Short Answer
Bob can find eligible names and help their owner renew them in a batch. For an ordinary encrypted wallet, Bob must be running, synchronized, funded, and unlocked before it can sign. It cannot reliably sign while the computer is off.
A TLD deliberately finalized to Handshake's renew-only script is different: anyone can pay its miner fee and broadcast a renewal without holding the former owner's key.
Critical limitation: only renewal remains possible.
The script accepts RENEW, but not UPDATE. The existing Handshake resource records are carried forward and permanently frozen. Nobody—not the former owner, an SLD holder, Bob, Impervious, or the community—can later change the TLD's NS, DS, TXT, glue, or other Handshake records.
Four Different Control Models
| Model | Who can renew? | Can records change? |
| Ordinary Bob wallet | The owner after unlocking and approving | Yes, while the owner retains control |
| Custodian | The custody service | Usually, according to its policies |
| Multisig | The required signer group | Yes, with enough signers |
| Renew-only locked | Anyone willing to pay the fee | No—the Handshake resource data is frozen |
How Ordinary Bob Renewal Works
Handshake names must receive an on-chain RENEW transaction within their renewal window (about two years on mainnet). That heartbeat is part of the Handshake protocol — design notes plus the public Handshake FAQ — not a Bob Wallet rule. A renewal keeps the registration active and preserves its current resource data. It is not a repurchase.
The only cost is the normal Handshake network/miner fee. Miners receive it. Bob Wallet takes no renewal fee, cut, or registrar charge. Some services used to auto-renew for users. That was their product, not the Handshake protocol.
Bob already supports owner-approved renewal and can group eligible names. A startup check, stronger warnings, and a clear “Renew all eligible names” prompt are practical improvements. A numerical limit such as 50 or 100 names helps transaction sizing, but it does not solve a powered-off computer, an unsynchronized node, an unfunded wallet, or an encrypted wallet that has not been unlocked.
The heartbeat covenant is RENEW, not UPDATE. An UPDATE changes the name's Handshake resource data.
Anyone Can Renew, but Nobody Can Update Records
Handshake's scripting rules permit a name to be transferred to a script that accepts only a RENEW action. The documented mainnet address is:
hs1qu3nrzrjkd783ftpk7l4hvpa96aazx5dddw66hgs2zuukckcchrqsw3f8kc
Its script is OP_TYPE OP_8 OP_EQUAL, where covenant type 8 is RENEW. After a transfer to this address is finalized, an unrelated wallet can provide and sign the fee input while the public script satisfies the locked name input. The renewed owner coin remains locked to the same script and the existing resource data is preserved.
Preserved does not mean editable. Because the script does not accept an UPDATE covenant, the current resource data can only be copied into future renewals. It cannot be replaced or corrected. This differs from an ordinary wallet-owned TLD: a normal RENEW preserves the records without taking away the owner's ability to submit a later UPDATE.
“Anyone can renew” does not mean “the blockchain renews it automatically.” A person or service must still monitor the name, construct a valid transaction, pay the fee, broadcast it, and verify confirmation before expiration.
An Irreversible Safety Decision
A finalized transfer to the renew-only script is not a normal staking preference. Under the current Handshake rules, nobody can update, transfer, sell, revoke, or recover the TLD afterward. Its Handshake-side delegation becomes permanent.
SLD records may remain manageable inside the external registry or authoritative DNS system referenced by that delegation. However, if the delegated registry, nameserver infrastructure, DNSSEC material, contract path, or another frozen dependency fails, the Handshake root record cannot be repaired normally.
Do not transfer a valuable TLD to this address unless its final resource data and every long-term dependency have received expert review.
Impervious Staking Is Not Proof of the Lock
The available Impervious guide first configures NS and TXT records and lists or stakes the TLD. It then describes a separate community-transfer step using the renew-only address. A TLD can therefore be configured or listed with Impervious without having completed the irreversible lock.
A wallet, explorer, or monitoring service must inspect the current Handshake owner coin. It should never label a TLD “anyone can renew” merely because the name appears in a registry's list.
How the Lock Can Be Verified
- Read the current name state from a synchronized Handshake node.
- Obtain the name's current owner transaction hash and output index.
- Fetch that unspent owner coin.
- Compare its witness program with the canonical renew-only script hash for the active network.
- Record the renewal height, remaining blocks, owner outpoint, and observation block.
- Repeat the checks immediately before constructing any renewal transaction.
Registry relationship and owner-control status should be displayed separately—for example, “Impervious listed” and “Renew-only lock verified.”
Under consideration
LearnHNS Renewal Guardian
LearnHNS is considering a service that separates monitoring from transaction authority. This is a product idea, not a currently available or guaranteed renewal service.
- Monitor renewal status and send opt-in alerts for participating TLDs.
- Open Bob for owner approval when an ordinary wallet-controlled name needs renewal.
- Automatically fund and broadcast renewals only for names whose renew-only script is freshly verified on-chain.
- Use a small isolated fee wallet with transaction and daily spending limits.
- Publish confirmation evidence and allow independent community keepers to monitor the same locked names.
No service should collect a Bob seed phrase, private key, or wallet password to provide renewal monitoring.
What About Snitch?
A HandyCon discussion described Kiba's historical “Snitch” as an economic bond or slashing system: a TLD owner retained control, deposited funds in a smart contract, and risked losing the deposit after changing promised registry records. That would discourage a deliberate SLD rug pull, but it is different from granting a third party permission to renew a wallet-controlled TLD.
We have not located primary source code, a verified deployment, or complete technical documentation for Snitch. It should not yet be described as an available renewal bot. If its original materials are recovered, they may still offer useful ideas for monitoring and accountability.
Technical References
