Domain Name Wire reported that Unstoppable Domains, one of the leading providers of alternative domain systems – including blockchain or Web3 domains – canceled its plans to file applications for nine domains as part of ICANN’s 2026 new gTLD program. Those include CRYPTO, .WALLET, .POLYGON, .NFT, .BITCOIN, .DAO, .UNSTOPPABLE, .ZIL, and .BLOCKCHAIN.
The move was triggered by the complex framework for integrating real DNS TLDs with Web3 naming systems, as proposed by ICANN’s Technical Study Group. According to earlier reports, this integration framework creates what appear to be insurmountable challenges for existing Web3 providers. Unstoppable Domains currently manages all of these domains within its alternative domain systems.
“ICANN’s planned integration rules would require every name in an integrated namespace to be registered in the DNS and paid for, and for registrants to disclose their data. For us, that means 4M+ existing Web3 names, including people who bought a name years ago purely for on-chain use and never asked to be in the DNS. We aren’t willing to force that on our users, or bill them for it,” the company said in a statement.
Unstoppable had originally announced plans to register new TLDs to match their blockchain versions as far back as two years ago, when it had expected the integration rules to be less stringent. Those statements appear to have attracted new registrants to its Web3 domains. The company is now offering refunds: for the .BLOCKCHAIN Web3 domain, those who bought domains starting June 5, 2024, will be entitled to a refund, while the cut-off date for other domains is March 5, 2025.
The company also announced that five partners who had previously planned to work with Unstoppable on applications have since backed out, nixing .PRIVACY, .BRAVE, .ANIME, .AGENT and .TWIN. Refunds are also available for those domains in most circumstances.
However, it cannot be assumed that Unstoppable is entirely out of the new TLD game. On the contrary, it remains involved with five applications through partnerships for .AGI, .ROBOT, .HUB, and .XMR. Perhaps the biggest is its role as registry service provider for Telegram’s .GRAM bid. If Telegram is successful in its application and launches the domain as planned, this could become one of the largest new TLDs in the 2026 round.
