.hype
Is .hype a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.hype is contested: 2 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are Red Rock (Cayman) Foundation and Hyper Foundation. Link Freedom Group named .hype as a backup string for its .sim 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
None of the two runs a TLD today.
Will names sell?
Catchy buzzword ending for crypto projects and marketing drops; memorable, but rarely a serious project's main address.
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. .hype’s closest 2012 strings hold .buzz 220K, .hot 1K and .cool 23K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .buzz, held 219,719 names, June 2026. .hot held 1,185; .cool held 23,197. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Near-twin bet: an abstract slang noun for manufactured attention with no industry that owns it, sold to marketers, promoters and launch campaigns as an expressive label rather than a category anyone puts their permanent corporate identity on.
Same wager on a short trend/desirability word whose value is vibe and phrase-completion ("what's hot") rather than category membership, so it lives or dies on cultural energy and campaign use, with the same adult-content and squatting drag.
Also a pure attitude word with zero defined registrant base — it needs consumer/creator culture to adopt it as a badge, the same speculative demand-creation bet as hype, though cool is an adjective modifier while hype is a noun with a sneaker/streetwear subculture behind it.
crypto and web3 projects, meme-coin communities, and marketing teams running launches, drops, and short-lived campaign sites that want a loud, self-aware name
What a .hype domain is
.hype is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Crypto category. 2 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .hype domain extension real yet?
.hype 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 .hype domain?
You can’t yet. A .hype 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 .hype was .buzz, delegated on 18 December 2013.
Is .hype a real TLD?
Not yet. .hype is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .hype is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Link Freedom Group · now deactivated backupICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now abandonedICANN
- 2 applicants · first recordedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“DHRL2685T-T96364 · Dot Hype Registry Limited · primary · contention set 2026-112 HNL2668T-T33262 · Hype Naming Limited · primary · contention set 2026-112”ICANN
“DHRL2685T-T96364 · Dot Hype Registry Limited · primary · contention set 2026-112 HNL2668T-T33262 · Hype Naming Limited · primary · contention set 2026-112 LFGL2683T-T90578 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · replacement string of .sim · Deactivated”ICANN
“.hype · Crypto & Web3 · “All eyes on you.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: usable but limited (30-49). The string is a strong, universally understood English word with real cultural energy in crypto, streetwear, and promotion, and the applicant's own catalog files it under Crypto & Web3 with the tagline 'All eyes on you.'. It is not in the 50-69 band because, by analogy with expressive-word TLDs like .fun, .lol, .wtf, and .cool (analogy, not verified data), registrations of this kind tend to be volume- or price-driven and campaign-shaped rather than sustained primary identities: 'hype' describes a moment, not an institution, so serious projects are unlikely to anchor their durable brand on it even when they register it for a launch. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word has genuinely broad commercial resonance across marketing, entertainment, and crypto culture, so demand should be wider and more repeatable than a pure joke or single-event string, and short brandables on it could see some aftermarket interest within crypto. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round (the round's largest applicant per its published list, press-corroborated 2026-08-13), which suggests a portfolio play; that is stated neutrally and mainly implies pricing and promotion will follow a portfolio-wide playbook rather than a single-string evangelism push. Main market uncertainty: whether crypto-culture demand converts into renewed, primary-identity use or burns off as one-cycle speculative and campaign registrations after the initial novelty.