Purpose of the Address Resolver Document

To use the DARP protocol in a supported application a user must register a DID Document that includes a service endpoint that DARP compliant applications (wallets, dApps, browsers, etc) can use to access an Address Resolver Document (ARD) which stores resolution information for a given Address Name. An example of how the Address Resolver Document may be structured is as follows:

{
  "addressName": "myname.address",
  "addresses": [{
    "ada": "addr123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrst",
    "btc": "1PC9aZC4hNX2rmmrt7uHTfYAS3hRbph4UN",
    "http": "www.myname.com"
  }],
  "subNames": [{
    "addressName": "iohk.myname.address",
    "addresses": [{
      "ada": "addrabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123",
      "http": "54.206.19.82",
      "gps": "22.277478493216226, 114.16839175078059"
    }]
  }],
  "timestamp": "2020-12-17T06:35:22Z",
  "signature": "DtEhU3ljbEg8L38VWAfUAqOyKAM6-Xx-F4GawxaepmXFCgfTjDxw5djxLa8ISlSApmWQxfKTUJqPP3-Kg6NU01Q"
}

NOTE: An Address Resolver Document can include more than just cryptocurrency addresses, which means over time entities can begin to manage all their address resolution requirements using a common protocol.

While Decentralised Address Name Registrars will likely host users Address Resolver Documents as part of their service, the user is free to store it anywhere they want (e.g. IPFS, a Cardano SPO, a private server, Google Drive) as long as the endpoint registered in the DID Document is accessible.

Consideration is also being given from providing a mechanism to include multiple ARD endpoints in the DID Document. This will allow a user to store their ARD in distributed locations for redundancy purposes (i.e. if a hosting location becomes unavailable).