Tokenized Domains: How NicNames and DOMA Are Turning Web2 Assets Into On-Chain Real Estate

Most people still think of domain names as simple website addresses, but they’re quietly becoming one of the most powerful digital assets on the internet. What’s changing now is not the domains themselves, but the infrastructure around them: for the first time, they can move on-chain, gain liquidity, and function like programmable real-world assets. In this AMA recap, NicNames founder Andriy Khvetkevych and DOMA Protocol co-founder Fred Hsu explain how traditional DNS, registrars, and blockchain are finally aligning — and why tokenizing domains may reshape everything from fundraising to asset ownership. If you want to understand where the next decade of digital property is heading, start here.

From ICANN Dublin to On-Chain Domains

The relationship between NicNames and DOMA really accelerated at ICANN Dublin, where Fred invited Andriy to speak on a blockchain and domains panel.

ICANN historically has been very skeptical about blockchain. As Andriy recalled, they even posted on Twitter years ago that ICANN would “never join blockchain.” But things are changing. Once registrars and registries started experimenting seriously with Web3, ICANN’s tone began to shift:

“They’re more open… when they see registrars and registries collaborating around blockchain and new technologies, ICANN also starts to think differently.” – Andriy

DOMA has been quietly working on this for years: standardizing how traditional domains can be tokenized and moved on-chain in a way that works for real registrars, not just side projects. NicNames became the first integrated registrar on DOMA — and, according to Fred, one of the fastest integrations they’ve ever seen.

“Andriy’s team has been super sharp… probably record integration time. I’ve already bought some tokenized names through NicNames.” – Fred

Domains: The “Original NFT” and Internet Real Estate

Long before NFTs, people were already hoarding digital assets that:

• Were scarce
• Had unique names
• Could be bought, sold, and held for years
• Often appreciated massively in value

Those assets? Domain names.

As Andriy put it:

“Domain names are the original NFT… They’re the real estate of the internet.”

In the 1990s and 2000s, early adopters registered good names and sat on them. Today, some of those domains sell for hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. But the infrastructure around them is still very Web2:

• Manual brokers
• Long negotiations
• Paper contracts and escrow
• Weeks to settle a deal

DOMA and NicNames want to keep everything that already works — DNS, websites, email — but add a new on-chain layer: tokenization, trading, fractional ownership, and DeFi-style mechanics built around domains.

What Tokenizing a Domain Actually Means

So what does “tokenizing a domain” look like in practice?

With NicNames + DOMA:

• You register or transfer a domain at a Doma-integrated registrar like NicNames.
• You choose to tokenize it:
  • The domain is represented as an NFT that controls ownership.
  • Whoever holds that NFT is the domain owner.
• You can:
  • Hold it in a custodial wallet managed by NicNames, or
  • Move it to your own Web3 wallet (e.g., MetaMask and others, which NicNames is working toward supporting directly).
• On-chain, you can:
  • Transfer the NFT (and thus the domain) instantly.
  • Integrate with marketplaces (like DOMA’s Project Mizu at app.doma.xyz) for listing and trading.
  • Eventually, fractionalize ownership, create tokenomics, or plug into DeFi-style features.

On the Web2 side, nothing breaks:

• You can still renew the domain.
• You can still change DNS records, set up websites, email, wallets, agents, etc.
• You can still manage it via NicNames’ interface as usual.

The difference is:

“Everything you can do with a regular domain, you can do with a tokenized domain — but now it’s controlled by an NFT.” – Andriy

Liquidity, Fractionalization, and Global Fundraising

One of the most interesting parts of the AMA was how both founders think about liquidity and access to capital.

Fred gave a simple example:

• Imagine you own rainforest.com.
• It’s extremely valuable, but illiquid. It’s just sitting there.
• Through DOMA + Mizu, you could:
  • Tokenize the domain
  • Decide on a valuation and supply
  • Sell, say, 30% of the domain as fungible tokens to a global community
  • Still keep full operational control of the domain itself

That’s powerful for two reasons:

Liquidity for domainers

• Long-time domain investors are used to waiting months for a sale, dealing with brokers, escrow, wires, fiat limitations, and fees. On-chain, settlement can be much faster and global by default.

New fundraising rails for entrepreneurs

• Andriy pointed out that in many countries there is no functional stock exchange or easy venture capital. But anyone can register a great domain and:
  • Tokenize it
  • Fractionalize it
  • Sell shares in their project, recorded transparently on-chain
  • Use the domain + project as the “home” asset tying everything together

“You don’t need all those paper contracts… You tokenize the name, fractionalize it, sell shares, and raise money for your startup. In many parts of the world, that’s a real alternative to traditional fundraising.” – Andriy

Fred framed it like real estate:

“I own the house. I can use it, or rent it, or collateralize it. Domains are the same: rainforest.com is like your digital building. With tokenization, you can finally get rental income, liquidity, and financial structure around it.”

For Big Domain Holders: A Better Alternative to Traditional Brokers

Andriy shared his own experience as a domain owner with very premium names — including one he could sell “for half a million tomorrow” if the right buyer showed up.

His past broker experience looked like this:

• He had to lock the domain with the broker (exclusive).
• The broker took up to 30% commission.
• The marketing was opaque — mass emails, generic marketplaces, and not much visibility.
• Offers were far below expectations.
• He let the contract expire and now plans to bring those domains onto DOMA via NicNames instead.

Fred’s view as both a builder and domainer:

“Distribution is critical. Content is king, but distribution is queen — and often more important. Web3 for me is better distribution: more eyeballs, easier payments, faster settlement, global access.”

Instead of a black-box broker, you get:

• Transparent on-chain ownership
• Global buyers, not just a broker’s private list
• Payment in crypto or eventually through integrated partners like Coinbase
• The ability to sell pieces (fractional tokens) instead of just all-or-nothing deals

For Newcomers: Don’t Have a Premium Domain Yet? NicNames Is Working on That Too.

Most people listening to the AMA, Andriy admitted, probably don’t already own a half-million-dollar domain. But that doesn’t lock them out of this new wave.

NicNames is actively:

• Curating lists of premium domains that can be:
  • Acquired at significant discount compared to market, and
  • Used as a base for tokenization and new projects.
• Designing models where:
  • Someone buys, for example, america.online at a discounted price,
  • Builds a product or service on top (e.g., email like name@america.online),
  • And raises funds by selling shares (tokens) tied to that domain and business.

“We’re creating a list of thousands of beautiful, valuable domains you can build on. You can create anything you want, raise money, sell shares — it’s a future for a lot of on-chain entrepreneurs.” – Andriy

Making Web3 Invisible for Web2 Users

A big question from the community was:

How do you onboard the traditional domain world, who mostly aren’t Web3-native?

Fred’s answer: work through registrars.

• Registrars like NicNames already own the customer relationship.
• DOMA focuses on giving them rock-solid infrastructure and standards.
• Together, they make tokenization something that can feel like a “one-click” experience, not a developer toy.

On the NicNames side, the philosophy is:

• If you’re a Web3 power user with your own wallet — great, use it.
• If you’re not — NicNames can create a custodial wallet and hide the complexity:
  • Locking domains for tokenization
  • Managing NFTs under the hood
  • Handling the DOMA integration

The user focuses on their project and business, not on gas fees and smart contract calls.

“All the tokenization details are mostly hidden from the customer. They just see: register, tokenize, manage my project. The Web3 plumbing happens in the background.” – Andriy

Future roadmap items from NicNames include:

• Direct wallet integrations (e.g., MetaMask)
• “Lend this domain” / “Sell this domain” buttons in the UI
• More DeFi-style actions built directly around tokenized domains

Andriy’s Story: From Freediving Records to Web3 Registrar

One of the most human moments of the AMA came when host Big Mike brought up Andriy’s freediving background.

Andriy is a national freediving record holder for Ukraine, with multiple Ukrainian records and one U.S. record — including a dive to 97 meters (over 300 feet) on a single breath.

“You dive deep on one breath, reach the depth you announced, come back to the surface, and you must show you’re okay. Only then it counts as a record.” – Andriy

Before the war in Ukraine, he thought NIC.UA (his Ukrainian registrar) was his “forever main business,” and he could focus more on diving. Then the war started, everything changed, and instead of giving up, the team:

• Kept the Ukrainian business alive
• Didn’t fire staff
• Expanded to the United States with NicNames
• Decided to differentiate with Web3 and AI:
  • Becoming one of the first registrars to fully embrace ENS/standards-based Web3 domains
  • Building AI features where users can simply ask a chatbot (Jexi) to set up records, DNS, etc.

“Instead of investing money in competitions, I invest everything into NicNames so we can become the largest registrar in the world. Together with DOMA and this community, I believe we will.” – Andriy

Fred, for his part, joked that if you saw Andriy in person, his fitness would not surprise you — and that this is the best job he’s ever had, working on something so obviously needed for the next 100 years of the internet.

What to Try Right Now

From the AMA, here’s what’s live or coming very soon:

1. Testnet Tokenized Domains at NicNames

NicNames has already launched tokenized .name domains on testnet:

• You can join the NicNames Discord.
• Grab a promo code in the promotions channel.
• Register a tokenized .name and:
  • Experiment with tokenization
  • Transfer NFTs between wallets
  • Try moving between custodial and self-custody
  • Change DNS, renew, etc. — just like a normal domain

Everything you see working now on testnet is essentially what you’ll see on mainnet, just with real value behind it.

2. Free Domains Promo (Time-Limited)

During the AMA, Andriy also announced a promotion:

• Everyone who joins the NicNames Discord within the promo window
• Can claim one free .fund domain and one free .xyz domain per person
• Intended as starter domains for playing with on-chain tokenization and Web3 use cases
• (If you’re reading this later on the blog, check NicNames’ current promos — the specific dates and TLDs may have changed.)

3. DOMA Mainnet Launch

Fred hinted that DOMA mainnet is not “months and years away,” but on the order of weeks from the time of the AMA, with:

• More registrars integrating (NicNames being the first)
• More premium .com, .ai and other TLDs joining the ecosystem
• A focus on real domain transaction volume, not just another empty L1/L2

“DOMA is the blockchain for the internet. Our mission is to tokenize all current and future domain names.” – Fred

The Big Picture

If you strip all the tech jargon away, what NicNames and DOMA are really doing is simple:

• Treat domains like the internet’s real estate.
• Give domain owners better liquidity, tools, and reach.
• Give entrepreneurs around the world a way to raise and coordinate capital around a trusted digital “home.”
• Hide the complexity so Web2 users can benefit from Web3 without needing to be blockchain experts.

Whether you’re:

• A domainer with valuable names
• A Web3 degen looking for new, non-zero-bound assets
• A founder in a country without strong capital markets
• Or just someone who likes the idea of owning a piece of a great domain

…this new layer of tokenized domains is going to be very, very interesting.

Want to follow along?

• Check out NicNames to register traditional and tokenized domains.
• Join the NicNames Discord to grab testnet and promo domains and get help.
• Follow DOMA Protocol for mainnet updates and marketplace launch details.

This is just the beginning of turning domain names — the quiet backbone of the internet — into fully on-chain, liquid, programmable assets.