.key
Is .key a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.key is contested: 2 applicants have said publicly that they applied to run it, as of 9 September 2026. They are ShortDot and Link Freedom Group.
A catchy word for security and access, but most serious projects will keep their main name elsewhere; expect niche use over volume.
security and identity startups (passkeys, API keys, encryption, password tools), crypto-wallet projects, plus locksmiths, real-estate and access-control businesses wanting a literal, memorable label
In LFG's published list of 300+ strings submitted before the ICANN window closed on 2026-08-12. Their catalog tagline: “Open doors, new possibilities.”
One of the 80 strings ShortDot published for the ICANN 2026 round. ShortDot states it has submitted 40 applications, but publishes the 80 strings without revealing which 40 are applications and which 40 are designated replacements. The submission claim is therefore applicant-level, not string-level: nothing in the source says ShortDot applied for THIS string. Catalogued, not announced.
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a one-syllable everyday object-noun that doubles as a security credential, with no industry that would claim it as a category, so the registry is selling the metaphor and the memorability rather than a defined registrant base.
Same bet on a short, function-flavored common noun that nobody puts their primary identity on but everybody can borrow for a phrase or a product name, monetized as a broad open string rather than a vertical.
Same bet that the connotation of security and trust is the product — a plain English word bought for what it implies about the registrant, not because a locksmith or a security vendor needs it as a category home.
What a .key domain is
.key is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under AI & tech. 2 applicants have said publicly that they applied for .key.
Is the .key domain extension real yet?
.key 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 .key domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .key name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .key was .pin, delegated on .
Is .key a real TLD?
Not yet. .key is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because an applicant said publicly that it applied for .key in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round. Every claim on this page links to its source.
- ShortDot · now announced
- ShortDot · first recordedShortDot (Ireland) Limited
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“ShortDot (Ireland) Limited has submitted 40 applications to ICANN's 2026 New gTLD Program. The 80 strings shown include applied-for and designated replacement strings across ShortDot's 40 ICANN applications, presented without revealing their status or pairing.”ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
“.key · AI & Tech · “Open doors, new possibilities.””Link Freedom Group
“The company just disclosed its 40 applications and 40 replacement strings.”Domain Name Wire
“LFG voluntarily published its full list of submissions ahead of ICANN’s official Reveal Day.”PR Newswire (Link Freedom Group)
“Top level domain registry Link Freedom Group (LFG) has disclosed more than 300 strings submitted as part of the ICANN new top level domain name program.”Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann)
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. The string is a short, concrete English word with several honest semantic hooks: cryptographic keys, API keys, passkeys, and the physical keys of real estate and access control. That gives it real registration surface and some clever left-of-dot potential (an API or wallet endpoint reading as a natural phrase), which keeps it out of the 10-29 vanity band; this is more than a joke string. It does not reach 50-69 because there is no sign, judged qualitatively, of a coherent buyer community treating a word like this as primary identity: security vendors are conservative brands that concentrate on incumbent namespaces, and by analogy (flagged as analogy) semantically adjacent security-themed generics have historically leaned on defensive or low-price registrations rather than flagship use, while broad-meaning single nouns without a community anchor tend to underperform focused developer strings. The meaning is also split across unrelated markets (crypto, physical locks, real estate, music), which dilutes any single category standard from forming. Applicant context: the string was announced by Link Freedom Group, which filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and published its list ahead of Reveal Day; a portfolio applicant of that breadth suggests marketing attention per string may be spread thin, tempering adoption likelihood, stated neutrally. Main market uncertainty over the next 5 years: whether the passkey and machine-identity wave produces developer-facing naming conventions where a .key address is functionally attractive, or whether that traffic stays on established developer TLDs and subdomains.