Update March 4, 10:40 UTC: This article has been updated to include interview responses from D3 co-founder and CEO Fred Hsu.
The ApeCoin community unanimously approved a proposal to register “.APE” as a new top-level domain (TLD) with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the world’s authority on IP addresses and domain names.
In line with ICANN’s plan to implement new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) by the second quarter of 2026, the ApeCoin decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) proposed working with Web3 domains specialist D3 to create the .APE TLD as a real-world asset (RWA).
A majority (91.68%) of the ApeCoin community voted in favor of the proposal, while 8.32% voted against it.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Fred Hsu, co-founder and CEO of D3, said that DNS domains it offers and intends to register with ICANN are inter-operable, i.e. can be used for Web1 (email/web), Web2 (apps/social) and Web3.
According to the proposal, D3 will lead the effort to prepare and submit the application, which is expected to take approximately one year to be readied.
Additionally, D3 also plans to offer Ape-linked name tokens as an immediate Web3 identifier for users. Hsu’s vision for D3 includes bridging over 5 billion Web2 users to Web3 through domains. “Not much has changed in the past 20 years with traditional domains, so we’re aiming to revolutionize both domain ownership and usage,” he added.
Hsu said that the .APE domains, once launched, will have the potential to generate multi-million dollars in annual revenue. “Domains serve as both a vital piece of digital real estate and a source of recurring revenue,” he explained.
As part of the deal, the gross revenues generated from the Ape name tokens and the .APE TLDs will be split 50/50 between ApeCoin DAO and D3.
The proposal clarified that “owning” a TLD is not possible. Instead, “ICANN contractually grants the rights to exclusively operate and monetize each TLD that automatically renews every 10 years.”
As shown above, the total costs involved for the initiative is three million ApeCoin (APE). D3 will incur ongoing technical and operational costs related to managing the .APE namespace, with contributions from ApeCoin DAO for co-marketing to the masses.
Related: ENS data from Etherscan now visible in Google search results
In February 2024, domain registrars GoDaddy and the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) signed a partnership to allow users to link Web3-based .eth domains and domain name system top-level domains at no cost.
The GoDaddy-ENS partnership eliminates the barrier of high gas fees that previously demotivated users from bringing domain names over to ENS. Paul Nicks, president of domains at GoDaddy, highlighted the development as “the fusion of domain names and blockchain technologies,” which benefits the Web2 and Web3 ecosystems.
In July 2023, GoDaddy’s Web3 competitor Unstoppable Domains allowed users to buy .eth names with added payment methods and functionality to streamline the management of ENS domains.
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