- IOTA launched “IOTA Names” on January 12, 2026: human-readable on-chain names are intended to simplify transfers and reduce errors.
- There will be an X-Space at 2:00 p.m. CET for the launch.
On Monday, January 12, 2026, IOTA announced the launch of IOTA Names, an on-chain naming service that replaces wallet addresses with human-readable names to simplify transfers and identity representation in the IOTA ecosystem. In the announcement via X, the IOTA Foundation writes:
“Your onchain identity just got a whole lot easier. IOTA Names is live today, delivering human-readable names that make sending and receiving IOTA and more much easier.”
For the launch, the IOTA Foundation has announced an X-Space at 2:00 p.m. CET, in which the scope of functions and how to get started will be explained.
Your onchain identity just got simpler.@iotanames is live today, providing human-readable names that make sending and receiving $IOTA and more a lot easier.
We’re unpacking what it unlocks & how to get started.
Join the X Space today, 2PM CEThttps://t.co/3nzYEDRxZx pic.twitter.com/nc95h7dSZE
— IOTA (@iota) January 12, 2026
IOTA addresses finally become readable
As known from Ethereum and other networks, IOTA Names will allow the registration of readable names in the style of “dom.iota” instead of long addresses and is intended to reduce sources of errors in transfers and map identity on the network more easily.
It is important for users and developers to know that name resolution is not “magic” but is addressable at the protocol/API level. In the IOTA documentation, for example, there is a GraphQL query to resolve an IOTA name to an address (“resolveIotaNamesAddress”).
Dedicated methods also appear in the TypeScript SDK API, including lookup, reverse lookup and finding “registration NFTs” for an address. This means that registrations are mapped as on-chain objects/NFTs and can be managed programmatically.
The testnet version was already promoted by the IOTA Foundation with functions such as subdomains and an auction system. The IOTA Names account on
“Over 7,000 addresses have already been auctioned. Auctions are intended to serve as a fair launch mechanism when the mainnet launches. Afterwards, names can be purchased immediately.”
In October, the official account promoted IOTA Names as a scarce on-chain commodity: “The next wave of digital assets aren’t tokens, they’re names. Short, clean onchain names are becoming prime digital real estate. The pattern is clear: Simplicity → Scarcity → Value.”
High secondary market sales from other naming systems are sometimes cited as a reference. For example, paradigm.eth sold for 420 ETH ($1.5 million), 000.eth for 300 ETH ($317,000), abc.eth for 90 ETH ($253,000), cat.sol for more than 7,000 SOL ($150,000), and sui.sui for around $45,000.
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