"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

          -- Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities”

The starting point

          Technological breakthroughs sometimes are unexpected. When Bill Gates proudly unveiled Windows 95, it could be difficult for him to imagine that functions that only a heavy computer could process and execute would be contained within a smartphone 20 years later. The same applies to blockchain: Fourteen years after Satoshi Nakamoto published his whitepaper, some in the traditional internet industry still disapprove the functions, or even the very existence, of Blockchain.

          It’s very true that the first 10 years of blockchain, or crypto, is mostly about speculation. Many have made a fortune via blockchain, and those have influenced an increasing number of newcomers who simply want to follow in their footsteps and make a big flip. The technology itself, unfortunately, became the target of blame when the “bubble” burst.

          Yet financialization has NEVER been the spirit of blockchain. Different than previously invented technology, Blockchain is about eternity, transparency, and mutual trust; it’s an anticensorship mechanism that ensures what we hope to keep on-chain is not easily subject to change. A decentralized system ensures that no single entity will have control over the collective record. If we want to keep something personal, such as a poem, a love letter, or a memorable group photo, permanently (maybe until the human extinction? lol), Blockchain is THE choice.

Whistleblower – the story behind the creation of Redletter

          Blockchain is also where we turn to if we want to permanently preserve a chapter of history.

          When COVID first began to spread in China in early 2020, a well-known whistleblower named Doctor Wenliang Li, who worked at Wuhan Hospital and saw the first few COVID cases, published an article on an online forum reminding everyone to protect themselves from this potentially lethal virus. However, the local government which worried about his influence and the public narrative about the pandemic, detained him in custody and forced him to publicly state that what he said was a “lie”.

          We know the rest of the story. Dr. Li was not a liar – COVID spread, people died, and he was then released and sent back to the hospital to save patients’ lives. Dr. Li, unfortunately, passed away a month later due to the contagious virus. To honor whistleblowing and to express condemnation of the government, some crypto-native people created a chunk of source codes in the shape of a monument on Ethereum in memorial of the hero （See: https://etherscan.io/address/0x6e46d3ab7335fffb0d14927e0b418cc08fe60505#code).

          I’m convinced that this indeed is the best way to honor such a great man and his heroic act. His name, actions, and the moment in time will be recorded forever - no authority or individual can erase this "dissonance" from history, as they have in the past. It wasn't until that moment that I realized the spirit that blockchain carries and many have pursued. Not everyone has the technical know-how to create records like this using smart contracts. It would be great if there is a user-friendly platform that enables everyday people to create such records!

Redletter.eth

          So I just went ahead and started to build with a group of like-minded people, even in the bear market. Redletter.eth, the project I mentioned countlessly on the ENS Updates show I cohost every morning, is finally ready.

          Redletter.eth is a Web3 tool with great UX that enables users to create permanent personal or public records on-chain. Every memorable moment or personal milestone, including marriage, promotions, and graduations, can be submitted via this Redletter.eth and permanently recorded on the Ethereum network (and Polygon, if you want to save some gas fee), along with the corresponding NFTs/SBTs minted.

          The first thing that came to mind was on-chain marriage registration. Each country has its own marriage registration system and issues certificates that cannot be used in another jurisdiction. As a result, having Barbie.eth and Ken.eth marry and be certified under Redletter.eth appears to be a more reasonable option, as we can create a universal marriage certificate for them. Following that, I discovered that Redletter.eth could be used for events other than weddings, promotions, and graduations because all significant events can be recorded by 42-length hash addresses or ENS names. Through the automatic NFTs/SBTs-making process, users can create their own SBTs that stay on the account forever (and can be destroyed with all parties’ consent, of course) and NFTs that they can trade on platforms like Opensea.

          As a web3 tool, Redletter.eth makes people more accessible to the on-chain ceremonies. A unique permanent digital badge (Soul Bound Token, in this case) will be given to anyone who attends or congratulates these events to highlight their participation. On the blockchain, you can archive important life events as well as your own writings and pictures.

Future potential

          As a domain degen from the.com era, I'm well aware of the vulnerabilities of a Web2 domain. For an HTTPS website, a typical setup is “TLD domain -> IP address -> web server (cloud) -> database server (cloud).” The configuration is vulnerable as every node on this chain is subject to attacks or phishing.

          For a Web3 domain, a typical setup is “ENS domain (Redletter.eth) -> IPFS (decentralized web content) -> smart contract (on Ethereum).” As every step is decentralized, it can last for, maybe, 5000 years?

          It’s still the best time to BUILD!