We’re thrilled to mark a significant milestone today – the 9th anniversary of .xyz’s launch! We’re incredibly grateful for the vibrant .xyz community that has evolved alongside us. Together, we’ve achieved remarkable accomplishments and created an online space that embodies the endless possibilities of the digital world.
Over the years, .xyz has experienced an extraordinary surge in popularity. This meteoric rise has not only reshaped the digital landscape but has positioned .xyz as a true pioneer and symbol of innovation.
At the heart of our success lies the incredible individuals who make up the .xyz community. Our community is a diverse tapestry of entrepreneurs, artists, developers, and dreamers, all coming together to push the boundaries of what’s possible online. It is through their unwavering dedication and pioneering spirit that .xyz has become synonymous with freedom and versatility on the internet.
We’ve been very excited this year to witness the integration of AI-related platforms building homes on .xyz and XYZ Registry domains, like .Game and .Quest. In just six months, “AI” has risen to claim the top spot among .xyz domain name registrations, reflecting the growing influence of artificial intelligence in our digital world. Artificial intelligence has revolutionized industries, transforming the way we live and paving the way for a future that was once only imaginable in science fiction. With .xyz leading the charge, these cutting-edge platforms are reshaping the landscape of home automation, robotics, and AI, empowering users to embrace a world of endless possibilities. Don’t miss our upcoming new weekly series #AIMonday, where we will highlight .xyz websites such as Sloped.xyz and Frontdoor.xyz that offer a wide range of AI technologies aimed at helping businesses and individuals automate processes and gain a competitive edge.
At XYZ Registry, we’re excited by the numerous ventures in our dynamic .xyz community securing significant investments. These successes highlight just one facet of our community’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive. .XYZ is home to innovation, attracting visionary minds who disrupt industries. Check out our monthly XYZ Registry Domains Report to learn more about these cool successes. Here are some of the top raises we’ve seen this year:
One of the earmarks of growth and usage in a Top Level Domain like .xyz is the amount of visits or “DNS queries” going to all live domains ending in .xyz. A DNS query happens when you type a domain name into your browser, or click on a link, and your browser sends a request to the Domain Name Service (DNS) to lookup the website files, so that it can display the website for you. For example, if you visit Indo.xyz, Rooms.xyz, and Fair.xyz, those queries are all counted towards the total DNS queries for the .xyz TLD. Queries are counted when users visit websites, and they are also counted when websites are “visited” programmatically, such as when they are crawled by Google for indexing.
You can track the level of DNS activity on .xyz domain names by examining ICANN’s monthly registry activity reports. Looking at “dns-udp-queries-received,” you can gauge the level of interest and engagement with .xyz domains, which can indicate their popularity.
From launch in 2014 to date, the .xyz infrastructure has supported more than 25.2 trillion queries. We have seen steady growth from 4.5 billion queries in 2014, to 1.3 trillion queries in 2022 alone! This stat steadily increases year over year, and as .xyz continues to be the #1 new gTLD in registration numbers, the usage of .xyz grows even more exponentially.
In August 2022, we proudly became the next steward for .Lat, a domain extension that embodies the spirit of LATAM pride. .Lat domains offer an inclusive online space, open for registration by individuals or organizations from any location, such as Manuel Zúñiga’s Consultis.Lat, without restrictions. XYZ is deeply committed to fostering the expansion and advancement of online opportunities, not only in Latin America but also across the globe. We recognize the significance of having an affordable, concise, and versatile domain ending that effectively represents Latinos worldwide. By offering .Lat domains, we aim to empower individuals and businesses, like DataGrowth.Lat, to establish a digital presence that authentically reflects their identity and aspirations.
This past year we introduced our latest initiative, the #BlockchainThursday blog series, which complements our long-standing #WebsiteWednesday series. As the .xyz blockchain community continues to expand, we aim to shine a spotlight on innovative and forward-thinking individuals within our community. Every Thursday, we feature a member of the .xyz blockchain community, such as Lens.xyz and Alongside.xyz, showcasing their groundbreaking work and contributions to the industry. This new series allows us to celebrate the growth and advancements within the blockchain space while highlighting the incredible individuals who are driving its progress. Be sure to check out our #BlockchainThursday series and join us in celebrating the remarkable achievements of our web3-focused community members.
The impact our community continues to have on society is inspiring. Through their innovative technologies, influential works of art and entertainment, and ambitious projects with a global reach, the .xyz community is leaving an indelible mark. From leveraging blockchain technology to enhance security and transparency, to harnessing the power of AI for revolutionizing knowledge management, our community exemplifies the limitless potential of human ingenuity and collaboration.
As we embark on a .Quest towards our 10th year, we remain committed to fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and empowered. We deeply appreciate the diverse range of end-users who contribute to our community, as it is through the fusion of different perspectives, backgrounds, and talents that we can truly unlock the internet’s potential. Our ongoing dedication to inclusivity drives us to create tools, resources, and initiatives that cater to the unique needs of each .xyz community member. With our sights set firmly on the future, we eagerly anticipate the limitless possibilities that lie ahead. Here’s to another year of trailblazing and shaping the digital world with .xyz!
In addition to advancements in AI and blockchain technology, remarkable achievements are taking place on .xyz in various global markets. Highlighted here are some of the websites we proudly featured this year:
At XYZ Registry, our zero-tolerance stance against abuse is fortified by our Anti-Abuse Technology and partnerships with leading cybersecurity companies like Spamhaus, PhishLabs, and IWF. These partnerships, along with our proprietary tools and user reporting, are crucial in swiftly responding to and mitigating abuse within our zones, ensuring the ongoing safety of the XYZ namespace. By collaborating with cybersecurity partners, we access specialized expertise and resources to effectively detect and address malicious activities.
User reporting serves as a vital source of real-time information, enabling us to promptly investigate and take action against abuse. Together with our partnerships, user reports help aid in detection to swiftly combat phishing, spam, malware, and other violations of our strict Anti-Abuse policies. This collaborative approach strengthens our ability to uphold the integrity of the XYZ namespace and create a safer online environment.
At XYZ Registry, we prioritize proactive monitoring and rapid response to address abuse, working alongside our partners and users to swiftly mitigate threats and maintain the safety and trustworthiness of our zones.
In the past year, XYZ has been honored to provide support to 262 hackathons worldwide (more than double the amount as last year!), offering a platform for passionate coders to showcase their innovative ideas online. Through collaborations and unique partnerships, like LayerX.xyz‘s hackathon management platform TAIKAI, we have actively worked towards inspiring the next generation to pursue leadership roles in the field of STEM. These partnerships exemplify our commitment to empowering generations of internet users, enabling them to transform their dreams into tangible realities.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our global community for their unwavering support, as we celebrate our 9-year milestone. None of our achievements would have been possible without you, and we eagerly anticipate many more remarkable accomplishments as we continue this incredible journey together.
As we commemorate our 9th anniversary, we embrace our journey in the ever-evolving digital landscape, offering a truly generic domain for all to build upon. From blockchain to AR/VR, 3D, AI, and machine learning, cutting-edge platforms are building on .xyz domains and reshaping our lives. With excitement for the future, we eagerly anticipate the innovations that await us.
For more from XYZ’s CEO, be sure to check out Daniel’s blog post at www.ceo.xyz/nine.
We’re extremely proud to be celebrating the 8th anniversary of .xyz’s launch and the amazing .xyz community that has developed over the years. With over 4 million registrations, .xyz surpassed .info in 2022, becoming the #4 generic domain ending. To put this meteoric rise into perspective: at 8 years old, .xyz is only trailing 3 generic domains from the 1980s.
.XYZ community members are pioneering innovative technologies, creating influential works of art and entertainment, and developing projects designed to make a positive impact on the world. .XYZ remains a top choice for those that value freedom and versatility online – especially true for the rapidly growing blockchain community. This year TechCrunch took notice of .xyz and published an article on the web3 popularity of .xyz titled “WTF is .xyz?”
We asked a few of our blockchain end-users to share their thoughts on xyz:
We’re equally supportive of the blockchain community, and thoroughly enjoy seeing all of the innovative ideas being launched on .xyz. Along with web3, there are exciting accomplishments happening on .xyz in diverse markets all around the world. Highlighted here are a few websites that stood out to us this year:
We greatly appreciate the support of our partners who have helped us achieve a truly global reach, empowering everyone around the world to find their own .xyz. Thanks to our global network and their customers, worldwide adoption has made .xyz a top choice for over 4 million domains and counting. Partners like GoDaddy, Namecheap, Onamae, Alibaba, and many more have all helped deliver the message that .xyz truly is “for every website, everywhere®.”
The .xyz blockchain community has grown exponentially since XYZ first worked with the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to enable ETH wallet pairing with .xyz domains. The growth was noticed by TechCrunch writer Anita Ramaswamy, who published an article titled “WTF is .xyz?” To keep supporting the innovative blockchain community, this year we developed another web3 project called eth.xyz, a service aimed to help ENS users share what they want with the world. With eth.xyz, we enabled all .eth name holders to display their ENS profiles in all web browsers with .xyz. The ENS profiles serve as a hub for all the important public information connected to an .eth name, such as NFTs and wallet addresses. To use it, just add “.xyz” to the end of any .eth name in any web browser and the corresponding ENS profile will display (i.e. Maaria.eth = Maaria.eth.xyz).
We are constantly in awe of the many forward-thinking web3 developers launching their projects on .xyz domains and can’t wait to see the new ideas that come to life in the year ahead.
In March 2022, we introduced 10 more domain endings in the XYZ family: .Game, .Guitars, .Audio, .Christmas, .Diet, .Flowers, .Hosting, .Pics, .Mom, and .LOL These new additions bring our Registry’s total offerings to 33! 8 years in, and our commitment to versatility remains strong. You can use this diverse range of domains to establish your brand online and signify your devotion to your community.
Brands, individuals, and organizations all over the world are already using .Game, .Guitars, .Audio, .Christmas, .Diet, .Flowers, .Hosting, .Pics, .Mom, and .LOL to build their websites and establish their brands online:
This year we introduced the XYZ Registry Domains Report. This monthly report shares exciting highlights in domain sales from the previous month, including which XYZ domains took the lead and the highest aftermarket sales of the month. You can use the Domains Reports to learn about aftermarket sales, try our tools for browsing featured available domains, and see inspiring businesses and innovative new ideas launching on XYZ premium domains. You can keep up with emerging trends – including the blockchain industry’s particular interest in .xyz – by subscribing to the .xyz newsletter.
The XYZ Registry continues to have a no-tolerance policy for abuse in our zones. This year we were recognized by Spamhaus with a series of collaborative blog posts regarding abuse and acceptable use best practices. Our proprietary Anti-Abuse Technology continues to keep the XYZ namespace safe and, according to Spamhaus, .xyz generally has a lower badness index score than most legacy TLDs. XYZ has also joined the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and continues to actively seek out opportunities to collaborate on cybersecurity.
This year, XYZ proudly supported 121 hackathons across the globe, and supplied determined coders with a platform to launch their inventive ideas online. By developing partnerships with organizations like Indonesia-based Generation Girl, which works to inspire young women to become leaders in the historically male-dominated STEM fields, XYZ continues to empower generations of internet users to turn their dreams into reality.
We’d like to thank our worldwide community for helping us reach the 8-year mark. We couldn’t have done it without you, and we look forward to sharing many more achievements together.
The XYZ team was at Anime Expo for the 2nd year in a row and the #XYZsquad, of course, came along to mix it up with the thousands of characters and anime enthusiasts also attending the event. After starting a few dance parties outside, the team went inside the expo to look at various shows’ booths and let the attendees know how they could win an iPad Pro in our website building contest.
Check out the full recap video below and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss XYZ’s next adventure!
After a month of exciting celebrations, our spectacular 4th birthday celebration came to an end on June 30th. We can’t thank the #GenXYZ community enough for your participation in our anniversary campaign sale, which helped us raise more than $10,000 to protect the future of the internet.
When we set out to find a perfect way to celebrate our 4th anniversary, we thought about what would mean the most not only to us here on the XYZ Team, but to all of you who have helped .xyz grow to become one of the most popular domains in the world in just 4 short years. We knew that it had to be something that would not only support your innovative ideas and allow you to continue to express them on your .xyz sites, but it also had to be something that was true to the mission we’ve had for .xyz since we pushed the button to launch it to the world.
That’s why we’re so proud of your participation in our anniversary sale. We wanted to have a sale that would give all of you in #GenXYZ 2 years to build your projects without worrying about renewals, and the donations you helped raise for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Tsinghua x-lab will shape the future of the internet in a positive way for years to come.
One of the greatest strengths of .xyz lies in the community of its adopters, and on this anniversary we are so glad we were able to celebrate together with you and work towards a gift that all of us can enjoy; a better internet today, and for every day to come. The work isn’t done, however, and if you want to keep supporting EFF you can do so at the XYZ donation page here.
The festivities aren’t completely over yet though! Our anniversary website building contest is still running until July 31st, when we will judge all the .xyz sites that have been entered and pick 4 lucky winners who will each receive an iPad Pro! The full details and rules are all available at www.gen.xyz/giveaway. If you haven’t entered your .xyz site into the contest yet, what are you waiting for?! Head to the contest page now and don’t miss your chance to win!
If there’s one thing we know #GenXYZ loves, it’s video games! So the team from XYZ headed across town to the LA Convention Center for E3 2018. This is the first time E3 has been opened to the public, and the tens of thousands of gamers in attendance enjoyed getting down with the #XYZsquad in between playing demos of all the biggest upcoming game releases.
Check out the full video recap of our trip to E3 below!
This Saturday is .xyz’s 4th birthday! We’re celebrating 4 years of supporting the next generation of internet users by giving them the freedom to get online with an affordable and memorable domain name, and the power to choose the domain that they want.
Our mission from Day 1 has been to reset the internet to give Generations X, Y, and Z a domain extension that’s made for them, and one that is dedicated to making the internet a better place for them. So, what we’d really like for our 4th birthday is a truly open and free internet for everyone.
That’s why during our 4th Anniversary campaign from today until June 30th:
We’ve pledged to donate a minimum of $10,000 during this campaign, but we’re confident that with your help we can make that number much, much higher. You can track the progress of our donation campaign on our gen.xyz homepage.
What we’ve accomplished with all of you in the #GenXYZ community of users and supporters these past 4 years has been everything we’d hoped and dreamed for when .xyz launched. But we’re just scratching the surface of what we can do, and with your help we’ll continue to shape the future of the internet for generations and make it the best it can be.
Are you ready to join us in protecting a free and open internet? Then renew your .xyz domain or register one for 2 years today!
*Sale prices available only at participating registrars. See the full list of participating registrars here.
The XYZ team loves getting out in the field to meet with our partners. One of our favorite trips is the GoDaddy Road Show, where the team packs up an RV with shirts and swag and drives east to visit GoDaddy’s offices in Phoenix and Hiawatha.
Our Road Show tradition started in 2014 before our global launch, and we visited most recently in 2017. This year’s journey to GoDaddy was highlighted by great conversations with GoDaddy employees and fun experiences touring the GoDaddy offices. Get the full experience yourself by watching our recap video below!
Happy New Year #GenXYZ! We hope you’re as excited for 2018 as we are. But in all the anticipation surrounding the start of a new calendar year, it’s important to take time to reflect on everything that was accomplished in the previous one. For all of us here at XYZ, that list of accomplishments is something we couldn’t be prouder of. But we didn’t do it alone, so we want to look back at all the awesome things Generation XYZ helped make happen in 2017.
2017 was a big year for growth here at XYZ. We acquired our 10th domain extension, .Storage, and re-launched it as an unrestricted namespace, which caught the attention of storage businesses and even coverage by industry resources like Sparefoot. Earlier in 2017, after teasing a big announcement for months through our AYDACFU campaign, we launched a new class of 1.111 billion .xyz domains, dubbed the 1.111B® Class. It encompasses all 6 through 9-digit numeric .xyz domains that have been reclassified for alternative uses, and we’ve already seen some very unique examples of active 1.111B® Class sites.
Speaking of alternative uses for .xyz domains, one of our favorite highlights in 2017 was the announcement of the exclusive partnership between Ethereum and XYZ, which allows users to pair their .xyz domains to their Ethereum wallets, making crypto trading and management a simple process through any registrar that offers .xyz. This partnership opens up Ethereum to a whole new audience and gives .xyz adopters an unprecedented new freedom in how to use their domain. Check out a video of Ethereum announcing the partnership at their DevCon3 event below.
If you’ve been a regular reader of our monthly event recap blog series, you already know that we’ve visited dozens of countries and countless cities around the globe to spread the word about .xyz this year. We brought the #XYZsquad to San Diego for Comic-Con, then to Downtown Los Angeles for the world’s biggest gaming convention, E3, and they even danced their way onto Austin’s local news at SXSW. And that was just the beginning – they also made pit stops in China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, among other places.
In addition to making .xyz’s presence known to the public at major events like these, we are also proud to be able to connect directly with the members of #GenXYZ with the help of our strategic partners. Product Forge regularly provides .xyz domains to the innovators who participate in their hackathons, CoderDojo teaches middle school and high school students how to code with their own .xyz domains, and Junior Achievement implemented a new website requirement to their 13-week entrepreneurship classes, which gives high school students .xyz domains – and all the other necessary tools and resources – to build their company’s first website.
All of us at Team XYZ clearly have a lot to look back on and be proud of from 2017, but none of it would be possible without the support and passion of all of you in the #GenXYZ community. Your passion is what motivated us to eventually claim two Tech in Motion TIMMY Awards this year, one for Best Tech Workplace for Diversity and another for our CEO Daniel Negari for Best Tech Manager. So below we’re sharing just a few of the many big successes from our end users in 2017:
We’re proud of everything that the #GenXYZ community and our team accomplished this past year, and we know that 2018 is only going to be better. We have some very exciting new initiatives rolling out this year, so be sure to stay up to date on all things XYZ by subscribing to our newsletter, reading our blog, and follow us @XYZ on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
As 2017 winds to a close, Team XYZ was happy to focus on continuing to foster the #GenXYZ community in November. Keep reading to get all the details, or check out the highlights below!
The #GenXYZ community in China always shows a unique passion when representing .xyz, and they were back it again this month at the 2017 Shanghai Marathon. The runners supporting .xyz in the race ran the entire 26.2 miles (or 42.2km) with .xyz flags streaming behind them, and they couldn’t have been more excited to rep .xyz!
After trotting around the globe in October, it was great to spend some time this month right here in our own neighborhood of Santa Monica. We started off the month by heading across the street to Lime Cafe, a favorite lunch spot around our office, and holding a pop up XYZ shop to hand out great .xyz swag and get the dozens of lunch-goers set up with their own .xyz domains. Lime even made a special menu item for us, and the “XYZ Special Burger” was the most popular menu item of the day! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to follow where we’ll be next.
The innovation of #GenXYZ was on display again this month as our partner Product Forge hosted their Medical Visualization hackathon in Edinburgh, Scotland. The hackathon focused participants’ bright minds on creating solutions that will deliver precision medicine that is tailored for individual patients. They built their projects and can now bring those ideas to help the global healthcare industry thanks to their .xyz domains.
The entrepreneurial spirit of our end users isn’t limited to just .xyz adopters. .Cars/.Car/.Auto adopters Waive.Car brought their new ride-sharing startup to ABC’s hit show Shark Tank, and went toe to toe with the sharks to secure an investment in their business. They even gave XYZ a shoutout, as we’re one of their first advertisers. Congrats Waive.Car, we can’t wait to see what waits for you on the road ahead!
Over the past few months we’ve been getting ready to welcome another new neighbor near our office, Santa Monica College. They recently finished construction on a brand new campus just down the street, so we made sure to swing by for SMC’s homecoming football game to show our support and spread the word about .xyz to the students. We’ve only just begun collaborating with SMC, so be sure to check our Instagram to see what else we have in store!
We’ve had plenty to be thankful for this year, and we were glad to have a chance to reflect on it as a team while celebrating Thanksgiving at the office. From the official launches of .Storage and the 1.111B® Class, to announcing a partnership that allows users to pair and trade Ethereum exclusively with .xyz domains, 2017 was a great year for us and for .xyz adopters around the world. We’re not done yet though, as we have plenty in store for December and beyond, so stay tuned to our blog for all the latest .xyz news.
October was another action packed month for all of us here at XYZ. Keep reading to see everywhere we went, or check out the video below for all the highlights!
2017 marks the 3rd straight year that we’ve taken .College to Educause, which was held this year in the City of Brotherly Love. And there was plenty of brotherly love spread around to the 4,000+ attendees, especially by the #XYZsquad, whose welcoming personalities helped the .College booth stand out among big names like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon as the hit of the conference. We spoke with hundreds of education industry professionals to help them register their .College domains and get their picture with the #XYZsquad too!
October also brought us an opportunity to connect with one of our leading registrar partners, Alibaba, at their YunQi Conference. It was great to see some familiar faces at the event, not just from Alibaba, but from Driver.xyz as well. There were many insightful keynotes and presentations given at the event, so if you missed any be sure to watch the replays here.
Giving the next generation of business leaders around the world a place to show their skills is central in XYZ’s mission to get the next generation online, and our partner Product Forge has helped us accomplish this goal time and again with their hackathons. This month, Product Forge organized the Edinburgh Tourism Challenge Weekend to give Scotland’s bright young minds a crack at improving Edinburgh’s tourism industry. Hackathon attendees put forth dozens of new ways to optimize the city’s tourism industry, and we supported them with free .xyz domains so they can share their ideas with the world (and they received some great free swag to boot). Check out the hackathon recap video below to see all the action, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all the ways we support #GenXYZ!
ICANN’s events have given Team XYZ the chance to travel around the world, and this month we made the trip from LA all the way to Abu Dhabi, where we met with over 30 of our partners. We shared the exciting news about both .Storage and the 1.111B® Class officially launching, and also planned some exciting new initiatives for 2018.
Last month we previewed an interview we were happy to have with Majesty Alliance, and we’re excited to be able to share the full video this month. Check it out below!
We capped off the month of October by celebrating Halloween with the entire office. We held a costume contest and a pumpkin carving contest, and there were some very creative entries in both. To see more of XYZ’s culture and find out why XYZ is the best place to work, check out our daily stories on Instagram (@XYZ).
