Trading names: aliases & domains
An alias is a short human name that resolves to a wallet; a domain is the on-chain authority to carry a DNS mail domain. Both are real, transferable on-chain assets — which means both have a resale market. This page is the map of that market; the mechanics of each move live in the per-name how-tos it links to.
Three ways to sell
A name can leave your hands three ways, depending on whether you have a buyer in mind and how you want price discovery to work:
| You want to… | Use | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Offer a name to whoever pays first, at a set price | The marketplace’s listing form1 | aliases + domains |
| Let buyers bid the price up over a window | Auction (alias sell --auction) | aliases |
| Hand a name to one specific buyer for an agreed fee | Escrowed transfer / domain transfer | aliases + domains |
A listing and an auction name nobody in particular — the market decides who wins. An escrowed transfer is a private, two-party deal: you name the buyer and the price, and only they can take it. All three settle in SOL and take the standard 90/10 split between the seller and the postoffice on the sale proceeds.
What a domain sale actually sells
Buying an alias buys a name. Buying a domain buys a revenue stream: the authority that carries a DNS domain’s inbound mail also collects that domain’s share of every settlement its mail produces, so a domain listing is really an offer to sell that future income. The Economics chapter traces exactly what a domain authority earns.
Buying a name
Browsing and buying is the mirror image: the marketplace pane lists every name currently offered, and a click buys one (signed with your own browser or hardware wallet).2 Purchases are public — the buyer, the price, and the transaction are all on-chain (see What’s public and private).
Beyond names: renting your attention
Selling a name is a one-time transfer of an asset you own. If you would rather keep earning from something you don’t give up — your own inbox — that is what campaigns are for: opt into the participant pool and advertisers pay you, message by message, to reach you.
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From the terminal: List for sale (
alias sell --price) / domain sell. ↩ -
From the terminal,
alias buy/domain buytake a name that is currently listed. ↩