What if you could own a Top-Level Domain (TLD) without ever worrying about renewal fees? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Davide, the visionary CEO of Freename, as we explore the dynamic world of Web3 domains and digital identity. Learn how Freename is pioneering the future of domain management by empowering investors to mint their own Web3 TLDs and create custom registrars using their innovative tools. Davide explains the importance of multi-chain support, providing users the flexibility to build on blockchain platforms like Solana, Base, Polygon, and Binance.
Discover the unique value proposition of digital collectibles and domain names in a Web2-dominated world. We discuss how influencers and entrepreneurs can seamlessly monetize their TLDs with Freename’s turnkey solutions, including easy setup for custom mint pages and pricing flexibility. The episode also highlights Freename's efforts to integrate Web2 and Web3 domains, increasing their visibility and acceptance through potential Google indexing, and showcasing the potential for a harmonious coexistence of these technologies.
Find out what it takes to navigate the evolving landscape of TLD ownership and the role of ICANN in this journey. Davide shares personal anecdotes on the financial and operational differences between traditional and Web3 domains and emphasizes the significance of community building and early adoption. Through expert advice and real-world examples, we unpack the long-term potential and opportunities for smaller businesses and individuals to create branded TLDs. Tune in for a compelling exploration of the future of digital identity and the exciting possibilities that lie ahead with Freename leading the charge.
What if you could own a Top-Level Domain (TLD) without ever worrying about renewal fees? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Davide, the visionary CEO of Freename, as we explore the dynamic world of Web3 domains and digital identity. Learn how Freename is pioneering the future of domain management by empowering investors to mint their own Web3 TLDs and create custom registrars using their innovative tools. Davide explains the importance of multi-chain support, providing users the flexibility to build on blockchain platforms like Solana, Base, Polygon, and Binance.
Discover the unique value proposition of digital collectibles and domain names in a Web2-dominated world. We discuss how influencers and entrepreneurs can seamlessly monetize their TLDs with Freename’s turnkey solutions, including easy setup for custom mint pages and pricing flexibility. The episode also highlights Freename's efforts to integrate Web2 and Web3 domains, increasing their visibility and acceptance through potential Google indexing, and showcasing the potential for a harmonious coexistence of these technologies.
Find out what it takes to navigate the evolving landscape of TLD ownership and the role of ICANN in this journey. Davide shares personal anecdotes on the financial and operational differences between traditional and Web3 domains and emphasizes the significance of community building and early adoption. Through expert advice and real-world examples, we unpack the long-term potential and opportunities for smaller businesses and individuals to create branded TLDs. Tune in for a compelling exploration of the future of digital identity and the exciting possibilities that lie ahead with Freename leading the charge.
Thank you. Thank you, hello. Hello everyone. We'll get started in just a moment. If you guys could please do me a favor, as usual as you're coming into the space, if you could like, retweet and share this out as usual. Also, if you would like to request a speaker role, feel free to hop on up or request one now, depending on who you are on the show. And now, depending on who you are, I'll let you up. But yeah, we were very privileged to have davide ceo of free day with us and I'm very excited for this space. How are you doing today, sir?
Speaker 2:hello, hello. Very happy being here and I see a lot of familiar face with us, very happy of this space and to see the future between web3, icann, the new internet. It will be fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you guys have always, you know, been a favorite of mine to talk about, always cooking and building. It's good to do these spaces to tie it all together, to show people, you know, the value that's out there. You know we can only scream so high from the mountaintops, but hearing it directly from you and being able to access your wealth of knowledge really puts things in perspective and there really is a lot of opportunity out there. So, yeah, without further ado, your time is precious, so I will go ahead and get started and, again, if anybody does have any questions, if you don't want to come up, feel free to leave them in the comment section or, like I said, you know, if you want to come up and I know you, I'll let you have to ask a question.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, I want to welcome everyone to iHeart Domains and our tech talk spaces ie podcast, where we discuss news, innovation, education, alpha and business development in the Web3 domain name and digital identity space. We are the number one platform for unbiased Web3 blockchain domain content, with over 100 Tech Talk Spaces and YouTube videos produced over the past two years. As always, our Tech Talk Spaces are recorded and you can review or view our entire content archive at iHeartDomainscom, where you'll see both the recording of the space itself and the podcast form, as well as a nice little blog breakdown of it if you just want a quick little overview. But our Tech Talks are also available on podcasts on every major podcast player, including Apple, spotify and iHeartRadio. You can get to that pretty easy at techtalkhost.
Speaker 1:As you guys can see at the top, our topic is ICANN, business development and the new internet with Freename, and again, very much pleasure to have on Davide, ceo of Freename, looking forward to diving into the developments and opportunities that exist both for current and future investors of the platform.
Speaker 1:Opportunities that exist both for current and future investors of the platform. Not to bore you guys before we get into it, but for those of you who don't already know, freename is a Web3 domain technology developer and registry that allows investors to mint or purchase their own Web3 TLD, allows you to build a registrar using the Freename tools and even more via various partnerships and integrations. As you know, our industry has been developing at a rapid pace and the value narrative has continued to shift from digital identity and wallet addresses to Web2 tokenization to now even turning these things into real ICANN domains. One of the things that I've always respected the most about Freename has been their strategy to build and develop in all corners of where the market currently is and will be, and I'm very excited to chat about what some of those things look like during this tech talk. So yeah, now, without further delay, if Davide could please do us all a favor and formally introduce yourself, and then we'll dive into the good stuff.
Speaker 2:Let's do that with much pleasure. So thank you for having me again. I'm Davide, the CEO of Freename, and I see here we have also somebody else from Freename. I recognize many faces and I think this space it's very needed now that it's a few years that we build, that other namespaces are building and ICANN is starting looking at the space have started already, but it's taking some, let's say, directions right. What we did initially differently and where we are pointing a lot is on the TLD, so the top-level domain. Just for who is not familiar, googlecomcom is the top-level domain, is the highway and Google it's the second level domain, so the SLD. What we pointed and we saw from the market we are doing differently are few things giving you the possibility to register your TLD and be a registrar yourself, so making money. I was always, let's say, happy to see new namespaces coming, but what I realized is that it's always the same way of me spending money on a domain. I would like to gain money. I would like to be very signed, I would like to own the dot-com right and be worth 20 billion at Nasdaq. Now we are given these opportunities already a couple of years and, as many of you know, when you have a TLD with us. We act like a Shopify for you to build on top, for your domain users to build on top of the domains on your TLD. And so now TLD is starting to be a buzzword in Web3, it's starting to be a buzzword in ICANN. We will get to that.
Speaker 2:One thing we do more and differently is we are multi-chain and we are adopting multi-chain and cross-registrar features. What does it mean? That we want to give you the full availability and not just bound you to one chain or the other because we prefer one chain or the other you are preferring. You can build on Solana, you can build on Base. You can build on Solana. You can build on Baze. You can build on Polygon, you can build on Binance. Whatever, my job is to furnish you the technology and the environment for you to choose where is the best for you to meet the domain. And I see here pinned the Baze announcement. That was 10 days ago. Last week we integrated Baze. Expect more chain to come as soon as in the next two, three weeks, and so on and so forth. Very happy to be here. Sorry for the long introduction. Let's continue.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, thank you very much for the introduction and we definitely do have quite a bit to cover, as you mentioned as well, everybody. If you could please pay attention to what I do have quite a bit to cover, as you mentioned as well, everybody. If you could please pay attention to what I do have pinned at the top. A lot of that is relevant Again, a lot of technological advancements that the Freedame platform has made. That's very relevant to kind of the narrative that's going on in Web3 right now with OnChange Summer, and we'll get into that Before we dig in. I do also want to salute, say hi and give the opportunity to say a couple words. You know another guest that we have up on stage. We've got Paige. How are you doing today, sir?
Speaker 3:Hey, I'm doing great. Great to be with you, wynn. Hello, davide, I'll give a brief introduction to how I met Davide. I just called him up because I saw someone who was kind of a domainer like all of us at heart, you know, trying to buy things, and said I think the system can be better and he was equipped to lead a company to do something about it. So I said I want to talk to him, I want to find a way to.
Speaker 3:You know, I've always wanted to be part of a team. I can't do everything myself. So I saw a company that was trying to disrupt and show a different path and build on top of ICANN. That's how I got involved. So I've been a consultant with the company. I've enjoyed working with Davide, being, you know, challenged to go forward. But really what I've liked about it is he has a team that can do something about it Instead of me just thinking, hey, wouldn't it be great if I could own my own TLD on Web3 and do my own marketing? He's actually able to put that in place with the company and so that's why I've enjoyed working with him and you, wynn.
Speaker 1:So great to be here company and so that's why I've enjoyed working with them and you, wynn so great to be here, ben, as a pleasure, always great to have you up and your expertise. And another testament. I mean this is going to seem like a show fest for free name, so be it whatever, but another testament to exactly the value proposition that the community offers and that'll become more relevant as we get through the spaces. But people always say your network is your network and that'll become more relevant as we get through the spaces. But people always say your network is your network and them networking and including you, you know, on the team and bringing you on as a consultant early on. You know this is before. I mean some people were probably talking about you know I can, and real demanding and stuff like that, but it wasn't that big of a conversation, but they already had their foot all the way in the door with you know, with, with you being on board and giving us guidance.
Speaker 1:That you have you, yeah, freename's vast ecosystem, and it is pretty vast. It provides quite a few different opportunities for both potential investors and users as well. We're going to cover kind of both ends of the spectrum, from both the permissionless turnkey opportunity of Web3 TLDs to you know the potential ICANN process and expand a little bit TLDs to the potential ICANN process and expand a little bit so everybody can get a better grasp on the scope of tools and partnership that you might be able to offer both now and in the future. Education does require a lot of repetition, so I know we touched on it a little bit, but let's begin with the most basic description of what a Web3 TLD actually is, the difference between these and Web2 DNS domains. Then, yeah, let's talk about the potential revenue and business opportunity that exists with Web3 TLDs in the free name ecosystem.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I will just give a brief overview because I know here there are people in the audience that have TLD that is making revenue, that have TLD that is making revenue out of TLD. So the best voice of truth is always others rather than the CEO of the company, right? And I'm very happy for this voice of truth to tell their experience. What we started and what we really believe in is that in web to internet, who makes money are two entities.
Speaker 2:In web to internet, who makes money are two entities the registrars and the registry. It's like this is a bit confusing terms. Very similar, but registrars we all are aware of dynadot, godet, this on and so forth. Registries are the owner of the dotcom. Any generic TLD Sorry, I was thinking IO, but IO is a country level box is a generic TLD. So every time for them it's a lot of income Passive, because the registrar are selling the domains. The client use the domains and pay for it annually. Now we see in Web3 the same path. Like you buy a UD, ens, whatever you give the money, you have the domain, but this is it for the cash way of circulating, right?
Speaker 2:Instead we wanted to enable anyone to have their own TLD Communities. They can brand themselves, companies. They can brand themselves and make money, because if you're an owner of a TLD, you should make revenue right, and so, building on top of this, we gave the owners of the TLD multi-chain everything. You can go and check in freelandio Everything is live. You can build in many different waysio Everything is live.
Speaker 2:You can build in many different ways and you can make revenue many different ways. You have reseller page. You can create your own coupons if you do campaigns. You can integrate so much at a further level with our APIs. They are all public in the website. Go and check. So you have and many other instruments. But you have a plethora, a lot of instruments that you can use and be your dot com and be your dot xyz, be your dot box with the identity or identities. But without going long into here, I want to ping Paige, or perhaps somebody else that I see here that has TLD, to share their view how they use it, how they make money if they make it at all how easy or complicated it is.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, Paige is probably one of the best examples with the v TLD. He has an extremely successful TLD, so I'll let you go ahead and take the mic, sir.
Speaker 3:I'll let you go ahead and take the mic, sir. Yeah, v, v for victory, v for value, v for valuable or v for planet v. You know, I can constantly reinvent what I want v to be. And the issue that always pops up as well it doesn't resolve for everyone on the Internet. And I'm like fine, look at what these registries are doing for TLDs that do resolve for everyone on the internet. And I'm like fine, look at what these registries are doing for TLDs that do resolve for everyone on the internet.
Speaker 3:No one still knows what shopify or shopper is, or horse or rodeo or any of those. So as long as I have to do the marketing, connect with the customer anyway, I can have them download the plugin or the extension. Or here's the thing that I realized a lot of people buy domain names just because they want to own a digital collectible. That's cool in the moment that they want to buy it. So I give them v and if it's a fair trade for what they buy whether they're paying 10 or 20 or 100 or $200, if it's a premium name, they're joining my community and they are buying a little bit of me. When they do that, they don't have renewals, so the risk for them is what they spend at the beginning and then they can be in for anything that v becomes.
Speaker 3:And I'll finish with this I wanted to announce summer today. So I've acquired summer. This is the online summer, the on-chain summer, and I'm ready to go with Freename to sell through my registrar page summer domains. And what's frustrating to me is all the stuff I'm doing in Web2, because you do have to connect with people on Web2 to sell your Web3 domain. So, yes, I want to connect with people where they are in Web2, on YouTube, on Twitter and with the website to show them the chance of what it's like to be involved with Web3. And it's all the Web2 parts of setting up a website and this, that and the other that have delayed me.
Speaker 3:But I was ready to go three minutes after I got my summer and minted it. I was ready to do business. So I like the opportunity, I like the fact that competition is good for any industry, innovation is good, and why should I have to pay $300,000 to ICANN, plus another $500,000 on consultants, plus pay business development people for two years to wait and see if maybe I'll get a TLD in two years, whereas I plan on having my TLDs up and functional, and what does that mean in two years? I don't know, but I'll be working on them every day between now and then, so I guess that's my story.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, and being early, you know, that's kind of what the tradeoff to being early is we don't know where we're headed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wynn, I want to just jump in. I forgot to say one thing the VIP group at Freename. You know they've probably done less outside advertising. They've probably done less outside advertising. A lot of their connections have been with people directly who participate in the VIP group, the Telegram chat, and are working on their own plans, working on their own TLDs, and they're probably the least integrated with the existing, even here on X. You know what I mean. You probably don't see the breadth and depth and the quality of people that are buying the TLDs and going forward. So I would encourage you you know, if you're in there, it's probably going to be more effort than you wanted to, but you're going to feel what it's like to own your own TLD and I'd encourage you to join the telegram groups and the VIP group join the telegram groups and the vip group yeah, that that is actually a great point that you left off are there because a lot of communities are more vocal.
Speaker 1:I guess we do see a lot more success stories from from people from other platforms, but we have some solid whales in our communities that that are really building, that also have a lot of registrations and have some great tlds and and have some big plans for the future. And and again, some of the stuff that we'll progress through in the space will help outline what that future could look like, not only for them, but for anybody else. And going back to what I was saying earlier, the benefit and the risk to being early is you're taking a chance that the space will go where you vision it to go, but you also have the trade-off of not having to pay 300 grand as well, so that the risk-reward is very balanced. One of the big differences between the free name platform and other technologies that exist that others might be familiar with ie being able to buy domains at the TLD level Web3, etc. Etc is the turnkey opportunity that Freename provides.
Speaker 1:And I wanted to kind of rehide on that and let you touch on that a little bit, davide, but, as you've mentioned, the ability to purchase a TLD from Freename or Web3 TLD and spin up a custom-designed mint page, set up your own pricing, you know, give your mentors the ability to mint on multiple different chains, even switch out the art on the TLDs that they meant or on the SLD NFTs that they meant.
Speaker 1:This is a turnkey tool set that is offered for you to be able to manage and create a business right outside of the box with your TLD. And that's for those who have had experience with the like again with the other technologies that exist out there that issue domains at the same level. That experience doesn't exist. And not to say that those platforms are bad, but we've got to highlight what platforms are inviting for someone to monetize this off the top. So can you tell us about, you know, not only those things I just mentioned, but maybe even a couple of other tools you know that people can look forward to utilizing when they're in the freeriding ecosystem and they own a TLD?
Speaker 2:Yes, with a lot of pleasure. And what you touched is completely easy to do. Like you need to click to generate your AI reseller page on a web2 link. So if you are an influencer, you have a community following you. That's the easiest way. We do furnish APIs for integration. We do furnish the opportunity for you to create campaigns on your TLDs, to mint some avatars of your collection. But on top of that we furnish you a way to make your TLD working on normal browsers.
Speaker 2:If you go to our homepage, you see that we've issued our DNS, which is in Windows Store, ios Store, macbook Store, so also Apple, but two different applications and this is just one I can show everyone I'm having fun and when and page and many of you knows. You just use your phone, my iPhone, I go to Safari and I go to Davidechain or Davechain, davegaming, and it works with Web2, website Builder, so you don't need to stick if you are not familiar with IPFS or other Web3 hosting spaces. On top of that, functionality and utilities are there. You can use your domains on whatever wallet you have and use the domains to pay and to receive payments, not just between Freename domains. You can pay from a freeland domain to a ENS, to a UD, everything is integrated. Different chains yes, you can pay. So we're integrated with Ethermail, webhash, so on and so forth.
Speaker 2:So you can do a lot of stuff. You can use Web2 powers. You can receive money from as easy as two clicks with your reseller page, or, a bit more challenging for who wants to integrate at a deeper level, with two different APIs the reseller API or the full white label APIs, meaning you can build your own namespace without the burden of starting from zero. We furnish you technology-wide label. So different levels for different integrations, different utilities for domain holders, different chains from your flavor and to receive your income, always in stable two clicks. You have your dashboard withdraw on your wallet 24 hours arrived to you. We have clients that do more than 40K in income. We have clients that do 20K. We have clients that are doing 1,000, 2,000 per month. This is a normal job. It's amazing how fast you can do Buy, deploy, receive income Five clicks total.
Speaker 1:I love that and again, you know, want to highlight just how easy it is to get this set up. You mentioned at the end it is very easy also to get paid out and just to kind of outline that for everybody all your income goes into one dashboard, super easy click and staples it's in your wallet wallet Pretty much, I mean. I always get mine, I think, the same day or within a couple hours, so very easy turnkey solution. On the Web3 domain TLD side, again and I stress this so much that there is value in pure Web3 domain names, extreme value in them, whether they eventually resolve to Web2 DNS or not. Focus on the cup being half full. There's a lot of utilities that are built, that is already built. That gives you extreme value and utility that's being built in the future. But the biggest utility right now for investors is the ability to monetize and create your own community with your TLDs.
Speaker 1:You did touch on something that I was actually going to transition into next, so I'm glad that we're going there, and that was on the free name DNS. So now, in what should be obvious to everyone, something that works and can be used obviously has more value than something that doesn't. You know, a big challenge and a point of criticism for many entities in the space is the development of meaningful utility. You know a big challenge and a point of criticism for many entities in the space is the development of meaningful utility. You know, despite the behemoth ENS having a lock on what many may see as pretty much the key integration, ie MetaMask and EtherScan, et cetera, et cetera what I've always respected and still will always respect is that, rather than live in the shadow of this challenge respected and still will always respect is that, rather than live in the shadow of this challenge, you know you guys have always taken it head on by adding utility and value with your own revolutionary and evolutionary developments.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I want to talk about free name DNS and no-no. So let's kind of rewind it back to the free name DNS. For those who don't know what is free name DNS, how does it make the Web3 FreeName domains usable? You know, kind of, how does it work a little bit? And then what are some opportunities for scalability and potential? You know, with this particular utility.
Speaker 2:So our DNS it's a web two features that allows your device, where you are, to read normal Internet plus Web3 domains. So I wouldn't go too much in technical way. We speak just about DNS and I think we need to touch also ICAN icon and other aspects. And dns is part of icon. Icon is controlling the, let's say, mother dns, the most author authoritative dns, and you know, web 2 internet. It's kind of a decentralized approach, um, let's say a old style proof of authority, right, where I can have the most authority. So we wanted to build something that recognized normal internet and also recognized Web3 website and Web3 domains. So we've done it. So if you install our app, your device will read normal and web3 internet. And, yes, we've launched with our domains, but nothing is limiting us legal chiller that our dns reads also all the other namespace domains, right, web3, web3 namespace domains.
Speaker 2:So ultimately, the scalability of this. It's no-transcript. Of course, bringing blockchain brings development to the current infrastructure, but they can coexist, data can be shared, traffic can be shared and also Google can index these domains, for example. It's not just Web2 domains. So we are showing gradually all of this in order to get acceptance, in order for the traditional system to see that it's no harm. It's the same just enlarged and I I very encourage you to download it. It has all of the signature from microsoft, apple, so you're very safe. You just read your web3 domain now on your iPhone, on your Windows computer, on your Mac.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is a pretty big quote, unquote cheat code that a lot of people who own, you know TLDs are going to be able to use and utilize, especially, like you said, with the ability that maybe they eventually become discoverable on Google.
Speaker 1:But for those who didn't grasp that, basically they made Web3 domains resolve to regular Web2 addresses and you're able to install this locally and you know it can expand pretty much as far as being able to install something locally goes.
Speaker 1:I mean I could see in the future even individuals, you know, with TLDs, partnering with platforms to get this type of technology, you know already being shipped with with hardware and things like that.
Speaker 1:Like, the sky is is the limit. But again, like I said, you know, rather than resolving over DNS is obviously probably the biggest roadblock that everyone faces, right, that's the we're, we're we're not unique in that and you guys have developed a solution to to, like again you know, create value and utility for our ecosystem in as close to that possible way as there is, you know, um, which, like again you know, adds another level of value to the investment that you have, um and kind of gets us to play a little bit with what our web three domains, resolving over dns would look like um. Also kind of allows us to play a little bit with what our Web3 domains resolving over DNS would look like. Also kind of allows you to establish, you know, an economy and precedent for it. Should you decide to go the extra step, which we'll touch on just a little bit, go for it, paige. So you got your hand up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, as Davide described it, I think a lot of us that have been in domains and digital assets for a while we see what the internet is now with domains and mobile. You know, do your own research. We don't know what's going to happen in the future, but please don't tell me that when people that bought web two domains in 1997, when you had to plug a little plastic device into your outlet and connect through a fax line and go to be able to get a website, that people then didn't go. Oh, I'm going to wait till I get it on my cell phone without any trouble. I just think that your comment, wynn, was great.
Speaker 3:I'm investing with my Web3 money a lot differently than my Web2 money and I said this a couple of years ago at ICANN. It's investability in a different way. I'm building, I'm growing, I'm trying to be aware of what's going on in the future, because I don't have any renewals for my TLD. You know, an ICANN TLD is 25 grand, plus paying the registers to integrate, plus having to keep staff, plus having to do all this stuff. I don't pay renewals for my TLD. So can I wait for things to get better? Absolutely, and I do get passionate about this because I just went to NamesCon and everyone wanted to tell me oh, how come it isn't this and how come it isn't this?
Speaker 3:And what I would say is, like you said, wynn, focus on what it is. But the idea that people will download an app to get to great content or do what they want is connecting with younger people and younger generations. It's Netflix, I mean. The show you wanted wasn't on your TV set. You downloaded an app on top of your TV set or your cable box and now you can see the shows you want. So I think the idea that what Freename is enabling is different technologies above the root. They're not affecting the root, they're above the root. I'm looking for creative new uses of it, not always looking for what it's not.
Speaker 1:And I love that you said that and also for those of us. I mean, obviously, you know, the earlier that you could get into the ecosystem and grab quote unquote rails, the better. But even now, with the opportunity, those of us who have been in here for a while are kind of completely on the other side of the equation, so that that adds to the ability to sit and wait because we've we've already created profit with our TLDs. It's not, it's not difficult to do and, you know, as we mentioned before, they are great already by themselves. There's a lot that they could do already by themselves. I've explained, I think you know, probably months or maybe a year back, I gave an analogy about, you know, for those who want to start NFT collections but don't know how to add utility, or, you know, don't know how to scale it or provide value off the top, or don't know how to draw or whatever, it's the easiest way to launch a community where you can now have NFT technology and even just token gate content and things like that that you produce. So, yeah, it's right now. Again, while it's early, it's sometimes hard to convey the value, but then again, that is the benefit to being early when people are looking at you crazy. You know you've got something that's about to pop and you're at the better side of it.
Speaker 1:Speaking of NamesCon as well, one of the presences that FreeName did have at NamesCon was on another side of your platform, or another tool or utility that you've created called Noto, and I know that that's different from free name DNS, and I just wanted to touch on this a little bit before we get into, kind of the last big part of this, which is going to be some ICANN stuff. But what is Noto and how does it add value and what market is it suited for?
Speaker 2:you know, in between the web 2 and web 3 space, yes, so Noto is our brand for b2b technology in order for resolvers to start adapting and solving, let's say, I wouldn't say problem, but things to solve in Web3. So we've, you know, it's in our minds that collision can occur, that I don't know browsers like Google, opera, so on and so forth. They just rely Google doesn't, but Bravejs on IPFS hash, for example, they don't index Web3 domain for searches, they don't resolve Web3 domains. But why, if you ask yourself why, we came to the conclusion and not just asking ourselves, of course, but also speaking to these counterparts conclusion, and not just asking ourselves, of course, but also speaking to these counterparts that there are huge challenges for them to make internet a very safe place. Right, I know, if I go with my normal not vpn normal connection on google, the chance to encounter on something illicit or dangerous are very, very low, low, right, internet is a fairly safe place because few things are in place, and these few things that are in place in Web3, there needs to be somebody that builds this kind of B2B tools for allowing this entity to finally say ha, with this tool, I can guarantee the safeness of my internet users. And so this is why Noto, why this brand of Freename. Of course it's Freename came alive, and the Noto platform allows for resolvers in this case to control collisions. Resolvers, in this case to control collisions, to decide how to act on those collisions. If I don't know, somebody tonight decide to do an ethereum smart contract and just do another dot eth who is stopping him, and so this kind of situation must be solved, and I think the easiest way to solve this to furnish technology to the resolvers.
Speaker 2:We saw many examples of grouping up of efforts that didn't last too long, and so technology can last long, and so not to resolve collision, it also helps browser to prevent abuses, to prevent illicit content on Web3 websites, and all of these little features.
Speaker 2:They help the adoptions of Web3 domains, and not just ours. We are doing this for all. Let me remind that our intent is not just to be closed on our environment but building technology that supports all four Web2 integrations. So this is the intent of Noto, as well as the intent of the joint venture that we launched with a Web2 registry. It's to give the technology to Web2 registrars to tokenize domain in-premises. We see that, for example, in box you can tokenize box domain but you need to access them and many registrars. They don't want to lose clients. They would like to have technology on their premises to tell you you have Davidews with me, just tokenize it with me and have also Web3 utilities on top. And so this is another part of technology that we are building for businesses, and it's already built and already in integrations with your registrars.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's probably the best and I've asked, I think, several times to several different people. That's the best breakdown I could have asked for of Noto and it again, it highlights, like I said before, building around and building through. You know, what a lot of people again see as setbacks or limitations in the space. You basically have created the tools for people to resolve these and use these despite where the space takes us, creating the space that we can thrive in, you know, rather than being dependent on where the space allows us to go, which is, you know, and again, you can do what you can do. But that's going to be the fate of a lot of different people that have spun up platforms in the space. They're only going to be able to go so far because they're not able to build, kind of their own path forward.
Speaker 1:And you've built a path forward not only for the free name platform but, like you said again, to empower the entire ecosystem. You know which. This is. What we are trying to create is an ecosystem. An ecosystem has a lot of different moving parts that make it flourish and I commend you guys for building, you know, some tools that are definitely going to be used and going to be a pillar of this space. Yeah, and before we kind of go into the last and I think you know, maybe most informational part of this, go for it, paige.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, davide, I didn't say I was going to ask you this, but I'll put you on the spot. We don't talk to you a lot here in the spaces and different things. Julie's here and we do Monday night domains, so I'll give a shout out for Monday night domains, which is every Monday night at 8 PM, which pre-named sponsors, which my daughter, julie, and I do. But, davide, most of the time you're spending your day talking to who? Your day? Talking to founders, sponsors, investors. You guys raise money in the crypto winter and I got to believe it's a much different perspective than maybe the real insular ICANN group, which has been the same people for 20 years, the same people for 20 years, and I think they probably get it a little bit more when you talk about the number of wallets out there, the number of digital connections. But what's it like when you're sharing with partners, investors, founders or new investors and things like that? How does the story go over there?
Speaker 2:Surely in which sense.
Speaker 3:Well, really the sense that if you're, if you've been grown and born and raised with only I, can you have no vision of what could be better, what could be different? Um, and I think even in europe, probably, where, you know, the cctlds were much more prevalent than here in the us, where calm, you know, we just all went to calm, but the idea that there could be options, there could be choices, there could be something new, does that resonate more with the crypto community, not to just accept the rules the way they've been laid down?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and we speak to different personas. Absolutely, and we speak to different personas. We speak to, as I said before, to entities such as browsers. We speak to VPN provider, to ISP, to investors, to ICANN itself. We have been given licenses from ICANN as well, so, and it's for me, it's always the same speech.
Speaker 2:Icann it's a form, a I wouldn't say ancient, but a very well reliable form of decentralization in an old manner, as a proof of authority. And I think the internet as infrastructure, and ICANN I think they're getting it should open more to less, let's say, restricted B2B persona like licensed parties, and open more to having a much broader license personas that they have, in the sense that you know, the last TLD round was in 2013,. Right, and we are discussing when is the new TLD round? They haven't announced it yet, so on and so forth. And this is why because the process are long, license costs a lot, to have a TLD costs a lot. Of course, it must be safe, so there should be a bar, but we see that with decentralization, you can not lower the bar of safeness, but lower the bar of entry, because many people would like to have their branded TLD.
Speaker 2:We're living in a totally decentralized world Like, of course, coca-cola is Coca-Cola, but during times, people have different choices. As well as TLD, we want to have our branded TLD. I'm speaking like a domain investor. We want to have our domains and to manage our little community. Not everybody want to have the 20 billion capitalization of VeriSign. They want to have 100K capitalization their own little business or bigger than that. And so this is my same speech. We need to bring tools and to unite these two worlds. Hence why we launched WebUnited as a joint venture with a Web2 registry. Icann should play a part, but should lower their bar and be furnished of more advanced technological tools. We're getting there.
Speaker 3:Fantastic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you for that and yeah, hopefully we get there sooner than later. You know, again, flowers to entities like yourself that are going and building the bridge and building the tools to make it make sense. And, as you said, you know, not everybody has the same. I guess I wouldn't say needs, because the need for digital identity and the need for the TLD is the same right, but not everybody needs it to the same extent. That justifies, you know, the cost that it is in the traditional system. So, you know, for those of you who are looking for a niche or who this appeals to, you know that that is that niche and we're continuing to grow from there. And so, yeah, we've made it pretty clear that the opportunity to own a TLD in the Web3 domain space is open to all via your platform. Nothing is in anyone's way of owning the TLD of their dreams besides you and your wallet. Obviously, something more premium is going to look premium and something more niched is probably going to be more favorable to your pocket, but the opportunity is available to all. Today, right now, you can go do it at freenameio.
Speaker 1:A select few who are able to build. You know some of those super commercially successful. You know, businesses and communities via their TLD. You know they may be curious and even want to pursue, you know, taking them all the way, as we say it, or to ICANN. And I think this is a perfect opportunity, while I have you here on this tech talk, to get your insight not only on the process but the potential, you know, maybe for some of those people, if they, you know, are equipped to go the distance for partnership and for lobbying. You know our climate has changed super quick over the past year. We went from not talking about really this opportunity existing at all to virtually, you know, every other tweet from certain registrars promising to get their TLD in the next ICANN round. So my first question to you, sir, is it really that easy?
Speaker 2:easy. So nothing. It's. It's always easy. But let's say that there is the sentiment around what I see, that many, many are saying we will apply for this and this and that TLD to ICANN.
Speaker 2:Now let's look back. The process has not been fully and 100% outlined and announced from ICANN, as well as the date, so there is speculation will be in 2026. There is speculation ICANN would unlock new TLD in 2027. How, like? I can tell you just how it was last time that it was a bidding process and you know, in the last round in 2012-13, people were not saying the TLD they wanted, because how did it work that, I don't know dot shop, let's say, the biggest bidder for tens of tens of millions got the dot shop and everyone else that bidded but lost the opportunity to be the winner. They got compensated by the delta from the ICANN price to the price that the winner bidded. All of the losing ones were compensated. So right now, if I need to image the same process in 2026 or 2027 and somebody in 2024 tells me I will apply for dot table and he's really strong and really want to apply for that table, I know I can make money out of him, so I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't see this. First, like I can, didn't publish the date and the methodology. If it bid, if it's a straight price, if they go for standards, nothing has been set in stone. And secondly, yes, we will apply too, but for which TLD? I will release this news at a later stage. I won't give the opportunity to no one to push me to bid higher, right? And so be very careful on what you see, because, yes, everybody would like to apply what we are also furnishing.
Speaker 2:As I mentioned, we launched a joint venture with a Web2 registry and this would allow us to be on the licensed parties that can apply for a TLD. Remember, if you are not a licensed party by ICANN or authorized by ICANN, you cannot freely go to ICANN and say, yo, I have 300k, let me bid on this TLD. No, you need to be authorized by ICANN. So, thanks to this JV, yes, we can apply for our customers that have TLDs. So image all of the possibilities if you have a TLD, and when ICANN will finally say a date and a process, we can tell you it will cost this. This is ICANN, you can apply for us. So I hope to have, let's say, sum up, what is the status quo the process, but happy to receive more questions. And also Paige knows this process very well. So, paige, you can inform us too on your view no-transcript.
Speaker 3:You know, I know most of the people that applied in 2012 to get them in 2014,. Frankly, it was other people's money. And then I think, in the next round, I think a lot of people would do stuff with other people's money. But when I look at it and I say, even if I apply, even if they meet their deadline of 2026, even if I don't have competing auctions which forced me to pay more, then I get approved. Now I've got a contracting process which may take some number of months. Then they have to say, well, we have problems with the contract and then we have to redo the contract. Now I've got my TLD. Now the game just begins.
Speaker 3:You have to pay a lot of the registrars now to go get your TLD listed with them, because they're sitting there with 2000 TLDs now and they have the exclusive license to sell TLDs in a monopoly position along with all other registrars. And they're like well, gee, if you want to be on board first out of all these applicants, you need to pay a fare. You need to pay to play. You know you need to pay to be first and a lot of these registrars also own registries so they may favor themselves. Then, once you get it. Once you get it out, once you have your sunrise, then you ask yourself oh man, I hope we get a bunch of registrations on day one, and you may or you may not. Every new TLD that's come out lately has gotten progressively less and less registrations. And then, I think, a TLD operator and I know I'm going on here, but I am passionate about this Then a TLD operator is going to ask itself how do we grow, how do we be successful? And what I like about the Web3 model is it kind of clips all this. On the end of it, I'm going to practice beingsummer now. I'm going to practice my pitch and my engagement, with the hurdle that I also have to have people download a plug-in or use a browser. And that's okay because it lets me practice and hone my message and build my community and understand what it means to own a TLD. And then I don't have to give all the revenue to the registrars.
Speaker 3:The last thing with the registrars almost every registrar is willing to sell your TLD at cost. So yes, you have to set your wholesale costs somewhere where you can make money, but they're going to all sell it for the least amount. And what I hate about that is there's no money for marketing then. But when I'm selling, like my summer and my v, just to show my own stuff right now, I am able to take the money I get and that half of that 50% of the revenue was profit to me and I can spend it to grow. So it get and that half of that 50% of the revenue is profit to me and I can spend it to grow.
Speaker 3:So it's kind of an upside down model, but it's the model we're used to, where, if you're a startup, you go out there, you build your MVP, you build your idea, you connect with the people, you hone your message and then, yeah, if I get big enough, then I'll be in a position to be an ICANN TLD or you know what I may just say ICANN. I'm comfortable running this myself. It's working great, I got a good community, I got good people and I just don't need you. But we'll see. I'll make the decision at that time.
Speaker 1:Matt, I love that you brought up, or that you said, the practice thing. That is something that I was actually going to reference. That is a very, very big point and literally the opportunity that exists. If you're looking that far into the future with your investment, you now have basically the freedom to practice, to build your community, to build that business, with none of that oversight, with none of that cost, and then you're able to at some point, you know, decide whether it's worth going. You know the distance or whether you've built a level of success with what you already have.
Speaker 1:And for both of you you know, giving the feedback on the ICANN process. That's exactly what I wanted. I wanted some real feedback because the truth of the matter is it's not just an easy process. You know anybody and, kind of to summarize what you both were saying, you know the round hasn't been announced yet. At this point anybody can say anything that they're taking. You know their TLD and the fact that they're doing so is pretty much putting them into position to possibly become front run and run up the price of the bids of that TLD, because I guess GBM isn't the only one who has an. Everybody wins auction. Icann's auction is the same way if you're splitting revenue from the winner.
Speaker 1:But with all that being said, okay, let's take it around because, again, we've got some community members and if you're in our community you know who they are. We've got some community members that definitely can go the distance if it's just money Right and the assets that they own. You know, from free name on the Web3TLD side there are definitely some solid contenders. So, although you know, as we've just illustrated, it's not going to be easy and you probably should make a big campaign about it pre-round. But is there potentially a path for those who are serious and again by serious I mean who have whatever capital it may take and an actual, real business plan? If someone fits that bill, can they potentially partner with Freename for advisory on the next round?
Speaker 2:Absolutely yes, and on top of the advisory, they can partner with us for the bidding and for receiving the TLDs. As Paige mentioned, it's not a beat-win process. It involves much more, much more documents. Icann is very demanding and they do well in terms of regulation and procedures. We furnish support to everyone that would like to apply. This will be rolled out by the end of the year, where you can apply technologically from the platform and we will contact you. We're still very early, so everything you see online of people would like to apply for this and this and that just remember yourself. Icann has not set anything in stone.
Speaker 1:Dan. That's something very big that I just want everybody to take home. Again, kudos to everyone who is putting the narrative out there. Definitely appreciate that. Kudos to everybody for all the announcements and keeping the space exciting.
Speaker 1:But just because one entity is making a bunch of announcements doesn't mean another entity is in building, and I'm glad that you were able to come on and highlight you know the various different ways that you are building and that that opportunity again, you know that opportunity exists for even people in our ecosystem If you do have an asset that you want to take all the way. So take your asset seriously Again. You've got this opportunity, like Paige said, to build without all of that risk, to build with an asset that you don't have to renew, that's got no renewal fees, that you're able to monetize and create a turnkey business from the start and you're able to quote, unquote, test the waters and build that business plan again, because that might be something that you need. You know moving forward once you do get that ICANN TLD in your hand again, like what is it? To be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
Speaker 1:A lot of people who think that they're going to go out here and get these TLDs. If they do win them, then what? What community have you built to support them? Now? Where are your sales going to come from? How have you networked? And so we have that opportunity now. You know, far before we get to when bidding and all that stuff is going to happen Before we, you know, kind of close and wrap it up. Thank you, ishmael, for coming up on stage. Wanted to say hi to you and give you an opportunity to ask any questions, if you have any.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thanks for having me, man. Sorry, I had another call so I had to jump earlier. And yeah, thanks for having me, man. Sorry, I had another call so I had to jump earlier and I missed out on a lot of the stuff that was discussed. But you know I can speak a little bit about the whole concept of operating a TLD.
Speaker 4:A couple of years ago I had a rare opportunity where a TLD literally fell in my lap and literally I was given 48 hours to decide if I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity by the legendary Frank Schilling. He sold 23 TLDs for $40 million and I helped out in that process. There was link, click, hiv, a bunch of different names you can look it up online. Audio was one of them, properties and you know. So Frank reached out and said do you want hiphop? And if you do want it and you're serious, you have 48 hours to come up with some money. So cut the long story short. I learned a lot and I realized it was a lot for me to swallow by myself, and so I got more and more involved and a gentleman named Jenny will now run that CLD and I can just tell you that it's a lot of hard work operating the CLD. You know, hip-hop is a household name. It's something that a lot of people embed as a cultural thing. It's more than music. It's a religion for some people to an extent. Right, and the Dot Hip Hop registry is still very, very early in terms of adoption. It's a very, very cash-intensive uphill battle. You have so many other alternatives that people can consider. Your pricing has to be right, your visibility has to be on point, your marketing has to be effective and efficient and it takes a lot of groundwork. I mean, shout out to Muncie and Jenny and Jeff and Scott these guys are at every conference. You know, just putting that CLD in people's minds and adoption doesn't just come as easy as owning a CLD. So if anyone is considering going on that journey, just be very, very knowledgeable about what it's going to entail. But it could also be a very lucrative thing, right?
Speaker 4:I was listening to Domain Chain speak the other day and he was talking about how buzz has half a million people paying $40 a year in renewals and I was like buzz, what? So I just think it has unlimited potential, but it's easier said than done and I think what Freename offers and unstoppable domains to an extent is specifically Freename in this realm is you guys are giving people sort of like a way to get started with a community building phase, and I think that's amazing, because if you can build a community now, you have momentum and that becomes another phasing of growth. And so it's like if Dot Hip Hop started out as part of like the whole free name ecosystem. Because one thing Paige has pointed out that I really think is very true a lot of people buying these domain names don't even build them out. They probably would never build them out.
Speaker 4:There's so many com names that haven't been built out or haven't been updated since 95. I was looking up resortcom and they have a land from 1994, right, and, and you know it's like I was like hello, do you want to sell this name? So a lot of the, the, the real estate, the digital real estate that exists today isn't being built out. People are using this as investments and so I think a lot of these TLDs also don't have a lot of SLD registrations because they understand that it's an asset that will probably appreciate over the coming years. I was talking to the gentleman who runs Dope Music and I was like, oh, are you guys alive. I didn't even know he goes. We just went live and this is a domain extension that was granted in 2012. 12 years later, they're now just getting ready to go live.
Speaker 4:It's a journey, it's a marathon, not a sprint.
Speaker 1:I appreciate the invaluable input. First of all, shout out to Monty and Ajune as well Love dot hip-hop. As a TLD, I'm an unofficial ambassador. I'm always wearing my dot hip-hop shirt and hats and again, that's an example of some of that work and they put in work and branding that you have to do to make this successful. And another testament to you know, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. But it's invaluable insight from people like yourself and Paige and Davide and everybody else from our community. And you know, like I said, the opportunity that we've just talked about now, about being able to dip your toes in it without that expense, you know those tools right now are invaluable and I'm glad to be a part of the space that. You know we never know what it ends up producing. So, thank you, as always, for coming up. And yeah, I also want to thank Davide again for your time, for once again showing why I and Paige and many others have been bullish on you, the FreeName team, pretty much from the start.
Speaker 1:The opportunity, as you guys have heard, is different. Opportunity, as you guys have heard, is different. You know the team is willing to help build with you and add value as we continue to find adoption in the Web3 identity space, and they're not letting again. You know any of the typical roadblocks. You know that a lot that are going to affect a lot of people. They're not allowing those roadblocks to stop them from building. They're building around them. They're building better and they're building with us. Stop them from building. They're building around them, they're building better and they're building with us. And so, yeah, with that being said, if there's anything else you want to leave us with or anything special you want to drop, now's the time where we can go ahead and wrap up.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll jump in. I was watching some football over the weekend.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you guys can hear me, but I lost line completely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we can hear you now, sir.
Speaker 3:He may not be able to hear us.
Speaker 3:So I was watching football over the weekend soccer in the US, football in the rest of the world and I saw bookingyeah on and the rest of the world, and I saw booking, booking dot yeah On the on the sideboards of the of the game and it reminded me I think Nike did the same thing when they had a phrase one time where the the something, dot, something is just so ingrained in our minds now that even with their hub being a dot yeah, tld, booking dot yeah Just took advantage of that brief kind of hey looky here.
Speaker 3:Hey, kind of looky that you know form of a domain name that they didn't even own, you know there isn't even a yeah. And it gets more toward the ability to put an identity on your you know your gaming channel, your X identity, a website, and then if you do have it on your reseller pages, it is going to get indexed in Web2. So it's kind of a back way to get indexed by Google by having a Web3 TLD, put content about the Web3 TLD on a Web2 page, but then if people want to take the next step, they can buy it too. So it's just interesting seeing the booking yeah, but W. If people want to take the next step, they can buy it too. So it's just interesting seeing the bookingyeah. But Wynn, great space, appreciate it here and everybody Look forward to the future.
Speaker 4:I love that you brought up that bookingyeah, because that confused the shit out of me, paige. Actually, you know what happened was I was watching a match and I saw bookingyeah and I was like the domainer in, I was like there's a you know, the domain name was like there's a year extension and I was like I've never heard of that one before and I literally fell for it. I went in and typed in bookingyear and obviously guess where? It led me? To bookingcom, right. So I think what they realize is, or what the experiment was, was you know, people are so sick of seeing bookingcom. We need to create something that's going to make them go look up bookingcom without being obvious. So sort of like a concealed marketing strategy.
Speaker 4:And I don't know what the roi was, but it was somewhat genius because it evoked an emotion. You You're like what is Bookingyear? It made you more curious. Versus if you saw Bookingcom, you're like, ah, just another ad, right? So Bookingyear could be the start of another advertising trend where we could start seeing things like Hawktour and when you Google it, some company has manipulated the SEO where they show up, right. You know what I mean. So I think that was a great point that you brought up. Sorry to extend the time here, but I thought that was an interesting thing and I'm going to follow up on that because I'm a marketer and I have to keep up with those types of trends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you just highlighted and that's something that I don't think I caught on to either, but you definitely did just highlight, you know, a pretty good marketing opportunity that's out there for the right domains If you can build them. I like the hot dot tour. That's something that we just actually kind of been posting up in the past couple of days. It's currently available on free name. Please use my referral code if you are going to go spend twenty five hundred for it on free day. Please use my referral code if you are going to go spend $2,500 for it.
Speaker 2:If we do have you back on, davide. If you want to leave us with a couple of words, go for it. Sir, thank you and sorry, I don't know what happened, but I could not hear anything when you were saying closing the space. And firstly, as always, I really appreciate your spaces. I think great participant, there is always great content and thanks Ish and Paige for participating so actively. Just the last things, guys as Paige said, as Ish said, operate a TLD. It's a lot of money. A Web2 TLD a lot of money, we are not certain where, and there is a lot of effort. A lot of money, we are not certain where, and there is a lot of effort. It's great that in Web3, we can operate with two clicks, start making money, the second after with another click. So, totally for click, you can start experiencing what it is to be a registry yourself. Don't waste time, take the opportunity. Thank you, wynn. I appreciate it a lot. Waste time, take the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Wynn I appreciate it a lot.
Speaker 3:Yes, you didn't miss much. Wynn just gave us all half off all the TLDs. Well, actually, I was just about to.
Speaker 1:I was actually just about to do that right now, if you don't mind. I do want to remind everybody that it is extremely easy to join the Freename community they are everywhere they are on Twitter, they are on Telegram and to join the Freename community. They are everywhere they are on Twitter, they are on Telegram and you need to head on over to Freenameio. As we mentioned earlier, they did recently just enable the ability to mint both TLDs and SLDs on base. I can go on for another two hours about why I'm bullish about that, but from now until the end of the month, yeah, you are able to get 50% off any of your TLD. You know, if you want to go ahead and start your business or add another TLD to your portfolio, 50% off using the code base. So, yeah, that's available between now and the 30th of June. That's a pretty big discount and plenty of prime inventory out there. Again, something fits for you. If you can build a community, there's a lot of opportunity. Freename enables you with a lot of turnkey tools Not financial advice to ever do your own research, but definitely here to help you build. The community has a lot of great people in it and we're here to help make each other successful.
Speaker 1:Again, this is a. What do they say? It's a marathon, not a sprint. Hopefully I'm saying that correctly. It truly is Technology. You can't stop technology, and probably the most risk-free way to get in on the ground floor of this technology is with a domain name, and especially a domain name TLD, that you don't got to pay renewals for. So again, thank you for both Paige Ishmael for coming up, and especially Davide for always giving me time and wisdom, for coming on these spaces and giving us an insight and information for free, and that we can only get from you. So thank you once again. Everybody, follow the community, um, support our tech talks. This will be, uh, uploaded to the podcast in the next day or two and again you'll be able to see it on our archive on the website at myheartdomainscom. You guys have a happy rest of the week and happy demanding. Uh, yeah, that's it for me amazing space.
Speaker 1:Thank you, man thank you, sir, demanding. Yeah, that's it for me. Amazing space. Thank you, ed. Thank you, sir.