The web3 domain experiment was a failure. This week, Unstoppable Domains CEO Matthew Gould announced the company’s pivot to traditional domain names, explaining a focus on “web2 domains” because web3 names haven’t panned out as hoped. Web3-only domains were part of the crypto craze in 2021 but failed to cross the chasm into mainstream usage.
And for a while now we have believed they will remain a niche market now and into the future. They were a great place to start our journey into domains, but going forward our focus will be even more on the traditional market as it’s the market that has crossed the chasm and is seeing mainstream usage. The response from people who registered web3 names with the company was, unsurprisingly, negative.
The reality is that Matt has been saying this for over a year. But even when crypto stalwarts actually listened to his recent podcasts on Domain Name Wire, their comments on X seemed to focus on how this was a good thing for their web3 domain investments. I suppose this is a pattern for people who have invested in something and continue to try to “pump their bags”.
It’s not just Unstoppable Domains that has essentially thrown in the towel. Namecheap sold its Handshake exchange, and the few registrars who ever sold these domains have relegated them to the back of their websites. Recently, I received a message from someone who said I could now tell him, “I told you so” about web3 domains.
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