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Note: hyperchains have been officially renamed subnets. Learn more here.
Hyperchains exist within a larger web3 universe. There are several considerations to take when proposing a name for open-source scaling infrastructure for Stacks. At Hiro, we believe in the following approach:
- The name should be something that our community is comfortable with and has broad support.
- The name should be descriptive as opposed to abstract. Descriptive names (i.e. Fastchain) quickly convey what the product does whereas abstract names (i.e. Bimbanet) are creative and do not convey the intent of the product. A descriptive name will also make it easier for others in the community to build their own brand on top of the more generic term (see more below).
- The Stacks community should be involved in the process — this is an open-source project after all!
Brand naming conventions vary across web3 projects, L2s in particular. For example, popular Ethereum L2s tend to have more abstract names (e.g. Boba, Aztec). In the Bitcoin world, open-source projects and applications often have abstract, lightning-related themes or derivative names such as Bolt and Voltage. Hyperchains, of course, is a descriptive name quickly conveying its intention. It was a good name—too bad we weren’t the first ones to think so.
We want the hyperchains project to stand on its own and have a descriptive name that implies function while also separating us from existing projects on Bitcoin. That’s why we’re suggesting a pivot back to the original term for it: subnets.
Learn more about subnets and the difficulty of scaling a blockchain network on our YouTube channel:
Why We Like the Name “Subnets”
We strongly recommend pivoting the name “hyperchains” back to “subnets” for a handful of reasons.
- Subnets were one of the original names considered for hyperchains, so it is a term the Stacks community is already familiar and comfortable with.
- Subnets are a descriptive name and help convey the function of this scaling infrastructure.
- Subnet is also a term for L2s in the Avalanche protocol— increasing the likelihood that more Web3 developers will be familiar with the concept from the get go.
- When Stacks community members or orgs want to roll out their own subnet, they’ll be able to easily brand it with their own name versus fighting with an existing Stacks L2 brand, i.e. “Startup X’s subnet”.
Next Steps: Join the Conversation
We’re not finalizing this pivot just yet. We want to give the Stacks community ample time to weigh in on the new (or old) name for hyperchains. Here’s how you can join the conversation.
- If you have questions or comments, tune in to the Hyperchains AMA on August 11th 3pm EST on Twitter (you will find the event at our account @hirosystems). You can submit questions live in the Twitter Spaces event or ahead of time via this form. Set a reminder for the AMA here.
- Add your thoughts to this forum post.
We hope to finalize the new name by the end of August.
If you’re excited about the name subnets like we are, share a subnets meme on Twitter and use the #subnetmemes hashtag and tag us @hirosystems. Here’s a meme from Hiro to get your brainstorming started.
