While blockchains publicly display wallet addresses by default, these long strings are not friendly for everyday use. Onchain naming systems like Basenames solve this by letting users register human-readable names (for example, “alice.base”). Beyond simple naming, onchain identity can be extended through verifications and attestations that prove additional facts (e.g., that a user is a verified account holder or resides in a specific country). Here, you’ll learn how Basenames and onchain verifications work together to make your app more user-friendly and trustworthy.

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Why Identity Matters

Address Readability: By default, wallet addresses are long, unreadable hex strings. Onchain names (like “alice.base”) make it easier to identify recipients or users.
Trust Without Privacy Risk: Attestations/Verifications allow your app to trust certain user attributes—without exposing personal data offchain.

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Basenames

Human-Readable Names for addresses on Base (akin to DNS for IPs)
Unified Identity: Users can register names, add a profile picture, and display them across all apps they connect to
Reduced Friction: Helps unify an onchain identity and reduce user friction

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Onchain Verifications

The Challenge: The chain can’t natively see offchain data (e.g., your nationality or membership status).
The Solution: Verifications let you post attestations onchain so other contracts can read them without privacy risks. For example, prove you’re a Coinbase user, or a resident of a certain country, and automatically unlock special privileges in dapps.