Registrar has launched Starlight Registry and applied for 40 TLDs.
Domain name registrar Namecheap is getting into the top level domain name business.
The company has set up Starlight Registry and applied for 40 top level domain names.
Hillan Klein, CEO of Namecheap and Spaceship, told Domain Name Wire, “For us, moving into the registry side is a natural extension of what we have been building across the domain ecosystem for many years.”
While Namecheap is the second-largest domain registrar and has significant distribution, Klein said it will work with the registrar channel to build the TLDs.
“We don’t see this simply as acquiring a portfolio of registry assets,” Klein said. “Our intention is to actively build these namespaces, put meaningful distribution and marketing behind them, and work with the broader registrar ecosystem to drive adoption.”
Starlight’s applications are heavily concentrated in the tech space.
Here is the list of 40 primary top level domains, with notations if another applicant is currently known to have applied for the domain.
.aid
.arc
.asi – LFG*
.brain – LFG, Name Space
.clone
.craft – LFG
.den
.did
.droid
.fab – LFG, Endpoint Domains, JTTW**
.flux
.folio
.forge
.foundry – JTTW
.gate – LFG, JTTW
.grid – JTTW
.intel
.intelligence – LFG
.kit – LFG
.lab – LFG (.labs)
.lens
.lift
.logic
.maker
.mart – LFG
.matrix – LFG
.mesh
.mod
.ops
.path
.scan – LFG
.sense
.shift
.ship – LFG
.sync
.synth
.sys – LFG
.trek
.view – LFG
.wave
* Short for Link Freedom Group. The company disclosed primary and replacement strings and did not state which are primary.
** Short for Journey to the West. The company disclosed primary and replacement strings and did not state which are primary. Little is known about this applicant, and some of the applications it posted conflict with existing TLDs.
These are great !
I think they have some great tech related domains, and they’ve managed to find some good ones that others haven’t applied for, or at least haven’t disclosed yet.
Knowing backup strings confuse the matter, by my count we’re around 750 out of 1,600 disclosed?
Hard to say. It’s possible applicants only chose replacement strings for some of their applications. Also possible they used the same replacement on more than one application.
Okay Mr. Smooth Diplomat 🙂
The .com purists have been awfully quiet lately.
The application fee alone for a single new gTLD is a serious check to write. Companies don’t spend that kind of money on a domain experiment unless they see strategic value in owning the namespace.
You may not see the opportunity yet. The mainstream domainer crowd certainly seems determined not to.
But the smart money is paying attention and putting up real money to prove it.
Quiet as a church…
You think so, ay? 🙂
It’s become too hard not to say anything anymore, and since I’ve already got my Swiss IP address on with this VPN I finally will.
So to state what so many others must also be thinking while not saying much:
It’s truly beyond imagination how awful so many of these TLD choices are.
Millions of miles into the “what were they thinking?” zone. Billions.
Like there are people who actually calculated it was worth it and wise to pursue so many of these TLDs and cut the checks?
Wow.
I could say more, but you get the idea and that’ll do for now.