Domain Industry News

According to multiple news publications, including Gizmodo, Domain Name Wire, Jerusalem Post, and others, there has reportedly been some sort of security breach / hacking at Epik. There is also a lengthy discussion about the incident at NamePros. In that thread, NamePros CTO (Paul) shared some insight about the allegation and offered some general advice about keeping domain registrar accounts as secure as possible.

I received an email this afternoon signed by Epik CEO Rob Monster regarding “an alleged security incident involving Epik.” Although the incident was not confirmed by Epik in the email, there wasn’t a denial either.

The email is below for those who are interested in reading what was sent:

Escrow.com released some sales data from the first half of 2021, and it confirmed what many people have been saying. Domain name (and website) sales transacted via Escrow.com had a big first half of the year. Escrow.com reported that sales growth for “Online” sales, including domain names and websites, grew 77% compared to the first half of 2020.

This figure isn’t all that surprising given the fact that the world was mired in the growing Covid-19 pandemic during the first half of 2020. People are still dealing with challenges related to the pandemic, but online sales have been flourishing. I am actually bit surprised this figure wasn’t higher, but that may be influenced by my own buying and selling activity.

Escrow.com has grown other lines of business in the last year. In fact, motor vehicle sales sale growth of 210% for the first half of 2021 when compared to the same time period in 2020. Other areas of growth mentioned in the Escrow.com were General Merchandise (up 42%), Services (up 37%) and Luxury (up 18%).

In total, Escrow.com transacted $366.7 million in transactions during the first half of 2021. This marks an increase of 73% from the first half of 2020.

Here are the details that were shared with me today:

NameBio is the most comprehensive source of historical domain name sales data. The website was founded in 2006, and the website and database was acquired by Adam Strong in 2010. In 2015, Michael Sumner came on board as a partner, and many new features were launched. In 2019, NameBio began offering a more robust search experience for paying customers.

I recently learned that NameBio changed hands. Adam has retained a minority stake in the business and will remain an advisor with the company. Michael Sumner and Anuj Bahl will continue to operate NameBio, and they have brought on Kevin Ohashi. Financial details about the deal are not being shared.

SquadHelp introduced a unique optional account feature for customers – “Automatic Pulse Checks.” If the customer has not had any account activity for “an extended period” of time, SquadHelp will reach out to a pre-selected beneficiary to offer account assistance in the event it is needed:

New Feature Alert: Automatic Pulse Checks💓

* Add a Beneficiary to your SH Account
* We’ll proactively reach out to them if we detect no account activity for an extended period
* We’ll assist them with portfolio access, fund transfer & more

Learn more:https://t.co/MW3gWLf7Zc

— Squadhelp (@squadhelp) April 27, 2021

This afternoon, Escrow.com announced it surpassed $5 billion worth of transactions closed on its platform. Escrow.com handles escrow services for a variety of products, including vehicles, watches, and of course, domain names.

In announcing the $5 billion milestone, Escrow.com also announced a contest to win a $500 Visa gift card:

Longtime domain investor Vincent Jacques of VinsDomains.com is giving the ultimate gift to his son today – one of his kidneys. Vincent previously shared some background about why a kidney donation is critically needed:

Last night on Twitter, Vincent mentioned that the operation is scheduled for this morning:

So I’m 12 hours away from donating a kidney to my son, @VinnyJacques1 Please wish us luck and do something for somebody else today! Can’t wait to get him back on track!

— VinsDomains.com (@VinsDomainscom) April 5, 2021

Vincent and his son Vinny are in my thoughts this morning. I wish them both a full and speedy recovery.