Handshake Ecosystem Update June 2026: ViaBTC Pool Closure & Namebase Wind-Down

Handshake (HNS) is experiencing a transitional period in early June 2026 with major service providers making significant announcements. In this Skyinclude update, we cover the discontinuation of ViaBTC's HNS pool, Namebase's full wind-down, and the ongoing opportunities for decentralization in the ecosystem.

Key Updates This Week

ViaBTC Discontinues HNS Mining Pool

On June 1, 2026, ViaBTC announced it would stop its Handshake mining pool services. The pool represented roughly half of the network hashrate, causing immediate concern and a price impact on HNS. While disappointing for many, this shift may encourage greater decentralization through smaller mining pools.

Namebase Winds Down Operations

Namebase announced it is fully winding down but has successfully returned user coins and names. Withdrawals for HNS, VTC, and registered names remain available. Many users expressed disappointment that Namebase will not reopen, though the core Handshake blockchain and protocol continue operating without interruption.

Community Sentiment and Opportunities

While these developments feel challenging, they present opportunities for further decentralization. Smaller pools like Cedric's continue operating and welcome new miners. Community-driven projects such as BobWallet, the Chrome extension, ShakeDex, and learnhns.com are gaining traction.

Ongoing discussions around HNS DNS records (including a recent pull request) and potential community takeovers of Namebase infrastructure highlight active development.

Action Items

Participate in the HNS DNS records discussion
Join the community and contribute to learnhns.com
Consider smaller decentralized mining pools
Explore self-hosted tools like BobWallet and ShakeDex

Full Transcript

Transcript from Skyinclude video recorded June 3, 2026:

User: Please be on. Maybe it's on. I'm not sure. Okay. I think it's on.

Alright. Auxiliary is gonna include most of the screen showing Open a new one.

Okay. Mike here asks Skye include Keeping you included in the Sky. You know, it's, uh, it's been a rough start of the week. It's of June 2026.

So maybe we start start with via BTC. So, actually, I I I and others saw it. They posted about handshake. End of May. About about it. It would look really cool, and, you know, a lot of us were excited. And then some reason, Monday, June 1, they tweet they're discontinuing their pool.

So, of course, that's that's not I mean, of course, some people might think it's good, but, you know, uh, it they're about half the pool. So they they made a tweet and an announcement that they're they're it, they emailed their users. So, yeah, of course, very, uh, I reached out to them through their support. Others have reached out. They they don't seem open to negotiate.

But the you know, there are others in the ecosystem that are are mining pools that maybe this is good for decentralization. Right? I mean, that is the good you could say out of this. Um, you can have your own opinion, but, of course, the the token or the coin has taken a hit.

Which is a bit disappointing. So that that's one, uh, I guess, bad news or news. And then yesterday on June 2, you know, there's good news on this, and there's some, you know, transitional news.

Name based, uh, a tweeted they're winding down fully, um, but they the good news is the the coins are back to them. Did work very hard with a lot of, you know, confidential things. I don't know most of it. And they got the coins back. So they're able to give it to the clients, the users, the holders of community. So that's definitely a win. Uh, what a lot of people are disappointed to read is they're not gonna reopen.

So they will keep withdrawals of the names which they had been doing and also the H and S coin and VTC. So you can read the comments. You can see the comments here. And, uh, you know, but again, like, you know, John says, it was always a confusion. People thought Namebase was handshake.

Handshake still works. I'm using it, you know, even all these months that namebase.io has been shut down. Uh, it's been fully operational There's been no downtime of the handshake blockchain or the protocol and the functions.

I've been building on it as you've maybe seen in other videos. But, of course, a lot of people are very disappointed and you know, I don't wanna read all of these comments. There's discussion of course about stake names. That's still in discussion. Potentially with headless domains and other others other discussions.

You know, here I want does support HNS token and domain, so that's a choice. Of course, there's BobWallet, which I've been I've been working on and there is the Chrome extension, people have been using and there's lots of other things But, basically, yeah, like, got a good point. Maybe maybe it can be handed over to the community That was actually just one hour ago.

As I record this video on 06/03/2026. That that is potentially maybe a way that could be done. But it's it's definitely a tough time. Mean, the whole crypto market is is is is in a tough time I would say.

Make your own again decisions. And just some people are saying, what about h a records? So this is the pull request we made, and there's lots of discussions on it. Finally, it looks like Simon says that we should do the full add even more records to make it secure because these wouldn't be TLSA with, you know, HTTPS.

So I did spend some time today to maybe keep that discussion going. Please participate of course, can check out our learnhns.com start page.

Appreciate it, You know, we have a fork of Bob with the learn version, which has Shape Decks, and we also have a Chrome extension with DNS records and Shape Dex. We have ShakeDex web. You can host your own. We're working on a way to swap We're working on a way for you to browse with the browser, and there's other browsers like pirate browser, We're working on a hosting, host.limo.

Using handout, which is something that's it can be made. Of course, you can contribute to the blog. Uh, we approve CINA like look. And some others. Love to see that. And, of course, join the community and participate.

So yeah, I mean, I want I feel, of course, I gotta make this video. I do think there's good and there's bad. Of course, a lot does seem bad. I'm not gonna sugarcoat that, but the good is maybe the smaller pot the smaller pools, like Cedric. I saw his tweet. I don't have it ready for this video. Maybe I'll get him on the show. He's got a a rather small pool.

In Henshake, he's continuing, and he says, hey, join my pool. This might support smaller more decentralized and mining pools in Handshake. It might support, you know, these open source decentralized projects such as Bob, maybe consider Hero Wallet. There's others others as well.

And maybe you can build a centralized solution. I think people seem to love centralized solutions on decentralized protocols. For some reason, people really want a centralized marketplace. Maybe maybe there will become a centralized Somebody will build maybe there will be some kind of community takeover of name base in some form.

Alright. Well, thank you tuning in It's definitely a test of the your, uh, your belief and, uh, a test in the ecosystem. So I I hope you can stay with us. The community is the most important asset in my opinion. And I'd I I hope I can help you as well, and let's just keep on pushing the ball forward for progress you know, it it's becoming more decentralized as we you know, like even me, I'm not I I'm not a founder. I didn't start this project. I I joined through the community, and I built, and I contributed, and I believe with especially AI and and the way the world's going.

These open source protocols and open open source development is the future, and I do think this can win first centralized smaller SNR. Centralized, more closed ecosystems. Whether that's ICANN and others or whether that is other other businesses. I believe that's the opportunity if you're watching, you think about an idea, I I'm working on that too with build my online store protocol standard, standards, open standards. It's the thing I'm I believe is is the future in the web, in the authentic web. This AI world. I love to hear your opinions, and thanks for watching. And let's keep on grinding. It's a grind for sure.

References

The core Handshake protocol remains fully operational. This moment tests the community's resilience and belief in decentralized, open-source development. Stay involved, contribute, and help build the future of the authentic web.