.crypto
Is .crypto a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.crypto is contested: 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are Intercap, XYZ Registry, EchoStar, Identity Digital and Radix.
An exact-match name for a large, well-funded industry; strong demand is likely, but crypto firms still lean on older domain endings.
Who is applying, and how much each already runs
Five of the 5 are tied to a registry that runs TLDs today. Identity Digital, XYZ Registry and Intercap filed 426 applications between them across the round.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .cloud, held 539,673 names, May 2026. .forex held 1,352; .trading held 5,358. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a mid-hype emergent-technology category noun that an entire wave of new-entrant companies uses as its own self-label, so the string wins only if the sector's operators decide the industry term beats .com as their primary identity.
Same bet in the financial-market half of the target: an insider category term for a speculative asset class whose registrant base is brokers, exchanges, signal-sellers and retail punters, monetized by a land-rush of keyword-hungry operators rather than by blue-chip brands.
Also a generic activity noun for speculative finance sold to the same operator-plus-retail crowd, but it is a plain English verb-noun open to any sector rather than the name a specific self-identifying industry calls itself, so the identity pull is weaker.
crypto exchanges, wallets, DeFi protocols, web3 infrastructure teams, and token projects that want an instantly legible sector identity; secondarily, domain investors targeting the crypto vertical
What a .crypto domain is
.crypto is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Crypto category. 5 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .crypto domain extension real yet?
.crypto 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 .crypto domain?
You can’t yet. A .crypto 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 .crypto was .cloud, delegated on 26 June 2015.
Is .crypto a real TLD?
Not yet. .crypto is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .crypto is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
The source’s 5 linesHide the lines
BPL2623T-T47971 · Bird Pepper, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-60 EDCL2689T-T11150 · ECHO Domain Co L.L.C. · primary · contention set 2026-60 IRI2679T-T61055 · Intercap Registry Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-60 RTIS2674T-T45334 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-60 XL2625T-T28742 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-60
“Radix has applied for these TLDs; we do not own or operate them today.”Radix
- I place .crypto at the top of the 50-69 band (strong niche TLD). Why not the band above (70-89, category standard): crypto-sector projects have historically established primary identities on legacy and general-purpose endings, and by analogy the sector's demonstrated preference has been for short generic strings rather than the sector keyword itself; a new DNS .crypto would have to displace that habit rather than ratify it. There is also, from general industry knowledge, a complication I flag as background rather than verified fact: the same string has been used in non-DNS, blockchain-based naming systems, so a DNS .crypto could face user confusion and split mindshare in exactly its target community, which weakens the case that it becomes the unambiguous category default within 5 years. Why not the band below (30-49, usable but limited): the string is a dead-on semantic match for a large, globally distributed, spend-willing buyer pool, and by analogy crypto projects have repeatedly shown willingness to adopt descriptive new-gTLD identities for primary use (finance- and exchange-themed endings saw genuine primary-identity DeFi adoption), so demand should be real, sustained, and aftermarket-relevant, not merely volume-on-price. The applicant is a large portfolio registry that states it intends to operate the TLDs it wins, which supports competent distribution (stated neutrally, from the record). My main market uncertainty: whether serious crypto businesses treat a DNS .crypto as a credible primary identity — versus a marketing or redirect name — given incumbent endings, the sector's abuse/phishing reputation risk attaching to keyword domains, and the sector's own demand cyclicality over the next 5 years.