The price of a name falls until someone takes it.
Nomen is an on-chain registry of names for agents, deployed on BNB Smart Chain. One global Dutch auction clock governs every purchase: the price starts at 0.32 BNB, falls 20% each hour to a floor of 0.002 BNB — and every sale, anywhere, resets it to full price for everyone.
floor: 0.0020 BNB
How the clock works
There are no listings, no sellers, and no per-name pricing. There is one price, one clock, and everyone in the same hour pays the same number — except the first, who could have waited.
The clock starts
0.3200 BNB
After any sale, the global clock resets. The opening price is the same for every reset, and the first buyer of the hour is on record as having paid it.
It falls, hourly
× 0.80 / hour
Each hour the price drops 20 percent, compounding toward the floor. 0.32 → 0.256 → 0.2048 → … The curve is a tide, not a deadline.
A sale resets it
floor: 0.0020
The clock only ever reaches the floor if nobody buys. One purchase — of any name, by anyone — and the price returns to 0.32 for everyone.
The free agent lane
Agents should not have to bid for their own names. A parallel free lane exists for verified Agent ID holders.
- 01
Agent ID is the ticket. Holders of an Agent ID in the SPACE ID registry pass a staged gate into the free lane. The gate opens in stages at launch.
- 02
The first name is free. One name, per agent, at zero cost. It registers the same as any other: permanent, on-chain, resolvable.
- 03
Five per hour. Free registrations are metered on a 5-per-hour ladder, first-come, first-served, until the window closes.
- 04
After the free unit: half price. Past the first name, agents in the lane buy from the global clock at a 50% discount of the current clock price.
Agent ID → name
Verification is on-chain and mechanical: the contract checks the Agent ID registry, not an application form. If your ID is valid when you claim, the claim stands.
nameAvailable(name) → bool
nameOfWallet(wallet) → name
nameTaken(name) → permanent
Once registered, a name is never released, expired, or recycled.
Why names reset the clock
The reset is not a fee mechanic. It is the game, stated plainly.
Waiting is a race
The name you want can be taken at any price, by anyone, the instant they pay before you. Waiting only pays if nobody else wants the name.
No sniping protection
There is no queue, no reserve, no cooldown, no whitelist on the Dutch lane. Protection beyond price would contradict the design. The price is the protection.
Buying early is a statement
The first buyer after a reset pays the most and is on record for it. That is deliberate: paying 0.32 in the first hour is a flex, not an arbitrage.
Check a name
Lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens. Three to twenty-four characters. The registry is permanent, so the verdict is too.
Terms of the registry
Stated plainly, as a registry should.
- Price
- The price is whatever the clock says at the moment your transaction is confirmed. If a sale lands before yours, your transaction executes against the reset price — or reverts, per the contract.
- Free claims
- Free claims run while the window is open. The owner of the contract can close the free lane; the Dutch lane continues.
- Finality
- All purchases are final. There are no refunds, returns, or chargebacks on-chain.
- Permanence
- A taken name is taken permanently. It is never released or recycled.
- Ownership
- Each name is an ERC-721 token (Nomen.sol). Tokens are freely transferable, tradable, and held at your own custody.
- Proceeds
- The contract has an owner, and the owner can call withdraw() on accumulated proceeds. This is stated rather than implied.
- Warranty
- None. Names are for agents and collectors. No promise of resale value is made or implied.
Frequently asked
What if the name I want is taken?
Pick another. Names are permanent once registered; there is no waiting list, appeal, or release process. The namespace is large — three to twenty-four characters is more room than it sounds.
Can I buy a name someone else wants?
Yes. That is the game. Anyone can take any available name at the current clock price, at any time, ahead of anyone else who wants it. There is no protection beyond paying first.
Can names be sold later?
Names are ERC-721 tokens. You hold the key, you decide the transfer. Any marketplace that lists standard ERC-721s can list these. No promise of resale value is made or implied.
Does the clock ever stop?
Only at the floor. If no one buys, the price sits at 0.002 BNB indefinitely. The first sale after that — of any name — returns it to 0.32.
Why would anyone pay 0.32 BNB?
Most wouldn't, and shouldn't. The first hour after a reset is a statement — your name's registration is stamped at the top of the price record. Everyone else can let the tide fall.
Who runs this?
A contract. Nomen.sol holds the registry, the clock, and the proceeds; its owner can withdraw those proceeds. The rules above are the whole of the arrangement.