.Scot dumps GBP over Brexit
It’s fascinating to watch the upheaval Brexit is having across the economy and then with domain names. You’ve probably by now heard that UK residents might have to surrender their .EU domain names following Brexit, although that’s still up in the air.
Here’s another example: DotScot Registry Ltd, the modest non-profit that runs the .Scot top level domain name, is switching its fees from Sterling (GBP) to the Euro (EUR). The currency switchover happens on March 29.
DotScot director Gavin McCutcheon explained to Reglike that currency fluctuations with the pound sterling are impacting its business. In an email he wrote:
…by far and away our largest overheads are denominated in USD (ICANN fees and escrow fees) and EUR (back-end services, etc), whereas our income has up until now been denominated in Sterling. Since of this we are hugely exposed to volatility in the exchange rate between Sterling vs. the Euro/ US Dollar and the best guidance we have is that there is expected to be a high degree of volatility in Sterling following Brexit…
Indeed, Sterling is still down regarding 17% since the Brexit vote even though it has rebounded from its lows.
McCutcheon notes that registries have to give six months’ notice of any price change, so ought to the GBP fall substantially, it would be stuck in limbo for a long time.
He wrote:
Ultimately our registrants need price stability and what we are doing has the aim of ensuring that we can maintain a stable base-price moving forwards, which will also make life easier for our registrars who benefit from – and require us to provide – stable pricing too.
