---
title: "OpenAlias"
date: 2021-07-01
tags: ["server"]
---

## The Problem

Cryptocurrency can be unintuitive. After all, look at this annoying
Monero address of ours:

- `84RXmrsE7ffCe1ADprxLMHRpmyhZuWYScDR4YghE8pFRFSyLtiZFYwD6EPijVzD3aZiEpg57MfHEr1pGJNPXyJgENMnWrSh`

It breaks up pages and looks ugly. When you copy and paste it to send
money, you might be paranoid that you somehow added an extra character
in there. That\'s all around a bad user experience.

### It would be nice\...

It would be nice if we could just input someone\'s email address or
maybe a website and send Bitcoin or Monero to that instead. So instead
of that long jumble, it would be easier to just type in someone\'s
website or email and sending them money that way.

## The Solution

The [OpenAlias](https://openalias.org/) standards are just that. It uses
[DNS](/basic/dns) settings, which you know something about, to link a
website or an email address with a cryptocurrency address. It allows
someone to simply put `chad.thesiah.xyz` or `chad@thesiah.xyz` as a payment
recipient and that will direct to that long address above.

The default Monero wallet and Bitcoin\'s Electrum are already compatible
with OpenAlias, as are a growing group of wallet software.

## Let\'s do it.

Open up your domain registar and open up your DNS settings for the
website you would like to add.

Open the **TXT record** section. Now, create an entry with text like
that below:

```txt
oa1:xmr recipient_address=84RXmrsE7ffCe1ADprxLMHRpmyhZuWYScDR4YghE8pFRFSyLtiZFYwD6EPijVzD3aZiEpg57MfHEr1pGJNPXyJgENMnWrSh; recipient_name=SiCh;
```

Obviously change the address to your desired address and you may also
give a proper name for yourself (this may be multiple words). Note that
the entry above is **all one line**.

Now create a new TXT entry and input this text into the **TXT Value**
input box. Note here that I have create two entries:

{{< img alt="openalias" src="/pix/openalias-01.png" link="/pix/openalias-01.png" >}}

One entry\'s \"Host\" is left empty, this will allow people to send
Monero by merely typing `chad.thesiah.xyz`.

The second entry has \"chad\" as the \"Host\"; this will allow people to
send money to `chad@thesiah.xyz`, i.e. this is how you allow people to
connect a Monero address with an email address.

### Checking to see if it works\...

Let\'s check to see if it works. In the Monero wallet, we can now type
in `chad.thesiah.xyz` as a recipient:

{{< img alt="checking" src="/pix/openalias-02.png" link="/pix/openalias-02.png" >}}

And once we press the \"Resolve\" button, it automatically turns into
that address we gave to the DNS!

{{< img alt="It works!" src="/pix/openalias-03.png" link="/pix/openalias-03.png" >}}

Now people can donate Monero to you without having to worry about QR
codes or copying-and-pasting super-long public addresses!

### Now with Bitcoin!

OpenAlias was originally developed for Monero, but since it\'s such a
good idea, Bitcoin wallets have implemented it as well, so let\'s add
some TXT entries for Bitcoin. The OpenAlias TXT records have the same
format, except for the **xmr** at the beginning is replaced with **btc**
and obviously we use a Bitcoin address instead of Monero.

```txt
oa1:btc recipient_address=bc1q9f3tmkhnxj8gduytdktlcw8yrnx3g028nzzsc5; recipient_name=SiCh;
```

Add the TXT entries in and save:

{{< img alt="bitcoin openalias entries" src="/pix/openalias-04.png" link="/pix/openalias-04.png" >}}

And we can then check that it\'s working by trying to send money to
`chad.thesiah.xyz` in Electrum. See that it automatically appends the
address!

{{< img alt="electrum resolves an openalias" src="/pix/openalias-05.png" link="/pix/openalias-05.png" >}}

And that\'s it. Now users can easily send your website or email address
Bitcoin or Monero without having to worry about hard to read addresses
and QR codes.