Weekly (archived)Monday, 12 October 2026Sales & valuationAuctions & dropsTLDs & registries

ICANN's Reveal Day Unveils 1,615 New gTLD Bids While .SI Speculation Surges

This edition covers ICANN's new gTLD Reveal Day disclosures, a speculative .SI rush onto Namecheap, the .us registry handover to Identity Digital, and the week's auction and sales data.[23][4][25]

1,615New gTLD applications disclosedICANN Reveal Day
345Dot-brand applicationscurrent new gTLD round
$237,216Combined July salesMike Mann's 8 .com domains
16%Registration drop.my domains after junk drop

Key takeaways

ICANN's Reveal Day disclosed 1,615 new gTLD applications, including a personal string filed by Taylor Swift.[23][9]
Identity Digital will replace GoDaddy Registry as .us ccTLD operator under new NTIA-awarded contract terms.[25]
.com registration prices are set to rise on November 1.[10]
Namecheap began selling .SI domains as speculative 'Superintelligence' branding interest intensified.[4]
fTLD's Craig Schwartz will retire after 16 years running the .bank and .insurance registry.[13]
MYNIC's .my registrations fell 16% following a junk drop after a prior registration promotion.[16]

This week in domains

This week paired a slow-moving structural event -- ICANN's disclosure of 1,615 new gTLD applications -- with a fast-moving speculative rush into .SI domains, testing how differently investors treat policy-driven and branding-driven demand.[23][14]

ICANN New gTLD Reveal Day Reshapes the Landscape

ICANN's long-awaited new gTLD Reveal Day arrived Wednesday, October 7, lower-key than the 2012 London launch but no less consequential for registry operators and portfolio holders tracking future contention. ICANN disclosed that 1,615 applications were submitted across the current round, publishing the full list of strings and applicants alongside details on replacement strings and contention sets. Reveal Day also confirmed Taylor Swift applied for a personal top-level domain, underscoring how the round mixes celebrity and corporate branding alongside traditional registry plays. The Internet Commerce Association hosted a free webinar the next day so brokers and registries could parse implications before markets reacted. Separately, an analysis of the 345 dot-brand applications in this round shows large corporations continuing to lock down proprietary extensions rather than relying solely on .com, a pattern that shapes how much contested namespace independent registries and investors can compete for. For domain holders, the scale of this round -- more than four times the dot-brand count alone -- means years of subsequent delegation, objection and contention-resolution activity ahead, a slower-moving but structurally important counterpart to the week's faster aftermarket churn.[7][19][23][6][9]

Industry publication DomainIncite Industry publication Domain Name Wire Domain Name Wire

.SI Mania Meets Practical Risks

.SI, Slovenia's ccTLD, spent the week riding a wave of speculative interest after a US executive order encouraged using 'Super Intelligence' and 'SI' in place of 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'AI.' Namecheap founder Richard Kirkendall confirmed .SI registrations are now available on the registrar, giving mainstream buyers direct access to a string previously traded mostly through specialist channels. Commentary framed the rush as echoing the earlier .AI boom, cautioning that branding-driven demand for a ccTLD carries different renewal and policy risk than a gTLD. Domain Shane's auction notes described a 'speculative trading frenzy' around .si names compounded by registrar technical issues, while a separate warning flagged a privacy issue affecting buyers and sellers completing .si transfers -- a reminder that newly popular ccTLDs can expose process gaps that mature gTLD marketplaces have already solved.[4][14][3][20]

DomainInvesting.com DomainInvesting.com Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Name Wire

Registry Transitions: .us Moves, .bank Searches, .my Shrinks

Three registry-operator stories moved in parallel this week. Identity Digital will take over operation of the .us ccTLD from GoDaddy Registry after the NTIA awarded the contract following a lengthy bidding process; new contractual terms may put some existing registrants and registrars at risk during the handover, a transition worth monitoring for anyone holding .us inventory. Separately, fTLD Registry Services, which runs the restricted .bank and .insurance gTLDs, confirmed it is searching for a new president and CEO after Craig Schwartz announced his retirement following 16 years leading the company. And MYNIC reported .my registrations fell to 693,122 at the end of September from 826,384 in August, a drop of roughly 133,262 domains attributed to a junk drop following an earlier promotion -- a reminder that promotional registration spikes often unwind sharply once discount periods lapse.[25][13][16]

DomainIncite DomainIncite DomainIncite

.com Economics: Price Hike Looms, Cloudflare Climbs

Two structural .com data points landed this week. Domain Name Wire confirmed .com registration prices are scheduled to rise on November 1, creating a near-term window for registrants weighing renewals or new registrations before the increase takes effect. Separately, an updated .com report found Cloudflare continuing to expand its share as a DNS and hosting provider among .com domains, extending a multi-year trend of consolidation toward a small number of infrastructure providers even as the base of registered names itself shifts with pricing and policy changes.[10][5]

Domain Name Wire Domain Name Wire

Aftermarket Pulse: Auctions and Six-Figure Sales

Weekly auction and sales data showed a market still dominated by sub-five-figure trading punctuated by occasional large sales. Mike Mann reported selling eight .com domains for a combined $237,216 in July, with prices ranging from $4,888 to $100,000 and an average of $29,652 per name. An industry publication's latest Top 20 Sales Chart featured a seven-figure .com sale -- one of the five largest publicly reported sales this year -- alongside roughly six six-figure sales, five of them .ai domains, reinforcing .ai's continued pull at the top of the market. GoDaddy's September expired-domain auctions tracked a monthly total of $3,434,054, while the week's own GoDaddy top-54 roundup was led by swype.com at $19,250. Daily Dynadot and Catched recaps added names such as gyld.com, emai.com, diana.org and matrixmedia.com, plus smaller closes like mega.me, gxld.com, teinteresa.es and alfa.es, showing steady mid-tier liquidity beneath the headline sales.[26][2][1][8][15][17][18][22][24][27]

swype.com	$19,250
emai.com	$15,293.50
gyld.com	$15,200
teinteresa.es	$11,299
diana.org	$5,449
matrixmedia.com	$1,775

Selected auction closes, Oct 6-11

Industry publication OnlineDomain.com Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Shane / DSAD Domain Shane / DSAD

In short

UDRP Procedure: A UDRP digest highlighted a case where a complainant asked permission before filing a supplemental reply, resulting in a Procedural Order capping the filing at 5,000 words.[21]
DNW Podcast: Domain Name Wire's podcast episode 606, 'Democratization, compression, and delegation,' discussed current domain industry topics.[11]
DomainSherpa Shorts: DomainSherpa published a short video titled 'Vice City' in its Sherpa Shorts series.[12]

What to watch

Nov 1.com price increase takes effect Registrants who have not renewed or registered before the deadline will face the new, higher .com price starting November 1.[10]
fTLD names new leadership fTLD Registry Services' search for a successor to retiring CEO Craig Schwartz will determine who sets .bank and .insurance registry policy next.[13]
.us registrant risk during handover How Identity Digital structures new .us contractual terms during the transition from GoDaddy Registry will determine whether existing registrants or registrars face disruption.[25]

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Dates and launches

12 October 2026 to 15 October 2026
Open Compute Project Global SummitHosting and cloud
13 October 2026 to 14 October 2026
DCD Connect India 2026Hosting and cloud
14 October 2026 to 15 October 2026
Baltic Domain Days 2026Domaining
14 October 2026 to 15 October 2026
Baltic Domain Days 2026 - October 14-15 - Riga, LatviaEvent
14 October 2026 to 15 October 2026
Domain Days Dubaï 2026Domaining
14 October 2026 to 15 October 2026
Dubai Domain DaysDomaining
17 October 2026 to 22 October 2026
ICANN 87 BaliDNS and governance
17 October 2026 to 22 October 2026
ICANN87 - Annual General Meeting (28th) - location TBDDNS and governance

See the full agenda

Questions investors are asking

What happened on ICANN's new gTLD Reveal Day in October 2026?

On October 7, 2026, ICANN disclosed that 1,615 applications had been submitted in the current new gTLD round, publishing the full list of applied-for strings, applicants, replacement strings and contention sets.[23][19]

Who applied for new top-level domains in this round?

Applicants ranged from major brands filing among the 345 dot-brand applications to individuals; notably, Taylor Swift applied for her own personal top-level domain string.[6][9]

Why is .SI suddenly popular among domain investors?

A US executive order promoted using 'Super Intelligence' and 'SI' instead of 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'AI,' sparking speculative interest in Slovenia's .SI ccTLD that commentators compared to the earlier .AI boom; Namecheap subsequently began selling .SI domains.[14][4]

What privacy risk should .si buyers and sellers know about?

A reported privacy issue can expose personal information during .si domain transactions, so parties buying or selling .si names should check registrar disclosure practices before transferring.[20]

What changes when Identity Digital takes over .us from GoDaddy?

Identity Digital was awarded the NTIA contract to operate the .us ccTLD in place of GoDaddy Registry, and new contractual terms accompanying the transition may put some existing registrants and registrars at risk, making a review of .us holdings worthwhile.[25]

Why did .my registrations drop 16% this period?

MYNIC reported .my registrations fell to 693,122 at the end of September from 826,384 in August, a decline attributed to a junk drop following an earlier registration promotion whose discounted names were not renewed.[16]

When do .com prices increase and what should registrants do?

Domain Name Wire reported .com registration prices rise on November 1, 2026, giving registrants a limited window to renew or register names at the current price before the increase takes effect.[10]