Former DeFi protocol Synthetix developer Liam Zebedee has developed a method to enable cryptocurrency users to access Tornado Cash blockchain protocols, which have been deemed entirely inaccessible.

What is this creation ?

Dappnet is an application network that Zebedee has introduced (1). It claims to offer access to decentralized apps by combining the Ethereum Name Service, which assigns names and web domains for crypto addresses, with IPFS, a decentralized hosting service.

What’s so different about it?

Although blockchain apps may be used directly, you can turn off their front-end services, which include the website you use to connect with the protocol. When the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash (2), its front-end website was shut down. As a result, while engineers may still engage with it, the typical person finds it entirely unreachable. By basically building a decentralized front end for any blockchain application, Dappnet is intended to address this problem.

All of this put together, means that for the first time ever we can own a place on the Internet that can’t be taken away from us, and doesn’t rely on a single host who dictates what is allowed.

I think that will have a profound impact for the web

— Liam (@liamzebedee) October 6, 2022

How does it work?

When a user clicks the Dappnet application on their PC, it directs them to an IPFS-hosted version of the application. On the user’s computer, it runs the Ethereum Name Service domain and, in the background, an IPFS node that shares data with other IPFS nodes peer-to-peer. Through a Direct message, Ouriel Ohayon, CEO of cryptocurrency wallet ZenGo (4), said,

“I haven’t tested it, but it looks like a promising way to access web3 apps ‘locally’ without the need of a trusted third party Like a hosting service which we know can and would be taken down by legal order.