Global Domain Name and Internet Policy News
COVID-19 may be seeing surges in domain name registrations, particularly among many ccTLDs, but this surge doesn’t appear to be transferring to the domain name aftermarket, with Escrow.com reporting the total value of transacted domain names dropping from $85.8 million in the first quarter of 2020 to $55.2 million in the second. This is the lowest seen since 2018.
The total value of domain name transactions through Escrow.com totalled $85.85 million in the first quarter of 2020, the first time the total value was over $75 million since the corresponding quarter in 2019, according to data recently released by the world’s largest online escrow provider for domain names, among other items.
[news release] Escrow.com and Hilco Streambank announced this week they have partnered to integrate Escrow.comâs Escrow Pay API into the IPv4.Global marketplace. The partnership combines Escrow.comâs premier escrow agency with Hilco Streambankâs leading IPv4 marketplace. Together, the integrated auction platform offers the IPv4 market unprecedented levels of transparency along with a seamless transaction process.
The integration of the Escrow Pay API into the IPv4.Global marketplace provides an integrated secure Escrow agent through a simple and secure three step check-out process, all within the IPv4 platform.
âThe integration of Escrow.com provides our worldwide base of buyers and sellers a globally recognized option to securely escrow their transactions,â said Gabe Fried, Chief Executive Officer of Hilco Streambank. âAdding global partners like Escrow.com supports our continued expansion worldwide.â
The IPv4.Global marketplace connects sellers and buyers of IPv4 addresses. In addition to the already streamlined process, buyers and sellers can now view the status of their payments, which are securely held in escrow, by the trusted third party, until both parties are satisfied with the transaction.
Buyers and sellers also benefit from Escrow.comâs global customer support and the reassurance of working with a trusted escrow service operating within licensing regulations for 20 years.
IPv4.Global launched its IPv4 address auction platform in 2014 with the goal of creating a streamlined method for monetizing IPv4 address blocks. The new integration with Escrow.com closes the loop for a smooth IPv4 marketplace transaction. âWith Escrow Pay, we now provide even greater levels of service to people all around the world who want to buy or sell IPv4 assets,â Fried said.
Escrow.com has safely processed over US$4 billion worth of transactions. By releasing the Escrow Pay API in mid 2018, it gave businesses the power to build the functionality of the Escrow.com Platform directly into their online platforms with a single API call. The escrow company regularly secures funds for IPv4 address transfers within and between different Regional Internet Registries, with whom IPv4.Global has close working relationships.
âEscrow.com is the leading global provider of escrow payments for anything of value, from cars, boats and aeroplanes to domain names and IPv4 addresses,â said Escrow.com General Manager Jackson Elsegood. âThe integration of Escrow Pay provides a superior and simplified experience to online marketplaces and digital transaction services.”
The total value of domain name transactions facilitated by Escrow.com passed the $85 million mark in the first quarter of 2019, exceeding the last quarter of 2018 and of the past 7 quarters was surpassed by only the second and third quarters of 2018, according to the Escrow.com Internet Domain Name Index Q1 2019 released this week. Of the last 7 quarters, the second quarter of 2018 had the highest sales with $97 million in domain name transactions.
The United States once again led the way for total domain name transaction value but of the top 5 regions, both Canada and Hong Kong saw a surge in transaction value from Q4 2018.
The value of domain name transactions in the United States rose strongly in the first quarter of 2019, up from $55.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 to $62 million. The result was below 2018’s second quarter peak of nearly $70.3 million.
Canada overtook the United Kingdom as the next largest region for total domain name transacted value, rising to $9.16 million versus the United Kingdom’s $8.58 million. China continued its decline following its peak in the second quarter of 2018 of around $18.4 million in total transaction value. In the first quarter of 2019, by comparison, the China saw $5.8 million in total transaction value.
The report also notes the median price of domain names with content continued to outstrip that of those without content, and skyrocketed in Q1 2019 to a historical high of $9,800 compared to $4,800 the previous quarter. Domain names without content, meanwhile, remained flat with a median price of $2,500. This median price has now remained unchanged for six consecutive quarters.
The sum total value of domains without content continues to far surpass those with content, suggesting a much higher overall volume. According to the report, total value of domain names without content in Q1 2019 rose to $54.8 million, up from $45 million in Q4 2018. However, the sum total value of domains with content followed the trend of median prices for those domains, more than doubling from $7.1 million in Q4 2018 to US$15.2 million in Q1 2019.
The report also looks at sales of .com domain names by length. 2 and 3 character .com domain names spiked in the fourth quarter of 2018 to a median price of over $350,000 compared to their usual price of averaging around $20,000, and in the first quarter fell back to around $80,000. 4 character .coms also spiked in Q4 to around $8,000 but then slightly increased, while 5 character .coms also spiked in Q4 to around $3,900 falling in Q1 to around $2,800. 6 character .coms also spiked, but back in Q1 2018 and have remained around $2,800 since.
The report is available for download from the Escrow.com site here.
Today we have another instalment in our Q&A series, this time with Escrow.com. Escrow.com had a bumper year in 2018, with a 57% increase in domain transactions, but this was slightly tempered by the scammers and fraudsters online, while the âthe regulatory environment is growing more complicated and challenging every day.â Looking forward, Escrow.com is aiming to âbuild the best online escrow service in the world. One of the greatest opportunities Escrow.com has is to get better and more efficient at what it already does well.â They also see dot-com remaining âkingâ of the TLDs and âdomain names are as relevant now as they have ever been.â
Escrow.com provides escrow services, including to the domain name industry, holding money until both parties agree it should be released such as when a domain name is transferred following a sale, avoiding banks and lawyers, while providing certainty that payment will be made.
Domain Pulse: What were the highlights, lowlights and challenges of 2018 in the domain name industry for you?
Escrow.com: While the Escrow.com team values each and every domain transaction that it facilitates, the million-dollar-plus domains do tend to grab our attention. In 2018, Escrow.com saw a 57 per cent increase over the previous year of domain transactions worth over $1 million that closed on the platform. This figure reflects the broader volumes of transactions that Escrow.com saw in 2018, which suggests a healthy and liquid domain market.
Lowlights involve the various scammers and fraudsters that invariably try to take advantage of others via the internet. Fortunately, Escrow.com has industry-leading security and quality assurance mechanisms in place to protect users against such individuals.
As for challenges, the regulatory environment is growing more complicated and challenging every day. However, Escrow.com is working very hard to meet and exceed these obligations, and to help our users navigate through the steps they need to take to stay safe, secure, and compliant.
DP: GDPR â good, bad and/or indifferent to you and the wider industry and why?
Escrow.com: Escrow.com is, of course, entirely GDPR compliant. However, it should be noted that, being a financial service provider, GDPR tends not too much of an effect on Escrow.comâs day-to-day operations.
More broadly, GDPR may sometimes make it more difficult to access information about domain name transactions on services such as WHOIS, as records of some domain owners will no longer be readily available under the GDPR rules. This could have the effect of making it harder to verify if someone owns a domain name or whether a transfer actually takes place.
DP: What are you looking forward to in 2019?
Escrow.com: Despite some gathering headwinds in the global economy, the Escrow.com team hopes that the domain industry maintains the momentum it saw in 2018. Nevertheless, the domain economy and the broader global economy operate independently of our business, so Escrow.com will continue striving to build the best product and service it can. To this end, Escrow.com looks forward to working with its customers and partners across the globe.
DP: What challenges and opportunities do you see for the year ahead?
Escrow.com: The global economy has the potential to present a challenge in the year to come. However, it is not expected that this will distract Escrow.com from its mission to build the best online escrow service in the world. One of the greatest opportunities Escrow.com has is to get better and more efficient at what it already does well. Having dealt with some significant technical legacy over the past couple of years, it is expected that the improvements to the Escrow.com system to be more customer focused will soon become evident to everyone who uses Escrow.com in some capacity.
DP: 2019 will mark 5 years since the first new gTLDs came online. How do you view them now?
Escrow.com: As Escrow.com is a supplier to the domains industry, it doesnât particularly matter too much which extension a domain claims. That said, dot-com domains are still king and make up a vast majority of Escrow.com domain transactions.
DP: Are domain names as relevant now for consumers â business, government and individuals â as they have been in the past?
Escrow.com: Absolutely, domain names are as relevant now as they have ever been. The world population continues to grow year by year, the percentage of the population online continues to increase with it, and the usage of online services by those online continues to increase as well.
This all points to domains increasing their relevance over time. For both individuals and businesses, the value of being discoverable online shows no signs of abating.
Previous Q&As in this series were with:
If youâd like to participate in this Domain Pulse series with industry figures, please contact David Goldstein at Domain Pulse by email to david[at]goldsteinreport.com.
Escrow.com has appointed former HSBC Vice President, Senior Manager Regional Regulatory Compliance Officer – West Coast, Fereba Ashufta, to lead its Anti Money Laundering Compliance Program.
Ashufta joins Escrow.com as BSA / AML Compliance Officer from HSBC, where she provided guidance in an advisory capacity to the Retail Banking and Wealth Management segment of the global banking and financial services firm.
Based in San Francisco, California, Ms Ashuftaâs new appointment sees her spearhead Escrow.comâs Anti Money Laundering Compliance Program, while playing an integral part in the effective management of Escrow.comâs regulatory relationships and obligations.
âAs a market-leading escrow service provider across the United States and further afield, regulatory oversight plays an essential role in our business and the assurance we continue to offer to our customers and marketplace partners,â said Jackson Elsegood, General Manager of Escrow.com.
âFerebaâs experience in the financial services sector combined with her deep knowledge of the regulatory compliance landscape makes her a great fit for Escrow.com and will help to bolster our core offering while further building the trust we have spent years earning from our customers.
âWeâre all very pleased to welcome Fereba to the Escrow.com senior management team. We look forward to working together with Fereba to continue building Escrow.com and further underpin the assurance and security Escrow.com and its suite of services offers businesses and individuals in the US and around the world,â Mr Elsegood said.
Ms Ashufta brings 15 years of banking experience with her to Escrow.com, along with a law enforcement and public safety background. In 2017, Ms Ashufta was nominated to attend the 8th Annual San Francisco Women in Leadership Symposium, hosted by the National Diversity Council.
To further streamline its payment processes, Efty has integrated the recently introduced Escrow.com Platform application programming interface (API) into its online payment processes for buyers and sellers of domain names using its services
To further streamline its payment processes, Efty has integrated the recently introduced Escrow.com Platform application programming interface (API) into its online payment processes for buyers and sellers of domain names using its services.
Escrow.com, the worldâs most secure payment system from a counterparty risk perspective, already underpins Eftyâs domain sales payments system with new integration while Efty has made a name for itself in the domain name sector with its popular commission-free, domain name sales platform.
In a statement announcing the integration Efty notes that Escrow.com has safely processed over US$3.5 billion in transactions with its secure escrow service. It released its API in public beta late last year, giving businesses and individuals the ability to build the functionality of the Escrow.com Platform directly into their online platforms.
Efty has become the latest prominent domain name industry player to adopt the full capabilities of 
the Escrow.com API. The integration protects both buyers and the sellers on the Efty site, with Escrow.com acting as a trusted third party, holding the funds for big-ticket items, allowing handover of the domain being transacted to occur prior to funds being released.
âEscrow.com has had a longstanding relationship with Efty, and together we have helped people sell and buy thousands of domains over the years,â said Escrow.com General Manager Jackson Elsegood. âWith this new integration of the Escrow.com API, Efty is able to tap into the full potential and latest functionality of the entire Escrow.com Platform.â
âThe new Escrow.com API allowed us to integrate Escrow Pay into Efty,â said Efty Head of Product Doron Vermaat. âWith Escrow Pay, we remove a lot of friction from the escrow process because buyers are now redirected to a wizard on Escrow.com where they can complete an escrow transaction in a few easy steps.
âAt Efty, weâre always looking for the most buyer-friendly workflow possible, and this new integration allows us to deliver on that while ensuring that sellers are protected from counterparty risk with no chargebacks, ever. At the same time, buyers can be assured that their money is safe and secure, held in trust, until they are satisfied they have received what they are paying for,â Mr. Vermaat said.
Escrow.com announced Monday theyâve launched Escrow Offer, a new tool that allows people to negotiate prices for cars, boats, aircraft, domain names, jewellery, fine art and more through a Pay Now button
Escrow.com announced Monday theyâve launched Escrow Offer, a new tool that allows people to negotiate prices for cars, boats, aircraft, domain names, jewellery, fine art and more through a Pay Now button.
Escrow.com, billed as the worldâs most secure payment system from a counterparty risk perspective, describes Escrow Offer as a tool that can be easily integrated into the checkout payment system of websites, online stores, mobile apps, classifieds sites, or just about any online business that handles financial transactions over the Internet. It is meant to be an easy way to introduce the power of price negotiation into online platforms.
With Escrow Offer, online sellers can review offers, and either accept, reject or counter them. Negotiations proceed until a deal is reached and the secure escrow process begins.
âThe ability to negotiate on price has been at the centre of business interactions for big-ticket items for generations,â said Jackson Elsegood, General Manager of Escrow.com. âNow, weâre bringing that capability into the world of online transactions, giving businesses and individuals the power of negotiation in a safe and secure environment.
âEscrow Offer allows businesses to handle multiple offers and improve online conversion rates, while finding the best price at which to sell or buy an item,â Mr Elsegood said.
Escrow Offer comes on the heels of the launch of Escrow Pay in August, which lets businesses integrate the protection provided by the powerful Escrow.com API directly into their websites, mobile apps, online marketplaces, classifieds sites in one line of code.
With no minimum fee, and priced as low as 0.89%, the Escrow.com Platform API is cheaper than credit cards and many other payment methods, while providing the protection of an escrow service. Escrow Offer can be integrated via the Escrow.com API or through individual Make Offer buttons.
Escrow.com can be used for transactions involving anything of value, including domain names, vehicles, machinery, aircraft or any other item of value that a business or an individual might want to buy or sell safely and securely online. Escrow.com is ideal for transaction sizes from $100 to $10,000,000. Or more.
Escrow.com is the leading provider of secure online payments and online transaction management for consumers and businesses on the Internet, having safely processed over US$3.5 billion in transactions. Founded by Fidelity in 1999, Escrow.com reduces the risk of fraud by acting as a trusted third party that collects, holds and disburses funds according to buyer and seller instructions.
Escrow.com has introduced a new streamlined checkout payment system for the buying and selling of domain names, as well as cars, boats, aeroplanes… anything of value, with one line of code added to a website
Escrow.com has introduced a new streamlined checkout payment system for the buying and selling of domain names, as well as cars, boats, aeroplanes… anything of value, with one line of code added to a website.
The service is called Escrow Pay and has no minimum fee and prices as low as 0.89%. Itâs being billed as the ideal solution for any website, mobile app, online store, classified site or marketplace that needs to take payments for any product or service of value. Escrow.com is ideal for transaction sizes from $100 to $10,000,000 or more.
Escrow Pay can be implemented with a single line of code and provides an integration of Escrow.comâs payment system for those customers that prefer a quick and easy solution over and above the powerful and fully featured Escrow.com API that was launched in December 2017.
Escrow.com protects both the buyer and the seller by acting as a trusted thirty party holding the funds, allowing the goods to be shipped and inspected prior to funds being released. This means that valuable items can ship across state or country lines before the transaction completes, improving liquidity and access to global markets safely. Greater liquidity means sellers can access more buyers and buyers more sellers, resulting in better choice, pricing and transaction completion rates. For sellers, Escrow.com greatly increases trust & safety and reduces fraud and with no chargebacks, ever.
Escrow.com is perfect for buying and selling cars, boats, airplanes, domain names, IP address blocks, websites, computer equipment, heavy machinery, jewelry, antiques, services, intellectual property and for import/export. The Aurora Space Station, the worldâs first luxury space hotel launching in 2021 uses Escrow.com for taking deposits for the $10 million experience.
Escrow Pay integrations are straight forward. With a single call to the Escrow Pay API, a partner may create a transaction and retrieve a link to the Escrow Pay checkout flow, which the buyer then may use to complete their transaction in a few easy steps. On completing this, the buyer is returned to a page on the partnerâs site. This means that an Escrow Pay button can be added to any type of page or application, including shopping cart checkout pages, classified listing pages, domain parking pages, and mobile apps. The Escrow Pay API may be used on its own or in conjunction with the fully featured Escrow Platform API.
Recent transactions secured by Escrow.com include the sale of 2 of the biggest premium domain names – crypto.com by famed cryptographer Matt Blaze and ice.com to the Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange. Escrow.com is also the payment system powering a wide variety of e-Commerce businesses including Shopify Exchange, Shopifyâs marketplace to buy and sell businesses built on the Shopify platform, and Wingform, a marketplace for airplanes.
In making their payment services more appealing, Escrow.com has reduced its minimum fees from $25 to $10 in a bid to target high volume transactions
In making their payment services more appealing, Escrow.com has reduced its minimum fees from $25 to $10 in a bid to target high volume transactions.
Escrow.com is the leading global provider of secure online escrow payments with over US$3 billion in payments secured.
Unlike credit cards or PayPal, Escrow.com does not allow chargebacks against sellers, and keeps buyers safe by guaranteeing that their funds will only be disbursed when they are 100% satisfied with the goods or services they have received.
âEscrow.com is the safest and most cost effective way to buy or sell anything online. We provide protection against fraud and chargebacks from $10, to offer an affordable alternative for online purchases,â said General Manager of Escrow.com, Jackson Elsegood. âOver 1 million users have transacted safely and easily using our online escrow platform to trade everything from motor vehicles to design services.â
Escrow.com offers 2 products specific to domain names. One is a secure domain name holding. is designed for Buyers and Sellers who agree to hold the domain(s) in escrow while the Buyer makes scheduled payments.
The fee for this service is our standard escrow fee plus a domain holding fee. The holding fee is dependent on the length of the holding period; $40/month if we are managing the DNS and $25/month if the Buyer will manage their own DNS. All contracts will have a minimum holding fee of $150 plus the escrow fee. Each transaction may include up to three domains without additional charges. Additional domains can be added to the contracts for the per year fee of $125 if we manage the DNS and $100 if managed by the Buyer.
The second is for the buying and selling domain names and websites securely online. The Buyer’s payment in a trust account until the entire transaction is complete. That way, Buyers can be confident the domain will be registered in their name and Sellers can be sure they’ll be paid. Fees vary depending on the value of the domain name and includes an escrow fee (starting at 0.89%) and a concierge fee (starting at 1.78%) for domain names valued at over $25,000.