Reglikedomain industry desk

Namecheap bolsters blockchain domain push with Namebase buyout, notes strong 2021 results

Namecheap bolsters blockchain domain push with Namebase buyout, notes strong 2021 results

Registrar buys leading Handshake marketplace and notes rapid growth over the past year.

Logo for Namebase shows the letter N in yellow and blue with a red dot to the upper right and the words namebase in black characters

Namecheap is making an buyout related to blockchain-based domains and noted strong growth in 2021.

The buyout of Namebase bolsters the firm’s position with Handshake, one of the competing blockchain-based domain name alternatives. Namebase is the leading marketplace and onramp for Handshake domains.

With Handshake, anyone can register a top level domain and then sell second level domains under them to other parties. For example, Namecheap offers second level Handshake domains in extensions such as .saas, .p, and .creator. At this time, Namecheap is the “owner” of each Handshake top level domain it offers at the registrar.

These domains can be used for crypto wallet addresses, Web3 identities, and technically, web presence such as websites. Still, none of the most popular browsers right now resolve blockchain-based domains without using a plugin. Opera, which has regarding 1%-2% market share, is enabling native access to Handshake domains this year.

Separately, Namecheap revealed to Reglike that its revenue last year soared 28% over 2020, tallying $256.76 million. It ended the year with 14.62 million domains under management and 30 million active products counting email subscriptions, SSL, hosting, etc. It added one million clients last year.

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.

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