There’s no doubt great .AI domain names are selling for big money on the aftermarket. This has been the case with great .com domain names for many years, but .AI domain names have really proven themselves to be in demand this year.
For the last 10 years or so, it has been difficult (primarily time consuming) but possible to buy a good one word .com domain name for $50,000 USD. It has gotten much more difficult in the last few years, but it has been generally possible. Lately, not so much.
Over the weekend, Atom’s Darpan Munjal mentioned that Atom is considering building a domain portfolio tracking tool. He asked if anyone is using a tool to track their portfolio, and if so, what makes a tool like this useful:
We’re exploring the idea of building a comprehensive portfolio tracking tool for domain investors: cost basis, STR, profits, annual performance, projections etc.
Even for domains not listed on Atom.
Do you use anything for this today? What would make a tool like this truly…
— Darpan (@darpanmunjal) June 28, 2025
For as long as I can remember, ICANN has imposed a fee of $.18 for all domain name registrations and renewals. A retail domain registrar might charge $12 to buy a .com or .net domain name, but the buyer will be billed $12.18/year. This fee will increase to $.20/year on July 1, 2025. Notably, this fee is charged for gTLD registrations and renewals (like .com and .org) but not on ccTLDs (like .CO or .AI).
I haven’t received a notification from many registrars, but I received an email from Dynadot yesterday announcing the fee increase:
Dynadot Founder and CEO Todd Han announced a new domain name sales marketplace called NameClub. Currently in beta, NameClub appears to operate independently of the Dynadot domain registrar and can be found at NameClub.com.
Check out NameClub, our new domain marketplace. NameClub is optimized to sell domains to end users. It has logos, AI powered search, installment payments, and browsable categories. Still in beta because it was vibe coded by a small team. If you like it we can invest more… pic.twitter.com/u3K0SiP1uN
— Todd Han (@dynatodd) June 23, 2025
One thing users will notice immediately is the similarity to other domain marketplaces with generated logos for its domain name sale listings. As Todd mentioned, the platform uses AI-powered search tools to aid domain discovery for buyers. The platform charges a 10% sales commission for sold domain names.
I am happy to share that our 2025 Pan-Mass Challenge domain industry cycling jersey was finalized and printed. With help from our domain industry friends and colleagues, this special jersey raised more than $16,000 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
John, Karen, and I will proudly wear this jersey as we continue our PMC training. We will also wear this unmissable jersey on the second day of our ride. John wore his jersey over the weekend, and Karen and I wore ours for a training ride yesterday. You can see just how bright our jerseys are in the photos below.
Thank you very much to the domain industry companies, listed below, who donated to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in support of our industry jersey.
2025 Domain Industry PMC Jersey Sponsors:
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) June 23, 2025
Despite the extreme heat, Karen and I went out for a @PanMass training ride yesterday afternoon wearing our domain industry PMC jersey. pic.twitter.com/LbcFCq77aX
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) June 24, 2025
A little more than 5 years ago, one of our friends gifted us a houseplant without instructions on how to maintain it. I made the mistake of not asking him how we should care for it, and the plant was dead within a couple of months. That was the extent of my experience with houseplants.
Two years ago, I saw some posts from Shane Cultra on X about his Variegated Monstera plant. I acquired a cutting from him, and I began my own Variegated Monstera journey. The cutting had two leaves and a root growing node that needed to be placed in water for about a month. You can see how it looked after I received it and began the process:
I purchased an LED plant growing lamp, and when the cutting was ready, I planted her in a 12″ pot. I placed the pot in my office in front of a window that receives afternoon light. I supplemented the natural sunlight with 12 hours of LED lighting.
My Monstera plant began growing and unfurling new leaves. Each time a leaf appeared, I was full of excitement to see the coloration and designs as it slowly unfurled. My kids have loved coming up and watching the plant grow.
As the plant has grown, Shane has served as a great resource who has always been happy to answer questions and offer advice. He has helped me with everything from the soil and fertilizer I used to putting in a moss pole to stabilize the plant to dealing with aerial roots.
As my Monstera plant continued to grow and thrive, I realized I would need to eventually repot her into a larger pot. I also realized I would need to make a new cutting because of its height. I decided that I would get a larger pot and replant the cutting in the same pot to make it fuller.
I was pretty anxious about cutting the top leaf from my plant. Each new leaf grows from the stem of the last leaf to grow, and I feared that cutting the most recent leaf would stymie the growth of the plant.
In addition to getting advice from Shane, I also found good information about Variegated Monstera plants on Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, and elsewhere. All of this research gave me the confidence to make a cutting of my own. I cut the top leaf, put it in a vase of water, and I let the root grow for about 3 weeks.
A few months ago, I repotted the Monstera plant into a larger planter, and I planted the cutting as well. I also inserted a larger moss pole and tied the plant’s stems to various spots of the pole to ensure the plant was stable. I used a Tropical Potting Soil mix I bought at our local nursery, and I mixed it with perlite to help the plant with drainage.
Since repotting my Monstera plant, she has thrived. Several new leaves have grown on the original plant and on the cutting. There are now more than 20 leaves on both plants.
A big surprise is how well my Variegated Monstera plant has thrived with my limited knowledge at the outset. I definitely learned a lot from Shane, and I appreciate all of the advice he has given me. A bigger surprise is how much enjoyment we have gotten from watching the plant grow.
