I can still access the site:
https://www.namecoin.org/Namecoin Core Name Renew GUI
Namecoin Core Name Renew GUI
Dec 5, 2020 • Jeremy Rand
Now that Namecoin Core’s name_list GUI is merged to master branch (it’ll be in the v22.0 release!), it’s time to move on to renewing names. As with the name_list GUI, I’m trying to follow the principles of (1) keeping PR’s small, and (2) keeping all the interesting logic in the RPC method rather than the GUI.
In service of principle 1, I’m not touching the “Configure Name” GUI, nor am I touching the “Renew Name” button; this only adds the right-click context menu for renewing names. In service of principle 2, yanmaani has done the excellent work of adding a renew mode to the name_update RPC method, which simplifies the GUI logic considerably.
https://www.namecoin.org/2020/12/05/namecoin-core-name-renew-gui.htmlSo they are still much very active this 2020,
https://www.namecoin.org/news/, lots of things going on behind.
Historically, it started as a discussion about BitDNS->Namecoin
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitdns-and-generalizing-bitcoin-1790That's weird. I've had a lot of trouble accessing the site a couple of days ago, only to find out that now it's back online. It seems to me that the official site is the only place where the team is posting the project's latest updates/announcements. If they want NMC to reach greater adoption in the mainstream world, they're going to need to spread the word out there across social media sites.
What I've noticed is that CoinMarketCap lists Namecoin (NMC) as an IOST token. But the official site doesn't indicate such change. The project may still be living on its own blockchain, although I'm not sure if the team has decided to migrate to an existent blockchain yet. Prices per NMC are dirt cheap these days considering the features it provides. I remember when NMC was worth well above $1 per coin on the market. Those where the good days when the crypto community was extremely vibrant, delivering real usability instead of hype. With ETH in play right now, I doubt NMC will be able to gain traction on the market once more. After all, it's possible to create decentralized domain names on the ETH blockchain via the use of ENS. NMC could lose interest from people in the mainstream world, as they focus on big players within the crypto market.
At least, I'm relieved to see some updates related to the project's development on the official site. It tells me that the project is still alive and supported by the community. We'll have to see what happens with the project in the future as new projects come into play. Hopefully, Namecoin will be able to survive alongside other old coins like Bitcoin and Litecoin for years to come. Just my opinion