[util idea] "nickname"-to-"wallet address" mapping service

[bosky101]

I'm new to bitcoins & this forum. i'd illustrate why a name-to-address mapping may make sense, i'd like to give three scenario's

scenario 1

johndoe: "send the bitcoin to 1QAfxjCwKozH6kVmTY6DdJzvtUc2X2YKvg"

scenario 2

johndie: "send the bitcoin to http://acmeapp.tld/johndoe"

are there any services that do this ?

a more secure & de-centralized method that takes in an openid site instead could be

scenario 3

johndie: "send the bitcoin to johndoe.myopenid.com"

either way, i fail to see why we need long wallet addresses.

infact i'm considering a simple app that maps nickname to wallet address with a REST api to return the result in plaintext/json/xml

thoughts & comments welcome

~B

[whiskers75]

This is a really good idea, blockchain.info does this but does not provide a nice API to get address labels.

[John (John K.)]

Well, there's services like: https://btc.to/

[bosky101]

This is a really good idea, blockchain.info does this but does not provide a nice API to get address labels.

thanks, will check out what block chain's api does.

Well, there's services like: https://btc.to/

Just checked it out, it's more like link shortening.

Even link shortening with custom strings wont suffice, if ownership is based on first-come-first-serve rather than openid/oauth.

eg: anyone can attempt to claim johndoe, but only the real johndoe will be authenticated for johndoe.myopenid.com, thus completing the authentication & claiming it for real.

~B