Naming Colors

There are 16,777,216 colors according to the RGB color system. Each has a unique hex code (#FFFFFF), but because of the sheer number of colors, only a relative few have human-readable names (white). It would have been impractical for a centralized authority to name all of these colors, but it is feasible to do so through a decentralized approach which distributes the ability to name colors across a large number of people. Base Colors seeks to give every color a unique, human-readable name by this means. Specifically, the owner of every color will have the exclusive ability to rename that color as they please.

In order to ensure that every color has a unique name, the Base Colors name system will not allow for any duplicate names. For example, at any given time, there can only be one “Blue” and one “BitcoinOrange”. Because there can only be one of any color name, some perceived value may be derived not only from the desirability of a color due to its hex code or some characteristic of the color itself, but also from its unique name. Colors with desirable names may be considered more valuable than others, either in part or entirely due to their names, just as “world.com” is considered to be a more valuable domain name than “bigblueworld.com”. In this way, Base Color names may be considered similar to domain names, ENS names, or social media handles, in terms of their relative value.

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