Beeple Announces Launch of We.New

The digital artist known as Beeple launched a new NFT platform on a .New new gTLD domain name extension. We.New, which is branded as WENEW, is a platform that appears similar in nature to the NBA TopShot NFT platform. According to Beeple (aka Mike Winkelmann), WENEW will allow people “collect iconic moments in music, sports, comedy, history, etc. on the blockchain.”

I am not super familiar with NFTs or blockchain projects, so I will focus on the We.New domain name that is being used for the project. Whois records show that the domain name was created in March of this year. The Whois record has been private since the domain name was created, so it is unclear if Beeple / associates registered the domain name or acquired it in private. The .New extension is owned and operated by Google.

Beeple has become well known in the NFT space, and he has sold millions of dollars worth of NFTs. In fact, Beeple holds the record for largest NFT sale. His “Everydays — The First 5000 Days” NFT sold for $69.3 million in a Christie’s auction earlier this year.

The WeNew.com domain name has been registered since 1999. The domain registrant has an address in Korea, and that domain name does not currently resolve. Given the target audience of the We.New platform is web-savvy, having the brand match .com domain name is likely a lower priority for Beeple and his WENEW team.

It will be interesting to follow along to see if this brings additional attention to the right of the dot.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

12 COMMENTS

  1. Hate it, sorry. Being honest for the cause, not for bashing. Honestly, genuinely just hate it. Not as a domainer, not as a domain investor, but fundamentally as a person who simply uses the Internet. As in, the target audience.

    There are rare gems among the new TLDs, and that ain’t one.

    Here are the best TLDs:

    1. .com and .us (.us has been suppressed from the beginning, but doesn’t change that)
    2. Some of the rest among legacy TLDs
    3. Only isolated rare examples of individual domains within only some of the new gTLDs

    • The domain name is short and brand-matching, so I think it is a good one. Sorry to see you hate it, but I couldn’t find a clear reason in your comment.

      • 1. Short can still be bad.
        2. Brand matching can still also be bad.

        Short or long, this is a horrible brand name. The name is in a completely real sense the foundation of your business, one of the most critical foundations. Naming alone can even kill or hinder an otherwise great business idea. This is horrible business naming.

        A great short name is better than a bad short name. A great long name is better than a bad short name. Also, for the idiot trolls “long” is not the same as “long-tailed.” But no doubt some stupid person who is one of my usual trolls will still come in over that.

        By God’s divine providence and gift, no credit or glory to myself at all or ever, I have apparently been given the gift of being something of a naming genius when it come to such matters. And this name is simply awful, sorry.

        One time I named a business for a friend in the heart of one of the countries biggest cities, and in no time at all she was doing well and got an extended huge segment on the TV news by one of the most famous anchors in the area. And it was a three word name even.

        When I was choosing a name for my own business in the early 2000’s I was fortunate and blessed to “invent” a two word name that since then has become valuable all by itself, totally aside from what I use it for. (Not more than two words for that one.) In fact it’s a global phenomenon even, and only growing, i.e. the normal reality indicated in the name.

        So here are some “rules” to live by:

        1. Great short names are great.
        2. Great long names are great.
        3. “Long-tail” or “long-tailed” names are of only limited use to end users, but more or less worthless for domain investors and should be avoided.
        4. If you won’t recognize the difference between “long” and “long-tail” then you are pigheaded, stupid, foolish, and a harm to the industry.
        5. This reply is not just for you, but for the cause and the greater good.
        6. Ethan, seriously, just as a person, aside from any involvement with domains, I’m telling you from the heart and man to man: short or long, hate this name, period. Would normally repulse me and have a lot to overcome as a possible member of the target market for this end user.

        • PS: and just in case and to be clear, I’m using “you” above in the collective sense, not singling you out there.

        • Thanks for replying. But I still cannot not find a reason in your reply about why you hate this domain name. I only see you reiterated that you hate it.

        • LOL. Sure Ethan, I’ll give you more of my opinion, which includes that the name is:

          Awkward, in a completely unlikable way

          Nonsensical, but not in the endearing and appealing way names like Google, Yahoo, and Bing are

          Unendearing, while appearing to be trying to be the opposite, and if it looks like you’re trying, you’re trying too hard

          Dry, uninspiring, unengaging, uncaptivating

          Amateurish

          Weak

          Finally, the big one: Unevocative – unlike names like Google, Yahoo, and Bing

          One can disagree with an alternative opinion, but this experienced person would advise that one is likely to disagree at one’s commercial peril.

          Cheers.

        • PS: And let’s mention a name like “Zoom” along with the likes of Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Applies in spades.

        • I kid you not: I already thought afterwards I might even have to say explicitly that “wenew.com” goes with them too, but I was bold enough to think it wouldn’t or shouldn’t be necessary.

          Nice and short at 5 characters, .com, and absolute rubbish.

          And for the record, when I personally say “naming,” I include all the forms and iterations including the domains. When I named my friend’s business or name any site or business for instance, the idea of “naming” includes and encompasses both. If “WENEW” is bad and we.new is bad, so is wenew.com; they are all merely aspects of each other.

        • Well… no matter what brand name a company chooses to use, it won’t have endorsement from every single person in the world. So I think the most important thing when it comes to branding is the company owner likes it.

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