Reglikedomain industry desk

Deal to sell expiring .AI domain names — Namecheap scores

Deal to sell expiring .AI domain names — Namecheap scores

Firm will take over auctions from Dynadot.

Image of multiple arms holding bidding cards in an auction

Namecheap has won the right to auction expiring registry .ai domain names going forward.

The firm’s CEO, Richard Kirkendall, noted the change in a post on X today.

Earlier in the day, Vincent Cate, who ran the .ai registry until Identity Digital took it over last month, sent a message to some clients noting, “Due to circumstances beyond our control, we can no longer do auctions at auction.whois.ai.”

Practically speaking, most clients bought expiring domain names through Dynadot, which managed the auctions on behalf of the .ai registry.

A change to the auctions was not entirely unexpected. Last month, Ram Mohan, Chief Strategy Officer of Identity Digital, told Reglike that it was reviewing the expired domain auction process with Anguilla’s government.

Namecheap will run daily auctions on its auction platform compared to the monthly auctions that were occurring at Dynadot.

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.

WExpired DomainsWay to Sell More Expiring Domain Names — VeriSign Devises1Expired Domains14 domain names to backorder this stretchSDomain RegistrarsSnapnames signs up fresh exclusive registrarCExpired DomainsClosing an expired domain “loophole” — GoDaddy isThat send expired domains to GoDaddy — 29 registrarsExpired DomainsThat send expired domains to GoDaddy — 29 registrarsGDomain RegistrarsGoDaddy cans premium auctions: It’s officialSold at NameJet and SnapNames last month — Here’s whatExpired DomainsSold at NameJet and SnapNames last month — Here’s whatNExpired DomainsNameJet Expired Domain Name ReviewBExpired DomainsBackorder prices, adds .xyz — Pheenix raises