend-to-friend (or F2F) network, users only make direct connections with people they know. Many F2F networks support indirect anonymous or pseudonymous communication between users who do not know or trust one another. For example, a node in a friend-to-friend overlay can automatically forward a file (or a request for a file) anonymously between two "friends", without telling either of them the other's name or IP address. These "friends" can in turn forward the same file (or request) to their own "friends", and so on. Users in a friend-to-friend network cannot find out who else is participating beyond their own circle of friends, so F2F networks can grow in size without compromising their users' anonymity. Some friend-to-friend networks allow the user to control what kind of files can be exchanged with "friends" within the node, in order to stop them from exchanging files that user disapproves of. Advantages and disadvantages of opennet compared to darknet are disputed, see friend-to-friend article for summary.

Syncthing – a free, open-source peer-to-peer file synchronization application. It can sync files between devices. Data security and data safety are built into the design of the software. Resilio Sync – a proprietary alternative to Syncthing Filetopia – not anonymous but encrypted friend-to-friend. File sharing, chat, internal mail service OneSwarm – a backwards compatible BitTorrent client with privacy-preserving sharing options, aims to create a large F2F network. Retroshare – filesharing, serverless email, instant messaging, VoIP, chatrooms, and decentralized forums.

anoNet – extensible IP anonymizer with steganography support (in development) Crowds – Reiter and Rubin's system for "blending into a crowd" has a known attack P2PRIV – Peer-to-Peer diRect and anonymous dIstribution oVerlay – anonymity via virtual links parallelization – currently in development and has significant, unsolved problems in a real world environment Phantom Anonymity Protocol – a fully decentralized high-throughput anonymization network (no longer in development) Race (Resilient Anonymous Communication for Everyone) – A project by DARPA to build an anonymous, attack-resilient mobile communication system that can reside completely within a network environment, capable of avoiding large-scale compromise by preventing compromised information from being useful for identifying any of the system nodes because all such information is encrypted on the nodes at all times, even during computation; and preventing communications compromise by virtue of obfuscating communication protocols.

Invisible IRC Project – anonymous IRC, inspired by Freenet, which later became I2P (Invisible Internet Project). Mnet (formerly MojoNation) – a distributed file system Blockchain-Based DNS System is a complete implementation of a decentralized Domain Name System (DNS) service using blockchain technology. It provides a robust, trustless, and tamper-resistant DNS infrastructure by leveraging the consensus and immutability properties of blockchains.

This system has been successfully tested with multiple nodes, DNS record creation, blockchain mining, and consensus mechanisms. Note: This system has been successfully tested and is fully functional. All examples below have been verified to work correctly.

Note: If you encounter ImportError: cannot import name 'Markup' from 'jinja2' , the requirements.txt file has been updated with compatible versions of Flask, Jinja2, and other dependencies. You can run multiple nodes to simulate a decentralized DNS network using different ports. Open http://127.0.0.1:5000 in your browser to access the complete web interface that combines ML prediction with blockchain DNS lookup.

Each blockchain node will expose a REST API for adding DNS records, mining blocks, syncing with other nodes, and inspecting the blockchain state. This blockchain DNS system has been successfully tested with the following verified results: This project is for academic and research purposes. See LICENSE (if present) or contact the author for usage terms.

Feel free to fork this project and submit pull requests. All contributions are welcome! If you encounter any issues or have questions, please open an issue on the GitHub repository. This system includes a comprehensive web-based dashboard for managing and monitoring your Blockchain DNS system: The current Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure faces critical vulnerabilities including poisoning attacks, censorship mechanisms, and centralized points of failure that compromise internet freedom and security. Recent incidents such as the APT Group StormBamboo DNS poisoning attacks on ISP customers demonstrate the urgent need for resilient alternatives.

This paper presents a novel blockchain-based Decentralized Domain Name System (DDNS). We designed a specialized Proof-of-Work blockchain to maximize support for DNS-related protocols and achieve node decentralization. The system integrates our blockchain with IPFS for distributed storage, implements cryptographic primitives for end-to-end trust signatures, achieving Never Trust, Always Verify zero-trust verification. Our implementation achieves 15-second domain record propagation times, supports 20 standard DNS record types, and provides perpetual free .ddns domains. The system has been deployed across distributed infrastructure in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Orange County, demonstrating practical scalability and resistance to traditional DNS manipulation techniques. Performance evaluation shows the system can handle up to Max Theor. TPS 1,111.1 tx/s (minimal transactions) / Max Theor. TPS 266.7 tx/s (regular transactions) for domain operations while maintaining sub-second query resolution through intelligent caching mechanisms.

The modern internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) represents a critical infrastructure vulnerability that undermines both security and freedom of information. Two primary categories of threats have emerged as systemic challenges: DNS Security Vulnerabilities: The centralized architecture of traditional DNS systems creates attractive targets for sophisticated attacks. Recent evidence includes the APT Group StormBamboo attacks, which compromised ISP-level DNS infrastructure to redirect legitimate traffic to malicious endpoints [ 1 ] . These poisoning attacks exploit the inherent trust relationships in hierarchical DNS resolution, demonstrating how centralized control points become systemic weaknesses [ 35 , 36 ] .

Censorship and Access Restrictions: Authoritarian regimes and restrictive governments increasingly employ DNS-based censorship as a mechanism for information control. Large-scale DNS record manipulation and selective blocking of domain resolution violate fundamental principles of information freedom and democratic access to knowledge. This systematic interference with DNS infrastructure represents a technological assault on human rights to free expression and access to information.

The mathematical formulation of these problems can be expressed as single points of failure in the DNS resolution chain: where p i p_{i} represents the failure probability of the i i -th centralized component in the DNS hierarchy, and n n is the number of critical control points. Traditional DNS systems operate under a trust model that is susceptible to single point of failure problems and prone to security and availability risks. The hierarchical structure creates dependencies on centralized authorities (root servers, top-level domain registrars, ISPs) that can be compromised, coerced, or corrupted. This centralization enables attacks that violate the CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) security principles: Single Point of Failure Attacks: Compromising availability (Availability), where compromise of authoritative servers can affect millions of domains simultaneously State-Level Censorship: Compromising confidentiality (Confidentiality), where governments can mandate DNS filtering at ISP or national levels Commercial Manipulation: Compromising availability (Availability), where domain registrars can unilaterally suspend or transfer domains Data Integrity Violations: Compromising integrity (Integrity), where DNS responses lack cryptographic verification, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks The proliferation of these attacks necessitates a paradigm shift toward cryptographically secured, decentralized domain name zero-trust resolution that ensures confidentiality and integrity. This paradigm eliminates central points of control, thereby ensuring performance and availability.

This paper presents a comprehensive blockchain-based decentralized DNS system (hereinafter referred to as DDNS) that addresses these fundamental limitations through: DDNS Blockchain Infrastructure: The project codename is Phicoin, representing an acronym for Proof of Work High-performance Infrastructure, aimed at building a fully decentralized blockchain network using PoW mechanism. A purpose-built Proof-of-Work blockchain optimized for domain asset management using modified UTXO model with enhanced transaction throughput (4MB blocks, 15-second intervals) Cryptographic Trust Chain: End-to-end verification using elliptic curve digital signatures (ECDSA) for domain registration and modification, eliminating reliance on third-party trust Distributed Storage Integration: IPFS-based domain control file storage with content-addressable hashing for tamper-evident record management Anti-Censorship Architecture: Mesh network communication patterns and distributed resolver infrastructure that circumvents traditional blocking mechanisms 2. System Architecture & Core Working Principles Cross-chain Integration: We developed cross-chain bridges capable of connecting the DDNS blockchain to other smart contract-enabled blockchains such as Solana and Ethereum. We have deployed smart contracts on Solana, enabling the 15 million monthly active users (MAU) of Solana to directly utilize DDNS services for domain registration and updates without downloading node clients.

Edge DDNS Resolution Services: We developed edge DDNS servers that enable DDNS resolution within organizations without relying on public DDNS services, while maintaining compatibility with traditional DNS resolution. This requires only deploying edge DDNS services within the organization and configuring them as the organization’s network DNS servers. Decentralized Web Protocol (D-WEB): We implemented a decentralized D-WEB protocol based on DDNS TXT records, which leverages IPFS’s capability to resolve static directories, using TXT records to resolve website IPFS hashes, enabling decentralized archiving/access of traditional websites.

Existing decentralized naming systems have made significant contributions to addressing DNS centralization, but each suffers from fundamental limitations that prevent widespread adoption [ 2 ] . Recent surveys on blockchain consensus mechanisms provide comprehensive frameworks for evaluating different approaches to decentralized systems [ 33 , 34 ] . Ethereum Name Service (ENS): Utilizes Ethereum’s smart contract infrastructure for .eth domain management [ 3 ] . While innovative, ENS faces scalability constraints due to Ethereum’s throughput limitations (Max Theor. TPS 119.1 tx/s) and high transaction costs (gas fees often exceeding $50 per operation). Additionally, ENS domains are not compatible with traditional DNS infrastructure, limiting their utility [ 48 ] .

Namecoin: The first blockchain-based naming system, forked from Bitcoin to support .bit domains [ 4 ] . Namecoin suffers from slow block times (10 minutes), limited throughput, and lack of modern DNS record type support. The system’s security relies on merge-mining with Bitcoin, creating potential centralization risks [ 49 ] . Handshake: Implements a novel approach using proof-of-work to manage top-level domain auctions [ 5 ] . However, Handshake focuses primarily on TLD ownership rather than practical DNS resolution, and its auction mechanism creates significant barriers to entry for users.

While these systems represent important advances in decentralized naming, they each exhibit fundamental trade-offs between security, scalability, and usability that limit their practical deployment. Recent research in blockchain consensus mechanisms has shown that achieving optimal balance between these properties requires careful design of the underlying consensus protocol.

Our system advances the state-of-the-art by combining: - High throughput blockchain infrastructure (Max Theor. TPS 1,111.1 tx/s vs. Max Theor. TPS 119.1 tx/s for Ethereum) - Universal DNS compatibility (supports all standard record types) - Zero-cost operation for .ddns domains - Production-ready resolver infrastructure The DDNS system implements a layered architecture that separates concerns while maintaining cryptographic security guarantees throughout the stack. The design follows the principle of cryptographic minimalism , where trust assumptions are explicitly modeled and minimized.

User Layer: Supports diverse stakeholders including individual users, enterprises, developers, and domain investors with varying technical requirements and economic models. Client Layer: Provides multiple interfaces (Web UI, CLI tools, REST APIs, SDKs) for different integration patterns and user preferences.

API Gateway Layer: Implements authentication, rate limiting, and request logging with horizontal scaling capabilities. Application Services Layer: Core business logic for domain registration, resolution, management, and search with high-availability design. Blockchain Layer: DDNS network providing cryptographic consensus, asset management, wallet services, and mining infrastructure.

Storage Layer: Distributed storage using IPFS, metadata management, intelligent caching, and local database optimization. The system architecture comprises multiple specialized functional components that work together to provide comprehensive domain management and resolution services. The functional architecture includes core business modules (Asset Management, Domain Registration), domain resolution modules (DNS Resolver, Cache Manager, IPFS Resolver), blockchain integration components (Node Manager, Contract Interface), and storage access layers (Database ORM, IPFS Client, File Manager). The frontend modules provide user interfaces through REST APIs, WebSocket real-time communication, and GraphQL interfaces for advanced querying capabilities.

The system supports diverse user personas with varying technical expertise and usage patterns, from individual users seeking simple domain registration to enterprise users requiring bulk domain management capabilities. The use case diagram illustrates core functionalities including domain registration, record updates, domain resolution queries, bulk domain management, domain transfers, and monitoring/alerting services. Each use case is prioritized based on user needs and technical complexity, with high-priority cases including domain registration and resolution queries that form the foundation of the system.

The DDNS implementation leverages a modern, scalable technology stack designed for high-performance blockchain and distributed systems operations. The technology stack spans multiple layers: the presentation layer utilizes React.js for frontend development and React Native for mobile platforms; the API layer implements load balancing with Nginx and RESTful services; the business layer employs microservices architecture with domain-specific services in Rust and Node.js; the storage layer combines distributed storage (IPFS), traditional databases (PostgreSQL, MongoDB), and Redis for caching; the blockchain layer features the custom DDNS blockchain with UTXO asset management; and the infrastructure layer provides containerization with Docker/Kubernetes, monitoring with ELK stack, and DevOps automation.

Digital Signatures: Domain operations utilize ECDSA with secp256k1 curve (identical to Bitcoin) for signing transactions. The signature verification process follows: where m m is the message (domain operation), σ \sigma is the signature, p I k pk is the public key, and H H is SHA-256 hash function.

This ensures tamper-evident storage where any modification to domain records results in a different hash value. The DDNS blockchain represents a purpose-built blockchain optimized for domain name service requirements. Key technical specifications include: Consensus Algorithm: Proof-of-Work using PhihashV2, an ASIC-resistant algorithm designed to prevent network hash power centralization that leads to centralization risks [ 37 , 6 ] . Additionally, we optimized the DAG structure to enable cache files to run on integrated graphics cards, allowing tens of millions of devices worldwide equipped with integrated graphics to join the mining network at any time, enabling broader network participation and larger-scale decentralized networks. This approach addresses the well-documented mining centralization concerns in PoW systems [ 40 , 39 ] .

Block Parameters: - Block time: 15 seconds (optimized for DNS update responsiveness) - Block size: 4MB Weight Units (WU) = 4,000,000 WU (enabling high transaction throughput) - Difficulty adjustment: Enhanced Dark Gravity Wave algorithm for rapid response Transaction Throughput: The system achieves theoretical maximum throughput using Weight Units calculation method [ 6 ] : Network Security: Empirical analysis of mainnet performance from block heights 92,594 to 143,669 shows orphan rate of 0.0176% (9 orphaned blocks out of 51,075 total) [ 8 ] , demonstrating network stability.

The system implements a modified UTXO model specifically designed for domain asset management. Each domain is represented as a unique asset with the following properties: Asset Naming Convention: Domains follow hierarchical naming: ROOT_TLD/DOMAIN_NAME where ROOT_TLD represents the top-level domain asset (e.g., "DDNS") and DOMAIN_NAME represents the specific domain.

Economic Model: Domain registration requires minimal fees (0.1 PHI ≈ \approx $0.00001) with no recurring costs, implementing true digital asset ownership rather than lease-based models used by traditional DNS. Additionally, we subsidize the gas fees for domain registration. For .DDNS domain registration, we cover all gas fees, thereby achieving permanently free domain services.

Domain records are stored in JSON-formatted control files on IPFS, enabling flexible schema evolution and comprehensive DNS record type support [ 28 ] . The control file structure follows RFC-compliant specifications: This design provides several advantages: - Schema Flexibility: JSON format allows arbitrary record types without blockchain protocol changes - Efficient Storage: Only IPFS hash stored on-chain, enabling large record sets without blockchain bloat - Content Verification: IPFS content addressing ensures data integrity The DDNS system provides comprehensive support for 20 different DNS record types, ensuring compatibility with modern internet infrastructure requirements and enabling diverse use cases from simple web hosting to complex service architectures.

We have implemented 76 types of domain resolution and control files enumerated in RFC documents. However, we also referenced Cloudflare’s protocol resolution settings and selected the 20 most commonly used domain resolution records. The aforementioned control file code and scripts are open-sourced in the ddnsd service, allowing users to configure according to their specific needs.

AAAA Records [ 15 ] : IPv6 address mapping supporting next-generation internet protocols CNAME Records [ 14 ] : Canonical name aliases enabling flexible domain management and CDN integration TXT Records [ 14 ] : Arbitrary text data for SPF, DKIM, domain verification, and custom metadata SPF Records [ 16 ] : Sender Policy Framework for email authentication and anti-spam protection DKIM Records [ 17 ] : DomainKeys Identified Mail cryptographic signatures for email integrity DMARC Records [ 18 ] : Domain-based Message Authentication for comprehensive email security policies SRV Records [ 19 ] : Service location records defining port and priority for specific services NS Records [ 14 ] : Name server delegation for subdomain management and distributed authority SOA Records [ 14 ] : Start of Authority defining zone management parameters and refresh intervals CAA Records [ 20 ] : Certificate Authority Authorization controlling SSL/TLS certificate issuance TLSA Records [ 21 ] : Transport Layer Security Authentication for DNS-based certificate pinning SSHFP Records [ 22 ] : SSH Key Fingerprints for secure shell authentication verification URI Records [ 23 ] : Uniform Resource Identifier mapping for advanced service location HINFO Records [ 14 ] : Host information describing system architecture and operating system Record Type Validation: Each record type implements RFC-compliant validation ensuring data integrity and standards compliance. The system performs real-time validation during record updates, preventing malformed entries and maintaining DNS protocol compatibility.

Performance Optimization: Record resolution is optimized through intelligent caching with type-specific TTL policies, reducing resolution latency for frequently accessed record types while maintaining accuracy for dynamic records. 3. Software Implementation, Frameworks & Protocols Core Node Software: Full blockchain nodes implementing the DDNS protocol, maintaining complete transaction history, and participating in consensus.

Mining Infrastructure: Distributed mining pools supporting the PhihashV2 algorithm, with specialized mining software optimized for GPU hardware [ 7 ] . Network Discovery: Seeder servers providing initial peer discovery and network health monitoring. DDNSD Public DDNS Resolution Servers: Distributed public resolution infrastructure providing high-availability domain name resolution services.

DDoH Public DDNS over HTTPS Resolution Servers: Secure DNS resolution services implementing DNS-over-HTTPS protocol for enhanced privacy and censorship resistance. Cross-Chain Bridge: Smart contract infrastructure on Solana enabling PHI token trading and liquidity provision, creating economic incentives for network participation.

Sustainable Infrastructure: The DDNS network operates on environmentally sustainable infrastructure, including solar-powered data centers that provide carbon-neutral blockchain operations. Our San Jose facility demonstrates the feasibility of renewable energy-powered PoW cryptocurrency block perpetual generation node operations. The solar infrastructure includes high-efficiency photovoltaic panels, battery storage systems, and optimized cooling solutions that enable 24/7 blockchain node operation with minimal environmental impact. This sustainable approach to blockchain infrastructure addresses growing concerns about cryptocurrency energy consumption while maintaining network security and performance.

User generates key pair ( s I k , p I k ) (sk,pk) where s I k sk is private key and p I k = s I k ⋅ G pk=sk\cdot G is corresponding public key Construct blockchain transaction t I x = { d I o I m I a I i I n I _ I n I a I m I e , h i I p I f I s , p I k } tx=\{domain\_name,h_{ipfs},pk\} Sign transaction: σ = ECDSA_Sign I ( s I k , H I ( t I x ) ) \sigma=\text{ECDSA\_Sign}(sk,H(tx)) Modification Flow: Domain updates follow identical process but reference existing asset, ensuring only authorized private key holder can modify records.

The domain registration sequence demonstrates the complete end-to-end flow from user initiation through blockchain confirmation. The process involves multiple system components including the Web Interface, API Gateway, Registration Service, Domain Validator, Fee Calculator, Digital Wallet, IPFS Network, DDNS Node, and Asset Manager. Key steps include domain validation, fee calculation, IPFS metadata upload, blockchain transaction creation and signing, and final asset creation with ownership assignment. The sequence emphasizes the cryptographic security at each step and the 15-second block time for rapid confirmation.

The resolution system implements a hybrid approach combining blockchain verification with traditional DNS performance requirements: Verify H I ( control_file ) = h i I p I f I s H(\text{control\_file})=h_{ipfs} for integrity Performance Optimization: The system implements intelligent caching with the following hierarchy: - L1 Cache: In-memory LRU cache (50,000 entries, 15-second TTL) - L2 Cache: Persistent file cache with longer TTL - L3 Cache: Blockchain verification cache for domain ownership Production Domain Registration and Resolution: To demonstrate the practical functionality and performance characteristics of the DDNS system, we conducted a comprehensive end-to-end evaluation using the production DDNS infrastructure. The evaluation encompasses domain registration, DNS record configuration, resolution performance analysis, and accessibility demonstration.

Domain Registration Process: Using the DDNS web interface at https://d.phicoin.net/ , we registered the domain test01.ddns and configured TXT records for testing purposes. Figure 8 illustrates the user-friendly domain registration interface, which provides comprehensive DNS record management capabilities including support for A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, and other standard record types.

DNS Resolution Performance Analysis: To evaluate the system’s resolution performance and caching efficiency, we conducted repeated DNS queries using the dig utility against the DDNS public resolver at 138.2.235.218 . The performance evaluation demonstrates significant improvements in query response times through intelligent caching mechanisms. Figure 9 shows the initial DNS query for test01.ddns TXT , which required blockchain verification and IPFS retrieval, resulting in a response time of 183 milliseconds. The subsequent query, illustrated in Figure 10 , demonstrates the effectiveness of the multi-tier caching system with a dramatically reduced response time of 19 milliseconds, representing a 89.6% performance improvement.

DNS-over-HTTPS Implementation: The system supports modern DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) protocol for enhanced privacy and security. Figure 11 demonstrates the Firefox browser configuration for utilizing the DDNS DoH endpoint at https://doh.phicoin.net/dns-query . This configuration enables users to access decentralized domains through standard web browsers without additional software installation.

Access to Non-Traditional Domains: A key innovation of the DDNS system is its ability to resolve domains that do not exist in traditional generic top-level domains (gTLDs). To demonstrate this capability, we tested resolution of explorer.phi , a custom domain namespace exclusive to the DDNS ecosystem. The successful A record resolution for explorer.phi to IP address 138.2.235.218 , with a query response time of 84 milliseconds, demonstrates the system’s capability to extend DNS functionality beyond traditional namespace limitations.

Web Accessibility Demonstration: With proper DoH configuration, users can seamlessly access websites hosted on custom DDNS domains through standard web browsers. Figure 12 demonstrates successful access to the Phicoin blockchain explorer at http://explorer.phi/network , showcasing the system’s ability to provide full web functionality for decentralized domains. The explorer interface displays real-time network statistics including peer connections across multiple geographic regions (United States, China, France, Singapore, Italy, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Thailand), demonstrating the global distribution of the DDNS network infrastructure.

This comprehensive evaluation demonstrates that the DDNS system successfully bridges the gap between blockchain-based domain ownership and practical internet usability, providing both the security benefits of decentralization and the performance characteristics necessary for production deployment. P2P Network Relay: Due to the blockchain’s capability to use integrated graphics cards and other entry-level universal devices for mining profits, users from different countries and regions spontaneously organize mining nodes and networks for profit. This PoW mechanism-incentivized user model promotes the network’s decentralized characteristics, making it difficult for any single country to ban specific countries or IP addresses. Additionally, this project’s blockchain is based on Bitcoin Core implementation, integrating Bitcoin Core’s complete Tor network support features, enabling deployment in network-restricted countries and regions through Tor relay using obfuscation methods such as Snowflake or obfs4 [ 11 ] .

Distributed Resolver Network: DDNSD instances can be deployed independently by any user, creating a mesh of resolution points that cannot be centrally controlled or blocked. Protocol Flexibility: Support for DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) enables resolution through standard web protocols, making blocking more difficult for network censors.

Content Mirroring: We developed integration with Telegram bot and D-Web browser enabling one-click website mirroring, allowing rapid content preservation and access restoration. These website contents are deployed on IPFS and resolved through the DDNS D-WEB protocol. Case Study - Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Movement: During the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition movement, protesters extensively used IPFS to prevent protest websites from being deleted [ 12 ] . However, a significant problem emerged during the movement: multiple different IPFS addresses appeared simultaneously, with different protesters and organizations using different IPFS addresses to publish information. This created substantial difficulty for users in determining which IPFS addresses published trustworthy information versus potentially false information or government disinformation.

Our DDNS D-web technology addresses this critical trust problem through cryptographic verification. Protesters can register domains such as "hkprotest.ddns" and use private key signatures to ensure only authentic publishers can update the IPFS content referenced by the domain. This mechanism guarantees both confidentiality (Confidentiality) through identity verification and integrity (Integrity) through blockchain and IPFS content addressing, according to CIA principles. Users can verify information source credibility, thereby avoiding the information chaos caused by multiple IPFS addresses and ensuring authentic communication channels during critical political movements.

The DDNS system implements a zero-trust security model where all operations require cryptographic verification. The security analysis follows established frameworks for distributed systems [ 41 , 45 ] . Our approach builds upon comprehensive surveys of blockchain security challenges and mitigation strategies documented in recent literature [ 46 , 47 ] . Threat Model: We consider adversaries with the following capabilities: - Control over traditional DNS infrastructure - Ability to intercept and modify network traffic - Access to significant computational resources (but bounded by economic constraints) - Coordination between multiple malicious actors Domain Ownership Integrity: Only the holder of private key s I k sk corresponding to domain registration can modify domain records, formalized as: Content Integrity: Domain records stored in IPFS cannot be modified without detection due to content-addressing: Availability: The system remains operational as long as any single honest node exists and can communicate with IPFS network.

The DDNS system distributes trust across multiple independent components, eliminating single points of failure inherent in traditional DNS: Trust Minimization: The system minimizes trust requirements by: - Eliminating dependence on centralized authorities - Enabling user-operated infrastructure components - Providing cryptographic verification for all operations - Supporting multiple independent implementations DNS Poisoning Prevention: Traditional DNS poisoning attacks target cache servers or DNS resolvers. DDNS prevents these attacks through: - Cryptographic verification of all domain data - Content-addressed storage preventing data modification - Distributed resolution eliminating central cache points Censorship Resistance: The system demonstrates robust resistance to censorship through multiple technical and organizational mechanisms. According to data from the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) [ 13 ] , traditional DNS-based censorship affects millions of users globally, with documented cases of systematic blocking across multiple jurisdictions. Our system addresses these challenges through: - Distributed blockchain infrastructure deployed across multiple sovereign jurisdictions, ensuring no single government can unilaterally disable the network - IPFS content distribution architecture that eliminates single points of control and enables content availability through multiple independent nodes - Protocol-agnostic design enabling operation over HTTP, HTTPS, or custom protocols, providing flexibility against protocol-specific blocking attempts - Integration with Tor network infrastructure and advanced obfuscation techniques including Snowflake relays, enabling deployment and operation in network-restricted environments where traditional internet access faces systematic interference Scalability and Network Security: The system addresses fundamental scalability challenges in decentralized blockchain networks [ 42 ] while maintaining security properties. Network propagation delays and consensus efficiency have been optimized based on analysis of information propagation patterns in peer-to-peer blockchain networks [ 43 ] .

Economic Attack Resistance: The cost of 51% attack on DDNS network exceeds potential gains: The DDNS project employs systematic risk management to identify, assess, and mitigate potential threats to system reliability and security. The risk matrix categorizes potential issues by impact and probability. High-impact, high-probability risks (Urgent quadrant) include UI bugs, cache failures, and API delays requiring immediate attention. Medium-probability risks (Monitor quadrant) such as IPFS node instability and blockchain congestion need continuous monitoring. Low-probability but high-impact risks (Prevention quadrant) include regulation changes, blockchain vulnerabilities, and key management issues that require proactive mitigation strategies. The matrix helps prioritize development resources and emergency response protocols.

Our mainnet deployment demonstrates robust performance characteristics under real-world conditions: Transaction Throughput: Analysis of production blockchain data shows: - Average transaction size: 1,000 Weight Units (regular domain operations) - Theoretical maximum TPS: Max Theor. TPS 1,111.1 tx/s (minimal transactions) / Max Theor. TPS 266.7 tx/s (regular transactions) - Observed average TPS: 15-30 during normal operation - Peak TPS: 150-200 during high-demand periods with bulk domain registration Network Stability: Empirical measurement from blocks 92,594 to 143,669: - Total blocks analyzed: 51,075 - Orphaned blocks: 9 - Orphan rate: 0.0176% - Average block time: 15.2 seconds ( ± \pm 2.1s standard deviation) The network demonstrates resilient operation under asynchronous network conditions, consistent with theoretical analysis of blockchain protocols in partially synchronous environments [ 44 ] .

Difficulty Adjustment Performance: The enhanced Dark Gravity Wave algorithm demonstrates rapid convergence: where smoothing factor prevents excessive oscillation while maintaining responsiveness. Performance testing conducted on 7950X Debian server using 1GB direct ethernet connection, randomly querying from 1000 DDNS domain lists and 1000 regular domain lists demonstrates excellent query handling capabilities: Query Throughput: Sustained approximately 20,000 QPS (Queries Per Second) for mixed query types under controlled testing conditions. This performance level aligns with enterprise-grade DNS resolver capabilities documented in literature.

Resolution Latency Distribution: - Cache hit (L1): < 1ms (95th percentile) - Cache hit (L2): < 5ms (95th percentile) - Blockchain lookup: 50-150ms (95th percentile) - IPFS retrieval: 100-500ms (95th percentile) 4. Practical Deployment, Analysis & Case Studies Cache Effectiveness: Intelligent caching dramatically improves performance: - L1 cache hit rate: 85% for popular domains - L2 cache hit rate: 12% for moderate usage domains - Cold lookup: 3% requiring full blockchain+IPFS resolution Resolver Distribution: DDNSD instances can be deployed independently without coordination, enabling unlimited geographic distribution and load distribution.

IPFS Content Distribution: Popular domain records automatically replicate across multiple IPFS nodes, improving availability and reducing lookup latency. Blockchain Sharding Potential: The asset-based domain model enables future implementation of blockchain sharding without breaking domain ownership semantics.

Universal DNS Compatibility: Unlike ENS (.eth only) or Namecoin (.bit only), DDNS supports standard DNS resolution for any top-level domain, including .com, .net, and custom TLDs. Economic Accessibility: Free .ddns domains eliminate financial barriers to entry, while other decentralized systems require significant upfront investment.

Performance Optimization: 15-second resolution updates provide near real-time DNS propagation, significantly faster than traditional DNS (5-48 hours) while maintaining blockchain security. Comprehensive Record Support: Full support for 20 standard DNS record types enables complete website functionality including email (MX), security (TLSA), and service discovery (SRV).

Traditional DNS operates on a lease-based model where users pay recurring fees to maintain domain ownership. This creates several problems: - Domains can be lost due to payment failures - Registrars can unilaterally change pricing - Long-term costs accumulate significantly DDNS implements true digital asset ownership where users pay once and own permanently. This model follows principles of digital asset economics discussed in blockchain research literature. The economic comparison over time shows: For typical .com domain pricing ($15/year), DDNS breaks even after the first year and provides infinite savings over longer periods.

The DDNS system has been successfully deployed in several real-world scenarios demonstrating its anti-censorship capabilities: Case Study 1: Digital Human Rights Advocacy Program-think was a prominent Chinese digital human rights advocate and security expert who maintained influential blogs promoting internet freedom and circumvention technologies. Following his arrest by Chinese authorities and the blocking of his website domains, we successfully deployed DDNS and D-Web browser technology to mirror his entire website archive.

Results: Users in mainland China can now access the complete archive without VPN requirements, demonstrating the system’s effectiveness in circumventing state-level DNS censorship. Case Study 2: Independent Journalism Amina, a fictional composite representing independent journalists in restrictive regimes, faced domain seizure and DNS blocking of her news website. Using the DDNS Telegram bot, she was able to: Technical Innovation: The one-click mirroring process reduces technical barriers for non-technical users, enabling rapid response to censorship events.

The deployment of decentralized DNS technology creates several positive social externalities: Information Freedom: By eliminating centralized control points, DDNS reduces the effectiveness of information censorship and promotes global access to knowledge and diverse perspectives. Digital Sovereignty: Users gain true ownership of their digital identity through permanent domain ownership, reducing dependence on corporate-controlled platforms.

Economic Empowerment: Free domain registration eliminates financial barriers for individuals and organizations in developing economies to establish web presence. Technical Decentralization: The open-source nature of all system components enables community development and prevents vendor lock-in.

The DDNS ecosystem demonstrates positive network effects where increased adoption strengthens the overall system: where n n represents the number of users, k k is a scaling constant, and α > 1 \alpha>1 indicates positive network effects (following Metcalfe’s Law principles). Measured Growth Metrics: - Mining participants: 1,800+ during testnet, 300+ active mainnet nodes - Domain registrations: 10,000+ .ddns domains registered to date - Geographic distribution: Active nodes in 25+ countries - Developer ecosystem: Applications building on DDNS infrastructure Decentralized Browser Evolution: Enhancement of D-Web browser with: - Peer-to-peer content sharing capabilities - Privacy-preserving browsing features - Support for decentralized application hosting Decentralized Web Archive (D-Web Archive): Development of decentralized network archival servers and decentralized web construction systems, making website deployment simpler and more accessible.

Protocol Standardization: Collaboration with internet standards organizations to develop formal specifications for blockchain-based DNS, enabling interoperability between different decentralized naming systems. Layer 2 Solutions: Implementation of payment channels or sidechains for high-frequency domain operations while maintaining base layer security.

Mobile Integration: Native mobile applications providing seamless access to decentralized websites without technical configuration requirements. This decentralized technology possesses dual characteristics. We do not extensively explore the profound human and philosophical issues involved here. From the perspective of public policy and abuse prevention, for specific user environments and usage scenarios (such as daily internet browsing), we should introduce specific versions to enhance DDNS content management, minimizing the potential drawbacks of this technology while maximizing its benefits.

Therefore, in terms of abuse prevention, collaboration with specific government organizations can introduce specialized DDNS blockchain versions employing multi-signature mechanisms. For instance, private keys can be divided into three parts: government, trusted third party, and user each holding one part. Domain addition, deletion, and modification require at least two key signatures for verification, helping prevent DDNS abuse or risks arising from user private key loss.

For public DDNS servers, collaboration with specific government departments or organizations can filter malicious DNS records, establishing specific green and trusted public DDNS servers that maintain service quality while ensuring appropriate content governance. This paper presents a comprehensive solution to the fundamental problems of DNS centralization, censorship, and security vulnerabilities through a novel blockchain-based decentralized domain name system. Building upon prior work in distributed consensus [ 38 ] , the DDNS implementation demonstrates that decentralized alternatives can achieve both security and performance requirements necessary for production deployment.

Our research delivers four primary contributions to the field of decentralized internet infrastructure: High-Performance Blockchain Design: DDNS achieves Max Theor. TPS 1,111.1 tx/s (minimal) / 266.7 tx/s (regular) throughput with 15-second block times, providing near real-time domain updates while maintaining cryptographic security. Universal DNS Compatibility: Support for 20 standard DNS record types enables seamless integration with existing internet infrastructure, bridging Web2 and Web3 ecosystems.

Economic Accessibility: Free .ddns domains eliminate financial barriers while cross-chain tokenomics create sustainable network incentives, democratizing access to decentralized internet services. Proven Anti-Censorship Capabilities: Real-world deployments demonstrate effectiveness in circumventing state-level DNS blocking and content censorship, with documented case studies from restrictive regimes.

The deployment of decentralized DNS technology requires careful consideration of regulatory frameworks and potential misuse. We advocate for balanced approaches that preserve the benefits of decentralization while implementing appropriate safeguards. Multi-signature governance mechanisms and selective content filtering represent viable paths toward responsible innovation that respects both individual rights and legitimate governmental interests.

The system provides a foundation for a more decentralized, secure, and free internet where users control their digital identity without dependence on centralized authorities. As adoption grows, network effects will strengthen resistance to censorship and improve overall internet resilience. Through continued development, community adoption, and responsible governance frameworks, blockchain-based DNS represents a critical step toward internet sovereignty and resistance to information control, ultimately contributing to a more open and accessible global information infrastructure.

We gratefully acknowledge Professor Sekhar Sarukkai and Professor Ryan Liu for their excellent guidance and instruction throughout the course. We also thank Professor Ross Burke from UC Berkeley’s School of Information for his guidance and support throughout this research. We also acknowledge the global community of miners, developers, and users who have contributed to the DDNS network development and testing phases.

The current Domain Name System (DNS), as a core infrastructure of the internet, exhibits several shortcomings: its centralized architecture leads to censorship risks and single points of failure, making domain name resolution vulnerable to attacks. The lack of encryption in the resolution process exposes it to DNS hijacking and cache poisoning attacks [ 1 ] . Additionally, the high operational costs limit participation and innovation among small to medium-sized users [ 2 ] . To address these issues, this paper proposes a Decentralized Domain Name Service (DDNS) based on blockchain (Phicoin [ 23 ] ) and distributed storage (IPFS). By leveraging the immutability of blockchain and the content verification of IPFS [ 3 ] , the system achieves decentralized storage and distribution of domain name records, eliminating the centralized dependencies of traditional DNS. With a block time of 15 seconds, the system supports rapid broadcasting of domain name updates, significantly improving resolution efficiency. The DDNS aims to serve as a complement or backup to the existing DNS system, providing a pollution-resistant, censorship-resistant, high-performance, and low-cost domain name resolution solution, offering a new technical path for the security and stability of the internet.

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a critical infrastructure of the internet, responsible for translating user-friendly domain names into machine-readable IP addresses [ 4 ] . It serves as the backbone of internet communication, enabling users to access websites and online services seamlessly. However, the traditional DNS system, due to its centralized architecture, has gradually exposed several limitations [ 5 ] : Single Point of Failure: Centralized authoritative and caching servers can lead to widespread service interruptions if they fail [ 6 ] .

Susceptibility to Censorship: The centralized architecture makes DNS services prone to control or interference, allowing manipulation of resolution records to restrict user access [ 7 ] . High Operational Costs: The substantial deployment and maintenance costs of authoritative and caching servers limit participation by small and medium-sized enterprises and individual users [ 2 ] .

DNS Hijacking: Attackers tamper with resolution records to redirect legitimate domain names to malicious IP addresses, luring users to phishing sites or ad pages [ 8 ] . DNS Cache Poisoning: Injection of forged resolution results into DNS server caches, causing users to be redirected to incorrect addresses [ 9 ] .

Censorship and Blocking: Modification or blocking of resolution requests to restrict access to specific domain names or content [ 10 ] . With the continuous growth of the internet, the centralized architecture of the traditional DNS system faces increasing challenges in security, reliability, and scalability [ 11 ] . Centralized authoritative servers not only become prime targets for network attacks and censorship but also affect the availability of domain name resolution services due to single points of failure [ 6 ] . Furthermore, attacks like DNS hijacking and cache poisoning exploit the lack of data integrity verification in traditional DNS systems, leading to tampered resolution records and severely threatening user security and privacy [ 12 ] .

These issues highlight the urgent need for a technical solution that can compensate for the shortcomings of the traditional DNS system. Decentralized technologies offer a new approach to domain name resolution systems [ 12 ] . By utilizing the distributed ledger and immutability of blockchain [ 13 ] , domain name records can be managed in a decentralized manner, avoiding single points of failure and data tampering. Combining this with IPFS’s distributed storage capabilities [ 14 ] , the storage and distribution of resolution records become more flexible and efficient, capable of meeting future complex DNS protocol extension needs. This paper aims to develop a Decentralized Domain Name Service (DDNS) that, through a decentralized architecture and cryptographic verification mechanisms, achieves pollution resistance, censorship resistance, high performance, and low cost in domain name resolution services, providing a reliable complement or alternative to the existing DNS system.

5. Performance Evaluation & Extended Technical Observations Existing decentralized DNS solutions like Ethereum Name Service (ENS) [ 15 ] and Namecoin [ 7 ] have made significant strides in enhancing privacy and censorship resistance. ENS: Utilizes the Ethereum blockchain to manage domain names ending with .eth , allowing users to associate metadata and cryptocurrency addresses with human-readable names [ 16 ] .

Namecoin: A fork of Bitcoin that enables the registration of .bit domains on its blockchain [ 7 ] . The DDNS system proposed in this paper introduces the Phicoin blockchain [ 23 ] , designed specifically for domain name services with a 15-second block time to enhance performance. The system focuses on fair participation, asset compatibility, and ultra-low costs, addressing the limitations of existing solutions by improving scalability and reducing operational expenses.

The DDNS system leverages blockchain and distributed storage technologies to decentralize domain name resolution. The key components include: Phicoin Blockchain: Used for domain asset binding and verification. It records domain name ownership and updates, ensuring immutability and transparency [ 23 ] .

IPFS (InterPlanetary File System): Used for distributed storage of resolution data. It stores domain resolution data (e.g., IP addresses), enabling decentralized retrieval of this information [ 14 ] . Economic Efficiency: Achieve ultra-low costs to encourage widespread adoption [ 23 ] . Fair Participation: Ensure equal opportunities for all participants without central nodes or masternodes [ 23 ] .

Phicoin utilizes the ASIC-resistant Phihash algorithm, mined using GPUs [ 23 ] . The value is determined by the user’s work contribution and recognition, promoting true decentralization through self-incentivization. Domain records are defined using JSON files, enabling flexibility and extensibility [ 15 ] . Users can extend these templates to include additional record types as needed, such as TLSA for DANE (DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities) records [ 19 ] .

Users create and host the domain configuration JSON files using an IPFS client [ 14 ] . In this study, Pinata’s free API is utilized, allowing management of up to 500 files—sufficient for typical domain resolution needs. Compatibility with Existing DNS: Ensure that traditional DNS queries are handled appropriately.

Registering pTLDs: Creation of new top-level domains on the Phicoin blockchain [ 23 ] . Disabling Subdomains: Deactivation of subdomains by updating the associated IPFS hash. Setting Domain Records: Updating the domain’s IPFS hash to point to the correct JSON configuration file. DNS Domain Resolution Forwarding Service: Handling traditional DNS queries by forwarding them to standard DNS servers.

DDNS Domain Resolution Service: Resolving DDNS domains using the Phicoin blockchain and IPFS. ddnsd.py : The primary daemon responsible for handling DNS queries. It interfaces with the Phicoin blockchain and IPFS to resolve domain names and return the results to clients. ddns_domain_registration.ipynb : A Jupyter Notebook that demonstrates how to register domains, manage subdomains, and update domain records on the blockchain.

Blockchain Interaction: Functions to interact with the Phicoin blockchain for querying domain assets and associated IPFS hashes [ 23 ] . DNS Server Integration: Implements a DNS server that can handle both traditional DNS and DDNS queries. Configuration Management: Tools for domain owners to create and update domain records.

In order to validate our Decentralized Domain Name Service (DDNS), we performed an end-to-end experiment covering record storage on IPFS, on-chain registration via the Phicoin blockchain, and final DNS resolution through a local proxy server. This section details each step, including the core Python code, transaction outputs, and relevant screenshots. Record Preparation: Construct JSON data for different DNS record types (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX).

IPFS Upload: Use Pinata’s API to store these JSON files, obtaining immutable content hashes. Blockchain Update: Broadcast each IPFS hash to the Phicoin network via set_domain_record , anchoring the domain name and record hash on-chain. DNS Proxy Query: Run nslookup commands against a custom DNS proxy (port 5553) to confirm correct resolution.

Below, we show two representative code segments. The first registers an A record (subdomain www.xxx.ddns → \to 1.2.3.4 ); the second registers an AAAA record ( ipv6.xxx.ddns → \to 2001:0000:130F:... ). Other record types (CNAME, MX) follow the same pattern. The update_result dictionary typically includes a result field containing one or more transaction hashes. For instance: Such a hash indicates the on-chain confirmation that www.xxx.ddns is now bound to the specified IPFS record.

Again, the update_result indicates a successful transaction broadcast. Figure 3 shows the Phicoin QT client listing these transaction IDs, signifying that each domain record update has been mined. After each upload, Pinata’s dashboard confirms the new content hash (Figure 4 ). Storing records in IPFS ensures tamper-evident distribution, thus avoiding a single point of failure in the DNS data layer.

Finally, we tested domain resolution via a custom DNS proxy on port 5553. Figure 5 illustrates nslookup queries for different subdomains (e.g., www.xxx.ddns , ipv6.xxx.ddns ), each returning correct addresses or canonical names. The IPFS hash is fetched from the Phicoin blockchain (eliminating centralized control). Each subdomain’s record is accurately mapped, whether it is an A, AAAA, CNAME, or MX record.

This testing confirms that our DDNS system reliably supports domain creation and updates across IPFS and the Phicoin blockchain, then provides correct DNS responses via a local proxy. The transaction hashes in update_result logs serve as irrevocable evidence of each record binding, while IPFS hashes guarantee data authenticity. Together, they form a robust foundation for a censorship-resistant, tamper-evident domain name service.

pTLD Operators: Control top-level domains (e.g., .ddns ) through ownership of the corresponding blockchain assets [ 23 ] . Subdomain Owners: Manage second-level domains under a pTLD, with rights transferred via blockchain transactions. Private Keys: Domain creation, modification, and deactivation require transactions signed with the owner’s private key [ 23 ] . Immutable Records: Domain records are bound to unique IPFS hashes, ensuring data integrity [ 14 ] .

Confidentiality: While the blockchain is transparent, sensitive data (like private keys) remain confidential [ 13 ] . Domain ownership changes require private key signatures, ensuring only authorized modifications. Integrity: The immutability of blockchain records and IPFS’s content-addressable storage ensure that domain records cannot be tampered with without detection [ 8 ] .

Availability: Decentralization eliminates single points of failure. Even if some nodes fail or are attacked, the system remains operational [ 21 ] . Local resolution using the blockchain and IPFS reduces reliance on external servers, mitigating hijacking risks [ 8 ] . Cryptographic verification of data authenticity prevents attackers from injecting false records [ 20 ] .

End-to-end data integrity verification ensures that only valid records are accepted [ 9 ] . The decentralized nature of the system reduces the effectiveness of poisoning attacks [ 8 ] . No central authority controls the domain records, making it difficult for adversaries to censor or block domains [ 10 ] . Users can run local nodes, accessing and sharing data without centralized intermediaries [ 18 ] .

Harvested Online Documentation & Reference Sources • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum%20Classic • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libp2p • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous%20P2P • https://github.com/Manoj-Kumar-BV/BlockChain-Based-DNS-System • https://arxiv.org/html/2508.05655v1 • https://arxiv.org/html/2412.01959v2