Fistbump Glossary

B

Balloon Hashing: A provably memory-hard proof-of-work function proposed by Boneh, Corrigan-Gibbs, and Schechter (ASIACRYPT 2016). Fistbump uses it with a 512 MB scratchpad per proof attempt. Unlike earlier memory-hard functions (Scrypt, Ethash), Balloon Hashing's memory-hardness is formally proven — memory cannot be traded for additional computation.
Bech32: The address encoding used by Fistbump. Mainnet addresses use the human-readable part fb (e.g. fb1q...). Bech32 has built-in error detection and readable-on-paper encoding.

C

Covenant: A typed data structure attached to every Fistbump transaction output that encodes the output's role in the naming protocol. Covenant types include OPEN, BID, REVEAL, REDEEM, REGISTER, UPDATE, RENEW, TRANSFER, FINALIZE, and REVOKE. Covenants enforce the auction state machine without a Turing-complete scripting runtime.

D

DANE: DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities. A mechanism (RFC 6698) that uses TLSA DNS records to bind TLS certificates to domain names, providing certificate validation without a certificate authority. Fistbump supports TLSA records natively on-chain, allowing DANE validation rooted in the blockchain rather than the web PKI.
DNS: The Domain Name System. Maps human-readable names to IP addresses and is the entry point for nearly all internet communication. Fistbump serves standard DNS queries from its own root zone.
DNS Root Zone: The top of the DNS hierarchy, managed by IANA and served by thirteen root server operators. It delegates authority to TLD operators, who delegate to accredited registrars. Fistbump replaces this centrally managed zone with a public blockchain.
DNSSEC: A set of extensions to DNS (RFC 4033-4035) that cryptographically sign DNS records to prevent forgery. Fistbump uses DNSSEC proofs on-chain to gate premium (short) name registration, requiring proof of ownership of the corresponding ICANN domain.

F

FBC: The native currency of Fistbump. 1 FBC = 1,000,000 bumps. Total supply is 1,051,200,000 FBC, with an initial block reward of 500 FBC halving every ~4 years. The genesis block reward is burned and there is no pre-mine, ICO, or airdrop.
fbd: The reference Fistbump full node implementation, written in Swift. Validates the chain, participates in P2P networking, serves authoritative DNS from chain state, and includes a wallet and built-in CPU miner. Controlled via the fbdctl CLI over JSON-RPC.

I

IANA: The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, a function of ICANN that manages the DNS root zone, IP address allocation, protocol parameter registries, and other core internet identifiers. Fistbump replaces IANA's role in root zone management.
ICANN: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the non-profit that governs the domain name system. Delegates authority to hundreds of accredited registrars; a new generic TLD application costs $185,000. All existing ICANN TLDs are reserved at Fistbump genesis to avoid namespace collisions.

M

Memory-hard: A function whose evaluation requires a large amount of memory, where memory cannot be traded for additional computation. Memory-hard proof-of-work narrows the efficiency gap between commodity hardware and specialized mining devices because DRAM costs are similar whether on an ASIC package or in a desktop DIMM.

P

Premium Name: In Fistbump, any name of 6 bytes or fewer. Opening an auction for a premium name requires a DNSSEC proof of ownership of the corresponding domain under a qualifying ICANN TLD: com, net, org, gov, io, app, dev, or xyz. Premium names are available at genesis and not subject to the rollout schedule.
Proof of Work (PoW): A cryptographic puzzle that is computationally expensive to solve but cheap to verify. Used to secure blockchains against Sybil attacks by binding block production to physical resource expenditure. Fistbump uses Balloon Hashing, a memory-hard PoW.

S

Subdomain: A name registered under a TLD. Fistbump supports fully on-chain subdomains (e.g. example.fistbump), each with independent ownership, records, auction history, and renewal lifecycle. A TLD owner enables subdomain auctions by setting the auctionSubdomains flag, which is permanent once set.

T

Top-Level Domain (TLD): The last segment of a domain name (e.g. .com, .org). In Fistbump, any name not reserved by ICANN can be registered as a TLD through a Vickrey auction, subject to DNSSEC proof requirements for premium (short) names.
TLSA Record: A DNS record type (RFC 6698) used by DANE to bind a TLS certificate to a domain name. Fistbump TLSA records include port (UInt16), protocol (TCP/UDP/SCTP), DANE usage, selector, matching type, and certificate data. The fbd DNS server synthesizes the standard DANE owner name (_port._proto.name) for TLSA queries.

U

Urkel Tree: A base-2 Merkleized radix trie used by Fistbump to store name state. Keys are 32-byte SHA3-256 hashes of names. The tree root is committed in every block header, enabling light clients to verify name ownership and records with compact inclusion and exclusion proofs without downloading the full chain.
UTXO: Unspent Transaction Output. Fistbump uses a UTXO model like Bitcoin: every transaction consumes previous outputs and creates new ones. Every Fistbump UTXO carries a covenant encoding its role in the naming protocol.

V

Vickrey Auction: A sealed-bid, second-price auction. The highest bidder wins but pays the second-highest bid, making truthful bidding the dominant strategy. Fistbump uses Vickrey auctions for all name registrations, enforced entirely by on-chain covenants with a four-phase lifecycle: OPEN, BID, REVEAL, REGISTER.