# What is a THORName?

A THORName is a human-readable name on THORChain that points to addresses on several chains. Affiliates use one to collect fees, and it stays registered until the blocks it was paid for run out.

Also called THORChain Name Service or TNS.

## What a THORName points to

A THORName stores an owner address on THORChain and an alias address for each external chain it supports. A preferred payout asset can also be set, and payouts are then sent to the alias on that asset's chain.

Transferring a name clears its preferred payout asset and its chain aliases, so the new owner has to set them again.

## Registering and renewing

- Registering a name takes a deposit of RUNE on THORChain, which pays a registration fee plus a per-block fee for each block the name covers.
- The deposit sets an expiry block, and a later deposit moves that expiry further away.
- After a name expires, any THORChain address that meets the naming rules can register it.

## Related terms

- [Affiliate fee](https://redacted.gg/glossary/affiliate.md): An affiliate fee is a share of a swap that goes to the interface which routed it. The swap memo sets the share in basis points, and the protocol pays the fee out to the affiliate.
- [THORChain](https://redacted.gg/glossary/thorchain.md): THORChain is a network that swaps native coins across chains, such as Bitcoin for Ether, with no bridges and no wrapped tokens. The coins sit in vaults on their home chains, secured by about 100 independent node operators.
- [RUNE](https://redacted.gg/glossary/rune.md): RUNE is THORChain’s native asset. Node operators bond it to take part in the network, and it sits on one side of every pool of liquidity, so a swap from Bitcoin to Ether runs from BTC to RUNE to ETH in one flow.
- [Maya Protocol](https://redacted.gg/glossary/maya-protocol.md): Maya Protocol is an ecosystem of chains, and its live chain, MAYAChain, is a friendly fork of THORChain that swaps coins from several chains. Its native coin is CACAO, which pays network fees and settles swaps between other coins.
- [Memo](https://redacted.gg/glossary/memo.md): A memo is a line of text attached to a THORChain transaction that tells the network what to do with the coins, such as which coin you want back and who receives it. Anyone can read it, because it sits in the public transaction.

Sources: [THORName guide, THORChain developer docs](https://dev.thorchain.org/affiliate-guide/thorname-guide.html)
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Page: https://redacted.gg/glossary/thorname/