What an incredible 3.5 years it has been! I launched XYZ in 2014 to give the next generation of internet users a platform to stand out and connect on a memorable, affordable, and international domain ending, .xyz. Fast forward to 2017, and we have now successfully acquired and launched our tenth extension, .Storage. What I am most excited about though is how quickly we have been able to foster innovation across our portfolio. Look at what has been achieved in just 3.5 years:


Starship.xyz featured on BuzzFeed for their DoorDash delivery robots

Screenshot of TechCrunch's article on MIT's Engine.xyzMIT’s startup incubator, Engine.xyz, raised $200 million for new startups

animated gif of waive car closing a deal on shark tank and mentioning xyz as an advertiser
Waive.Car, the ad-supported free car sharing service, received funding on Shark Tank

To read more success stories, visit the .xyz blog every week for a new #WebsiteWednesday profile.

If the past 3.5 years have taught us anything, it’s that innovation comes in many different forms. Beyond just adoption, our team has made it a priority to develop partnerships with organizations that make .xyz more than just a domain extension. For example, in October we announced a partnership with Junior Achievement to implement a company website development component to their 13-week entrepreneurship class, the JA Company Program®. With over 50 businesses being launched by high school students from Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, and Austin, students will receive free .xyz domains, Weebly website builders, and WHOIS privacy protection, as well as onsite training and additional resources to help them build their websites. We are truly entering a new era where young entrepreneurs are not using .com or .net for their first websites, but rather .xyz!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, .xyz is also the go-to domain ending for cutting-edge technologies like cryptocurrency. At DevCon3 in November, Ethereum announced that ETH wallets can now be mapped exclusively to .xyz domains. This partnership opens up Ethereum to a whole new audience of existing domain registrants that can now manage and trade ETH with the stability and security of the DNS, and convenience and support from their existing registrar. And this is only the beginning – we are already working with several other partners to develop more creative solutions for the cryptocurrency economy.

To learn more about XYZ’s collaboration with Ethereum, read the full announcement or BTCmanager’s coverage of the news.

As 2017 comes to an end, I am looking forward to what the future has in store for XYZ. The first-of-its-kind 1.111B Class of .xyz domains was officially launched last month, and we are already seeing sequential blocks, calendar dates, and patterns get registered, thanks to the huge support we have received from our registrar partners. Over time, I expect this segment of the .xyz namespace to be composed of some of the most creative and innovative solutions we have ever seen from domains, and eventually, I believe the entire class of 1.111 billion domains will all be taken!

I also predict that many more notable .xyz websites will come online in 2018, thanks to the significant uptick we have seen in premium .xyz registrations. This includes all 26 1-letter .xyz domains, which were acquired last month. And if existing premium .xyz registrants, such as Milk.xyz ($3,000/year RRP, previously Mi.lk) and Feed.xyz ($1,300/year RRP, previously FeedCommunications.com) are an indicator of the quality to expect, 2018 will undoubtedly feature the best #WebsiteWednesday articles to date!

Innovation can be tough for those who are on the opposite end of it. Due to our determination and unconventional strategies over the past 3.5 years, I recognize that we have earned our fair share of both supporters and opposition. Overall, it has been extremely fulfilling to see my vision for .xyz come to life, and I couldn’t be happier with the direction we are going. That being said, XYZ is always looking for new innovative partnerships, as well as additional assets to acquire and launch. Should any readers be interested in working with the XYZ Team, please contact us or reach out on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

Wishing you all happy holidays and good fortune into the new year!