There is still at least a year and a half left before the start of the next stage of New gTLD Program (however, this is only an assumption: the exact date has not yet been determined by the ICANN), but the contenders are becoming increasingly active, declaring their intentions. And there is already the first future domain, the fate of which will most likely be decided by auction, since at least two companies are applying for it.
The other day, Freename.io announced that it will apply for this domain - as well as for .TOKEN, .METAVERSE and several other domains. Freename operates in the blockchain domain market and, like many others, promotes the idea of integrating traditional (DNS) and alternative (WEB3) domains. The company is already registering .chain blockchain domains and expects to become a registry for the corresponding domain in the DNS.
But back in June, another company, 3DNS, announced that it was preparing an application for .CHAIN (and .SUPER along with it). It registers traditional third-level domain names like .chain.box and plans to raise them to the second level in the new domain if its application is successful. Since ICANN previously banned the use of private auctions of applicants at the new stage of the program, it is obvious that the only option for deciding who will get the rights to manage the .CHAIN domain is an ICANN auction, the proceeds from which will go to the budget of the corporation itself.
Domain Incite, reporting this news, notes that it will be truly surprising if the number of applicants for this domain does not increase in the near future. The word chain is often used as an abbreviation for blockchain, and blockchain technologies, along with AI, are one of the "hottest" topics of our time.
