Happy holidays, Handshake community!

2025 has been a challenging year for the broader crypto market, and Handshake has certainly felt the impact—with HNS price action trending downward overall. Yet, amid the bear market, there have been plenty of bright spots and reasons for optimism. In this SkyInclude year-end review, let's highlight some key developments that show the resilience and potential of our decentralized naming protocol.

The "Great Expiring": Handshake Working as Designed

One of the biggest events of the year was the mass expiration of thousands of premium Handshake TLDs held by an early whale wallet. These names—many single-word gems—returned to the blockchain for open auctions because the owner failed to send the required heartbeat renewal transaction (a simple, low-cost update every two years).

• Some view this as a negative signal, suggesting OG holders are losing interest or access to their keys.
• Others (including me) see it as proof that Handshake is functioning exactly as intended: no perpetual squatting without minimal upkeep. Renewing those thousands of names would have cost the whale at most ~$30 in HNS at current prices—not a barrier for serious holders.
• Result? These premium TLDs are now accessible to active community members at a fraction of their 2020 auction prices. Plus, the event burned a significant amount of HNS through failed renewals, benefiting the ecosystem long-term.

This redistribution has injected fresh energy into auctions and name registrations.

A Truly Decentralized Global Community

The Great Expiring also revealed something exciting: Handshake's community is far broader and more decentralized than it sometimes feels in our smaller Telegram circles. We often joke that "we're the last ones left," but the surge in auction activity, support tickets to platforms like Namebase and ShakeStation, and engagement with tools like HSD and Bob Wallet proved otherwise.

People from all over the world—many we’ve never met—are still bidding, building, and participating. This reinforces what many OGs have always said: Handshake has achieved a genuinely decentralized community, without central points of control or failure.

The Rise of AI "Vibe Coding"

2025 marked the year when AI-assisted coding truly exploded. While tools existed before, the latest models from Claude, Google Gemini, and others reached new heights of capability—just in the last few months!

This shift is a massive opportunity for open, decentralized protocols like Handshake. Non-technical users (often called "domainers" in our community) can now rapidly prototype and build real applications. I've gone deep into "vibe coding" myself, and I predict an explosion of new Handshake-based tools and sites in the coming years.

Community Tools: Posting on @HNS

To empower more voices, we at SkyInclude built and launched a web app for community members to suggest and apply to post on the main @HNS X (Twitter) account. Check it out at www.21suggestions.com. It includes tiered access: submission for review or auto-approval for trusted contributors who've built rapport over time.

This helps amplify Handshake updates and keeps the official channel active in a decentralized way.

More Building Across the Ecosystem

Activity is picking up:

• Rush Browser has been iterating hard—native Handshake resolution, enhanced privacy, and more. Definitely worth checking out at RushBrowser.com.
• In various Telegram groups, non-technical folks are using AI to turn long-held ideas into reality.
• Overall, I'm seeing a wave of new applications from domainers-turned-builders.

At SkyInclude, we're cooking several projects behind the scenes (not ready to unveil yet—stay tuned for 2026!). We're also bridging tools from our Global From Asia e-commerce community into web3 via Handshake.

HandyCon 2026: Save the Date!

We can't wait for our 6th annual HandyCon this March! The SkyInclude team is lining up speakers and sponsors. Mark your calendars and check for updates at handycon.xyz/speaker.

There's so much more happening under the surface. SkyInclude remains fully committed—we're still here building. 2025 hasn't been easy for Handshake or web3 broadly: market downturns, scams affecting friends, and even winding down operations at projects like Hamza due to funding challenges.

Yet, I firmly believe a decentralized internet is the future. In a world facing increasing censorship, we can't rely on web2 for our children's online freedom.

It's up to us to keep building and carrying the torch. Let's make 2026 Handshake's breakout year—aiming for that 10x comeback together!

What was your highlight of 2025 in Handshake? Share in the comments or on X.

Onward,

Mike @ SkyInclude