Undeveloped, a domain name sales platform and marketplace, announced it was undergoing a rebranding. The company will now be known as DAN.com, which stands for Domain Automation Network. The news was announced in a press release this afternoon, and additional commentary about the rebrand was also announced in a Medium blog post written by founder Reza Sardeha.
This is not a simple rebrand and logo update. The company has big aspirations to change how domain name deals are conducted – from sales to lease deals, and even fractional domain name ownership. Here’s an excerpt from the press release that provides a high level look at what the company plans to accomplish with its Domain Automation Network:
“With the Domain Automation Network, it solves the most significant problems in the domain industry by creating a new backend infrastructure to handle both simple and complex domain transactions and transfers, fully automated and transparent powered by blockchain.”
The Medium blog post offers a more in-depth look at what is changing at DAN.com, how domain investors will be able to use DAN.com, and other implications of the platform. One notable aspect is the announced partnership with IBM (the case study link on IBM’s website did not yet resolve). Here’s en excerpt from Reza’s Medium article sharing some background about the change and what users can expect from DAN.com:
“The Domain Automation Network V1.0 is live! The name already says it, DAN.COM focuses on automating inefficient processes that dominate the domain industry. By creating the most advanced domain sales and transfer infrastructure that exists, we can handle simple and complex domain transactions and transfers, fully automated powered by blockchain.
The domain industry has grown massively as the Internet has been adopted in all corners of the world. This has resulted in the industry to nowadays finds itself in a very outdated and inefficient state. The industry suffers from complicated workarounds, which make it inefficient. Usable and available registered domains are hard to find and have become too unaffordable.
In order to remove friction and to allow the industry to reach its full potential, something had to change. Our mission to create a more liquid and efficient domain marketplace has become a reality today.
A lot of new features are active now, ranging from automated domain transfers to the use of smart contracts and the introduction of a new WHOIS 2.0 format, powered 100% by blockchain. You do not have to worry about who is liable for the content hosted on a domain you rent or lease.”
The plans shared by Reza today are quite ambitious and would be a seachange for how things are done within the domain investment space. I am not well-versed in the blockchain / crypto space, so I think DAN.com will need to do a good job of educating prospective clients on the implications of the platform and how it can be leveraged.
Domain investors have longed for innovation in the business, and it will be interesting to see how investors will embrace today’s news.
Neither undeveloped nor dan is working right now.
Looks like Dan.com is up and running.
Hmmm … so are they in the Godaddy fast transfer network?
I would challenge them to answer what specific problem they are solving with a blockchain solution? Why is a blockchain more effective than a database? The only real challenge with domain transactions is the inter-registrar domain transfer and associated WHOIS update, and unless they can change that process at source I think this is never going to be more than buzzword bingo. I’d be happy to hear their argument for otherwise
Not convinced at all after reading the blog post. I don’t think they are providing real solutions and they likely have no distribution. This ledger won’t “solve legal problems”, if there is problematic content people will still get sued and offering leasing won’t result in closing rates going up 511%.
As for “All that is left now is to find consensus within the industry to replace the current WHOIS with our proposed WHOIS 2.0.”, well that is a ridiculous. Bye bye Dan!
Snoopy, are you the same person as “RegBoss” on NP?
I personally think blockchain is overrated. People talk like it’s going to save the world and solve everyones problems, but it’s not going to.
Also, another lame logo by Undeveloped/Dan, not memorable at all.
So many companies have bland logos now. No imagination!
Blockchain=Automation=Job Losses