Claiming a Name
This page is for the moment when you are ready to register.
Search for the name first
Type the name into the homepage search bar. The app will tell you whether it is available, already taken, reserved, or listed for sale.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Available | Nobody owns this name. You can claim it. |
| For Sale | Somebody owns it and has listed it. You can buy it. |
| Registered | Taken and not currently for sale. |
| Reserved | Protected for a brand, project, or community. Requires an unlock code. |
| Blocked | Permanently unavailable. |
Both .zcash and .zec refer to the same underlying name.
The claim flow
- Search for a name that is marked Available.
- Enter the Zcash unified address the name should point to.
- Let the site generate the ZIP-321 payment request.
- Open that request in your wallet and send the transaction.
- Wait for confirmation and indexer processing.
Once the claim lands, the name is live in the registry.
The matching zcash.me profile is also created automatically. You can add a bio, links, and avatar later.
If you want to confirm quickly, search for the name in the Explorer and look for the CLAIM event.
Important expectations
- Claims are first-come, first-served. If two people race for the same name, the first confirmed transaction wins.
- Use a unified address. Only unified addresses include the Orchard receiver needed for ZNS. See Address Types.
- Names are permanent. There are no renewals.
- Pricing is tiered by name length. See Pricing.
Wallet requirements
Your wallet needs to support:
- ZIP-321 payment URIs
- Orchard shielded transactions
- verbatim memos
See Wallet Compatibility.
After you claim
Two things are true:
- your name is real once the claim confirms
- wallet resolution is not live yet
So if you cannot type the name into a wallet recipient field today, that does not mean your claim failed. It means the wallet-side resolution rollout is still ahead of us.
For the post-claim walkthrough, go to Managing Names.
If the name does not appear
Three common causes:
- The indexer has not caught up to the block yet.
- Someone else claimed the name first.
- The wallet altered the memo bytes before broadcast.
If none of those fit, bring the txid to the community channels or open an issue.