There are very few digital assets that you can buy once, hold quietly, and then—years later—sell for life-changing money without ever touching a line of code.
Domain names are one of them.
And yet, despite being one of the oldest digital assets on the internet, the domain market is still wildly misunderstood—even by people who think they understand it.
I’ve been around long enough to see premium domains dismissed as “dead money,” new TLDs mocked as useless toys, and .com declared “over” at least a dozen times. Funny thing is, every single one of those funerals was premature.
Let’s talk honestly about where this market came from, where it’s actually heading (not where Twitter thinks it’s heading), and how new TLDs quietly rewired the entire domain economy—whether you like them or not.
Before Domains Were Investments (When Nobody Knew What They Were)
In the early days of the internet, domain names weren’t assets. They were technical identifiers.
Back then, registering a domain wasn’t about branding or flipping. It was about making sure your server had a human-readable address. Most of the early registrations were done by universities, government institutions, and engineers who were far more interested in uptime than resale value.
The first big mistake most people make when studying domain history is assuming that early adopters knew what they were doing.
They didn’t.
They just happened to be there first.
When someone registered Business.com in the 90s, it wasn’t because they foresaw a $7.5 million sale. It was because it sounded logical. Clean. Obvious. No crystal ball required—just good instincts and zero competition.
This matters, because it explains a pattern that still repeats today.
The biggest domain fortunes are rarely made by people trying to “game the system.” They’re made by people who understand how humans think, not how algorithms rank.
The Dot-Com Boom: When Domains Became Lottery Tickets
Then came the dot-com boom, and everything broke—in both good and bad ways.
Suddenly, domains weren’t just addresses. They were speculation vehicles. A good domain name could get funding, attention, and credibility before a single product existed.
People registered everything:
Singular nouns
Plurals
Hyphenated nightmares
Misspellings
Anything with “e-” in front of it
This era created two myths that still haunt domain investors today.
Myth #1: “All the good domains are gone”
They weren’t gone. They were just overpriced, badly positioned, or temporarily misunderstood.
Myth #2: “Domains only matter for startups”
Wrong then. Still wrong now.
What really happened after the bubble burst wasn’t the death of domains—it was the professionalization of the market.
The amateurs left. The quiet buyers stayed.
The Rise of the Secondary Market (Where Real Money Is Actually Made)
Once startups stopped paying absurd prices for terrible names, something interesting happened.
Domains started changing hands between investors.
This is where the real market emerged:
Sedo
Afternic
GoDaddy Auctions
Private brokered deals
Parking revenue as a valuation signal
This era taught one brutal lesson:
A domain is only worth what someone else is willing to build on it.
Not what you paid.
Not what you “feel.”
Not what Estibot says.
Liquidity became king. Clean names, short names, category-defining words—these survived every market cycle.
And then, just when the market felt stable, ICANN opened Pandora’s box.
New TLDs: The Most Misunderstood Shift in Domain History
When new TLDs started launching, the reactions were predictable.
Some investors laughed.
Some panicked.
Some registered thousands of garbage names hoping lightning would strike twice.
Most missed the real story entirely.
New TLDs did not kill .com.
They did something far more subtle—and far more important.
They reframed how people think about domain names.
Before new TLDs, the mental model was simple:
“The domain ends with .com.”
After new TLDs, the model changed to:
“The domain is the brand.”
That’s a psychological shift, not a technical one.
Why Most Domain Investors Misplayed New TLDs
The biggest mistake wasn’t buying new TLDs.
It was buying them like they were .coms.
They’re not.
A domain like:
insurance.com
is a universal asset.
But:
Those are contextual assets. They only make sense inside a specific narrative.
New TLDs reward:
Timing
Industry alignment
Founder mindset
Cultural trends
They punish:
Bulk hoarding
Passive holding
Hope-based pricing
That’s why 99% of new TLD portfolios are worthless—and the remaining 1% quietly sell for five and six figures.
The Hidden Truth About New TLD End Users
Here’s something most investors don’t realize:
End users for new TLDs are not domain investors.
They are:
Startups that failed to get their .com
Web3 projects that don’t want legacy vibes
AI tools that prefer semantic branding
Media brands that want memorability over tradition
These buyers don’t browse marketplaces the way traditional buyers do. They find domains:
After naming decisions
During branding workshops
When legal clears a name but the .com is taken
Which means if your new TLD isn’t:
Clean
Instantly understandable
Priced realistically
…it will never sell.
Not because new TLDs “don’t work,” but because most investors don’t understand who they’re selling to.
The Quiet Shift: Domains as Brand Infrastructure
Something else changed in the last decade, and it’s easy to miss if you’re stuck watching auction charts.
Domains are no longer just traffic funnels.
They’re brand infrastructure.
Today, a domain must:
Look good in a pitch deck
Sound good when spoken aloud
Fit inside a logo
Work globally
Pass legal scrutiny
Survive social media handles
This is why absurdly short names still command premiums.
This is why certain one-word domains outperform entire portfolios.
And this is why some “bad” names sell while “good” ones rot.
Domains don’t exist in isolation anymore. They exist inside ecosystems.
Where the Domain Market Is Actually Going (Not the Twitter Version)
Let’s be blunt.
The future of domains is not:
Mass flipping
Automated appraisal arbitrage
Registering trends five minutes late
The future is fewer sales, higher conviction, better names.
Here’s what’s coming:
1. Fewer But Smarter Buyers
Companies now understand naming earlier in the process. When they buy, they buy with intent.
2. Stronger Divide Between Premium and Noise
The middle of the market will continue to die. Top-tier names will keep appreciating.
3. New TLDs Will Win Niche Wars
Not broadly. Not universally. But surgically.
4. AI Will Increase Demand for Names
Every AI product needs a name. Most want something short, global, and available.
5. .com Will Remain the Reserve Currency
You don’t abandon gold just because new materials exist.
A Personal Note to Domain Investors (Especially New Ones)
If you’re in this space purely for fast flips, you’ll burn out.
If you’re here because you enjoy naming, branding, psychology, and digital culture—you’ll last.
The best domain investors I know don’t chase trends.
They notice patterns early, buy selectively, and wait patiently.
They also understand one uncomfortable truth:
Most domains will never sell—and that’s okay.
You don’t need a thousand names.
You need a handful of undeniable ones.
Domains Aren’t Dead. They’re Growing Up.
Every time someone says “domains are dead,” what they really mean is:
“The easy money is gone.”
Good.
That’s when real markets begin.
Domains aren’t about tricks anymore.
They’re about taste.
Timing.
And understanding how humans assign meaning to words.
And as long as humans keep naming things—
domains will remain quietly, stubbornly valuable.