.moon
Is .moon a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.moon is contested: 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are XYZ Registry, Oinkadot and Link Freedom Group. Identity Digital named .moon as a backup string for its .king application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. NextGEN TLDs named .moon as a backup string for its .fafo application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Aruba named .moon as a backup string for its .ask application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. ShortDot named .moon as a backup string for its .pop 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
One of the three already run TLDs, 11.96M names between them. Link Freedom Group and Oinkadot run none.
Will names sell?
A fun, evocative ending for crypto memes and space-themed projects, but few serious ventures would make it their main web 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. .moon’s closest 2012 strings hold .earth 42K, .space 635K and .star 3.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .earth, held 41,706 names, June 2026. .space held 634,547; .star held 3. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a singular celestial-body common noun with no commercial category behind it, sold on evocative planetary identity to a scattered mix of idealists, science outfits, and brands wanting a short poetic name, so it works only if meaning-by-association beats meaning-by-industry.
Same kind of bet — a short, dual-meaning evocative noun in the cosmic register that no single industry owns, monetized as a general-purpose creative/tech namespace rather than as a vertical people already shop in.
Also a one-word celestial noun whose value is metaphorical rather than categorical, depending on registrants adopting it for aspiration and vibe instead of because it labels what they do.
Where they meet elsewhere
Identity Digital and XYZ Registry face each other in 77 contests this round, .moon included.
- Identity Digital × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × Link Freedom Group
- Link Freedom Group × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × ShortDot
- Link Freedom Group × ShortDot
crypto and meme-coin projects drawn to 'to the moon' branding, space and lunar-economy startups, and creators or lifestyle brands wanting a dreamy one-word ending
What a .moon domain is
.moon is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. 3 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .moon domain extension real yet?
.moon 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 .moon domain?
You can’t yet. A .moon 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 .moon was .earth, delegated on 14 May 2015.
Is .moon a real TLD?
Not yet. .moon is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .moon is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- 2 applicants · first recordedICANN
- ShortDot · now deactivated backupICANN
- Aruba · now deactivated backupICANN
- Aruba · now abandonedICANN
- ShortDot · now abandonedICANN
- XYZ Registry · first recordedICANN
- 2 applicants · now confirmedICANN
- ShortDot · now announced
- Aruba · first recordedDomain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann), quoting Aruba S.p.A.
- ShortDot · first recordedShortDot (Ireland) Limited
- Oinkadot · first recordedDomain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann)
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 7 linesHide the lines
APEC2611T-T29488 · Aruba PEC S.P.A. · replacement string of .ask · Deactivated LFGL2683T-T89070 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-158 NA2626T-T90969 · ShortDot (Ireland) Limited · replacement string of .pop · Deactivated NTG2671T-T30879 · NextGEN TLDs GmbH · replacement string of .fafo · Deactivated OI2692T-T43201 · Oinkadot Inc · primary · contention set 2026-158 VC2665T-T40556 · Vanity Check, LLC · replacement string of .king · Deactivated XL2625T-T69720 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-158
“LFGL2683T-T89070 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-158 OI2692T-T43201 · Oinkadot Inc · primary · contention set 2026-158 XL2625T-T69720 · XYZ.COM LLC · primary · contention set 2026-158”ICANN
“Aruba S.p.A., which operates the .cloud top level domain, is expanding its domain portfolio. The company told Domain Name Wire that it applied for 39 top level domains in this year's new TLD round. That number includes replacement strings. [...] The company applied for the following strings as primary or replacement: aid, all, ask, beta, bit, bnb, cart, ciao, daily, demo, easy, fix, gaming, gen, genius, gym, happy, hello, hola, human, kit, lab, mars, max, moon, omg, pec, pop, rem, roma, sign, sito, super, tag, tex, vps, yes, zen, zzz”Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann), quoting Aruba S.p.A.
“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
“A new partnership has applied for 25 top level domain names in this year's ICANN TLD expansion round.”Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann)
“.moon · Culture · “Orbiting new possibilities.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: usable but limited (30-49). The string is a universally recognized dictionary word with strong emotional and meme resonance, which by analogy with other evocative space/nature strings such as .space, .world, and .earth suggests it can attract registration volume, much of it price-driven, plus bursts of crypto-adjacent demand where 'moon' is slang for price appreciation (analogy, not verified data). It is not in the 50-69 band because sustained primary-identity use is likely thin: the analogous evocative TLDs have, by analogy, seen most registrations sit as side projects, redirects, or speculative holds rather than as the front door of funded ventures, and a .moon identity would need explaining in most business contexts over the next 5 years. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word's breadth (space exploration, crypto culture, romance, nightlife, wellness) gives it more than joke or event-driven demand, and a genuine if small lunar-economy and space-startup segment could plausibly use it earnestly. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and lists this one under 'Culture' with the tagline 'Orbiting new possibilities.'; a portfolio applicant of that size suggests standardized rather than category-specialist go-to-market, which tempers expectations for dedicated vertical adoption but does not change the string's intrinsic appeal. Main market uncertainty: whether crypto-meme demand converts into renewing, sustained registrations or remains spiky and churn-heavy, and whether any real space-sector cohort adopts it as primary identity rather than defaulting to .com or .space-style alternatives.