.lock
Is .lock a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.lock is not contested. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. It is Identity Digital.
A short security-flavored word that fits locksmiths, smart-lock makers and token-locking tools, but few would make it their main address.
locksmiths and smart-lock or access-control vendors, cybersecurity tools, and crypto projects offering token-locking or vesting features
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 short, concrete everyday object-word that doubles as a security metaphor, so the primary identity goes to anyone selling protection rather than to one company or one industry.
Same bet from the same word family: a physical containment noun sold as a storage-and-security namespace, depending on buyers reading the object both literally (keep your things here) and figuratively (your data is secured).
Same buyer and same security-category positioning, but the bet rests on an adjective/verb state rather than a concrete object, so it reads as a claim about a site instead of a thing a registrant owns.
What a .lock domain is
.lock is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under AI & tech. One application for it is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .lock domain extension real yet?
.lock 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 .lock domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .lock name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .lock was .safe, delegated on 5 December 2015.
Is .lock a real TLD?
Not yet. .lock is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .lock is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Identity Digital · first recordedICANN
“AM2619T-T27105 · Acid Medal, LLC · replacement string of .agnt · Deactivated AM2619T-T66700 · Acid Medal, LLC · replacement string of .ops · Deactivated NA2626T-T96751 · ShortDot (Ireland) Limited · primary”ICANN
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. The string is a short, concrete English word with several live meanings (physical locks and locksmithing, smart locks and access control, 'locked' data or accounts in security, token locking and vesting in crypto, and 'lock in' as a commerce verb), so registrations at volume or on price are plausible and a few left-of-dot names (smart.lock, door.lock, token.lock) read naturally. It is not in the 50-69 band because none of those groups needs a .lock address to be taken seriously: security and access-control companies overwhelmingly present on legacy or established tech namespaces, and by analogy the security-themed TLDs from the earlier round (.security, .protection) and the operator-themed .locker have, as far as I know, remained thin and largely defensive rather than becoming a primary identity anywhere; I treat that as analogy, with no figures asserted. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word is a working industry noun rather than a joke or event word, and the sole applicant on the record is a large portfolio registry (Identity Digital, standard application, status confirmed), which by analogy with its other generic strings suggests broad registrar distribution and sustained availability rather than a vanity launch. A qualitative drag: 'lock' is also a common filename suffix in developer tooling, which may make the string feel like a file extension rather than a web address to the very tech audience most likely to register it. Main market uncertainty: whether crypto token-locking and smart-lock vendors adopt .lock as a real primary identity, or whether demand stays at defensive and speculative keyword registrations.