.block
Is .block a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.block is not contested. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. It is Identity Digital. XYZ Registry named .block as a backup string for its .west application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Link Freedom Group named .block as a backup string for its .bag application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
Who is applying, and what they run today
Two of the 3 are tied to a registry that runs TLDs today. Identity Digital, Link Freedom Group and XYZ Registry filed 513 applications between them across the round.
Will names sell?
Catchy for blockchain startups, but most serious crypto projects will likely stick with mainstream endings; a niche, price-driven market.
Last round the AI scored the 2012 strings blind to their fate. Strings it scored 60 or more hold a median 27,168 names today; those under 30, a median of 30. .block’s closest 2012 strings hold .cloud 552K, .link 310K and .space 635K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .cloud, held 551,867 names, June 2026. .link held 310,085; .space held 634,547. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: an ordinary English noun that a young technology paradigm has quietly annexed, applied for on the wager that the technical meaning eclipses the plain one and pulls an infrastructure-flavored land grab of registrants who want to signal they are native to that paradigm.
Same bet: a short, vertical-less structural noun whose technical connotation does all the selling, monetized as a broad open namespace rather than sold to any defined industry or credentialed group.
Same bet in the generic-polysemous-noun sense — a common word carrying both a literal physical reading and an abstract/tech-community one, launched as an unrestricted general-purpose namespace — but it lacks the specific emerging-infrastructure claim that gives the target its thesis.
Where they meet elsewhere
Identity Digital and XYZ Registry face each other in 77 contests this round, .block included.
- Identity Digital × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × Link Freedom Group
- XYZ Registry × Link Freedom Group
crypto and web3 startups, blockchain infrastructure and tooling projects, and developers who want a themed, brandable suffix; secondarily, speculators and defensive registrants around the word's broader tech and commerce meanings.
What a .block domain is
.block is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Crypto category. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .block domain extension real yet?
.block is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. It is a string applicants have put forward in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, the process that decides whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .block domain?
You can’t yet. A .block name can only be registered once the string is delegated (added to the DNS root) and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .block was .cloud, delegated on 26 June 2015.
Is .block a real TLD?
Not yet. .block is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .block is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- XYZ Registry · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now deactivated backupICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now abandonedICANN
- Identity Digital · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“LFGL2683T-T39544 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · replacement string of .bag · Deactivated OD2692T-T74494 · Oyster Dream, LLC · primary XL2625T-T15670 · XYZ.COM LLC · replacement string of .west · Deactivated”ICANN
“.block · Crypto & Web3 · “Trust, built in.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: usable but limited (30-49). The string is a short, strong English word with a natural suffix-style read (project.block) and an obvious blockchain hook, plus non-crypto meanings (building blocks, city blocks) that widen its registrant base; that keeps it above the vanity/joke band, where demand is shallow and event-driven. It falls short of the strong-niche band because, by analogy with earlier crypto-themed namespaces, web3 teams have tended to brand on incumbent generic endings or on on-chain naming systems rather than adopting a themed DNS ending as their primary identity, so genuine sustained primary-identity use is unproven and the aftermarket is likely thin. Within the next 5 years I expect volume registrations driven by pricing and speculation, occasional real project use, and weak resale premiums. Applicant facts are neutral context: the string is announced by a very large multi-string applicant, which suggests portfolio-driven rather than community-driven demand and adds uncertainty about focused category marketing; it does not change what the string itself can command. Main market uncertainty: whether web3 builders will treat crypto-themed DNS endings as credible primary identities at all, or continue to default to mainstream TLDs and on-chain names.