ICANN85 Mumbai Preview: 5 Things Domain Buyers Should Watch This Week
ICANN85, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' latest public meeting, kicks off at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, India on March 7, 2026. It's happening against a dramatic backdrop: Middle East conflicts are disrupting travel routes, dead registrars are being cleaned from the system, and the biggest new TLD application round in over a decade is taking shape.
Whether you're a domain investor, a startup founder choosing a domain, or just someone who owns a website, ICANN's decisions affect the prices you pay and the extensions available to you. Here's what to watch.
1. The New gTLD Application Round Is Getting Real
The most consequential item on the ICANN agenda is the upcoming new generic top-level domain (gTLD) application round — the first since 2012.
In the original round, over 1,900 applications were submitted and roughly 1,200 new extensions launched (think .app, .dev, .shop, .online, .ai, .xyz). This next round could be even bigger.
Nova Registry's 200-TLD Ambition
Nova Registry, the company behind .link, announced plans to apply for 200 new top-level domains. General Manager Vaughn Liley has been ramping up the company's preparations throughout early 2026. If even a fraction of those applications succeed, it would make Nova one of the largest registry operators in the world.
Domain Incite recently launched Stringtel, a new tool specifically designed to help applicants analyze potential strings against the applicant guidebook rules. The fact that specialized tooling is being built for applicants signals how serious and competitive this round will be.
What This Means for Domain Buyers
More TLDs means more choice — but also more complexity. If you're building a brand, you'll soon have even more extensions to consider (and potentially protect against). Start thinking about your brand's domain footprint now.
Use DomyDomains to search your brand name across 400+ existing extensions and identify which ones are already taken. Our domain extensions guide breaks down every major TLD category to help you plan ahead.
2. Domain Price Caps Are Officially Dead
In a development that flew under the radar, Namecheap has officially abandoned its years-long fight to restore price caps on .org and .info domain names.
The registrar terminated its Independent Review Process (IRP) complaint against ICANN in November 2025, with the panel formally closing the case on December 16. This followed Namecheap's loss in a Los Angeles lawsuit last July seeking the same remedy.
The Price Impact Is Already Clear
When ICANN removed price caps from the .org and .info registry contracts in 2019, the industry worried about unchecked price increases. Here's what actually happened:
- .info: Prices rose from $10.84 to $19.00 — a 75% increase in under seven years
- .org: Public Interest Registry has not raised prices (yet), but nothing prevents it from doing so
Identity Digital, which operates .info along with dozens of other extensions, has shown no hesitation in exercising its pricing power. With Namecheap's challenge dead, there's no remaining legal obstacle to further increases.
What This Means for Domain Buyers
If you're sitting on .info domains, expect renewal costs to keep climbing. For .org owners, the clock may be ticking — PIR's restraint is voluntary, not contractual.
This is why comparing domain prices across registrars matters more than ever. Even small markup differences compound over years of renewals. Our pricing tool shows you what registrars actually charge, not just promotional first-year rates.
3. The Registrar Landscape Is Shifting Fast
Seven Dead Registrars Get the Axe
ICANN Compliance is finally moving to terminate seven registrars — Haveaname, InstantNames, MisterNIC, NetEstate, Neudomain, OpenName, and TopSystem — all under the same ownership, all of which lost their domains in September 2024.
The registrars have been non-responsive to ICANN for months, their websites are broken placeholder pages with expired SSL certificates, and they owe fees going back over a year. ICANN, characteristically, took until March 2026 to act on a problem that started in late 2024.
Identity Digital Keeps Acquiring
Meanwhile, Identity Digital acquired the .onl extension (short for "online") from Germany's iRegistry. The TLD has about 24,000 registrations and has been growing steadily. Identity Digital now controls an ever-expanding portfolio of gTLDs, making it one of the most powerful companies in the domain space.
Separately, Sav.com's owner has taken over the .radio gTLD, adding another extension to its portfolio.
What This Means for Domain Buyers
Consolidation means fewer companies control more of the domain market. When one company owns dozens of TLDs, they set pricing across all of them. This is why it's important to understand who actually owns your TLD.
The dead registrar story is also a reminder: choose your registrar carefully. If your registrar goes under, your domains are at risk. We've covered what happens when a domain registrar fails — it's worth reading if you're with a smaller provider.
4. War Is Disrupting ICANN Travel (and Global Internet Governance)
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has thrown ICANN85 travel into disarray. While Mumbai is over 2,000 km from the conflict zones, many flight routes from Europe and the Americas transit through Dubai, Bahrain, or other Gulf hubs now affected by airspace restrictions.
ICANN has confirmed the meeting will proceed as planned and is working to reroute affected travelers, while offering enhanced online participation for those who can't make it.
This matters beyond logistics. ICANN meetings are where domain policy gets debated and decided. When participation is limited — whether by travel disruptions, cost, or accessibility — the decisions tend to favor the largest, best-resourced participants. The new gTLD round rules being discussed this week will shape the domain market for the next decade.
5. Premium Domain Sales Continue to Surge
Both Radix (operating 10 gTLDs including .tech, .online, .store, .fun, and .space) and the .CV ccTLD registry have released H2 2025 premium sales reports showing impressive year-over-year growth.
Radix's premium domain revenue doubled year-over-year, led by .tech, .fun, and .space. This tracks with the broader trend: as AI and tech companies compete for brand-relevant domains, premium pricing power is increasing.
DNJournal's State of the Industry 2026 report, featuring insights from 29 domain experts, highlights AI, new TLDs, and aftermarket sales as the dominant themes. The consensus: domain assets are appreciating, especially in AI-adjacent categories.
The AI.com Effect
The $70 million AI.com sale continues to reverberate through the industry. DNJournal has officially placed it atop their all-time Top 20 Sales Chart. Combined with a $400,000 .ai sale also reported recently, the AI domain category is in a class of its own.
Wondering what your domains might be worth? Try our domain value estimator for a quick assessment based on comparable sales data.
How to Stay Ahead
ICANN85 will generate a week's worth of news and policy decisions. Here's how to position yourself:
- Audit your domain portfolio — Know what you own, what it costs, and who your registrar is. Use our WHOIS lookup to verify ownership details.
- Lock in renewals — If your TLD has no price caps (most don't), consider multi-year renewals to hedge against increases.
- Watch for new TLD announcements — The application round will create opportunities for early registrations at base prices before premium pricing kicks in.
- Diversify your domain strategy — Don't put all your brand equity in one extension. Search across all available TLDs at DomyDomains and secure the ones that matter.
- Use our [domain generator](https://domydomains.com/domain-generator) — If you're launching something new, find creative, available names across hundreds of extensions before the post-ICANN85 rush.
The Bottom Line
ICANN85 Mumbai is more than a conference — it's where the rules of the domain game get written. Between the new gTLD round, the death of price caps, accelerating consolidation, and AI-driven premium sales, the domain landscape is changing faster than at any point since 2012.
The buyers who understand these trends will make better decisions. The ones who don't will pay more for less.
Stay informed. Start searching. DomyDomains gives you instant access to 400+ extensions, real pricing data, and the tools you need to make smart domain decisions in a rapidly changing market.
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*Follow our blog for coverage of ICANN85 outcomes and what they mean for domain buyers.*