✦ The 2026 gTLD RoundThin moat

VeriSign (VRSN) — the future bets

More than a thousand new registries are coming, and the .com agreement's renewal terms are benchmarked against exactly that field.

ICANN's second great expansion of the internet's namespace closed on 12 August 2026 with more than 1,600 applications, and VeriSign's role in it is deliberately ambiguous.

ICANN's second expansion of the namespace1,600+applications filed$227,000evaluation fee each30 Apr - 12 Augthe 2026 window2028earliest the newdomains launchVeriSign said it was ready to apply and never confirmed whether it did.
The comparison set that reprices .com's own agreement in 2030.

The window opened on 30 April 2026 at an evaluation fee of $227,000 per application, and closed fifteen weeks later with more than 1,600 primary applications filed — the first such round since 2012.1 The new domains that emerge are unlikely to launch before 2028.

On its first-quarter call management said it was taking the necessary technical steps to be ready should it choose to apply, while declining to commit.2 Read either way, the round matters to VeriSign in two respects that have nothing to do with whether it applied.

The first is competitive. More than a thousand new suffixes will arrive into a market where the new-gTLD field is already growing 34.0% a year against .com's 5.1%.3 The second is contractual, and less obvious: the .com and .net agreements contain a clause requiring that on renewal, terms not similar to those generally in effect across the five largest gTLDs be brought into line.4 A larger, more modern registry field changes the comparison set against which .com's own agreement is measured in 2030.

There is a third possibility that is easy to overlook. VeriSign is already one of a handful of credible registry service providers, alongside Identity Digital, GoDaddy Registry, CentralNic and Amazon Registry. Running back-end infrastructure for other people's TLDs is a business VeriSign is technically overqualified for and has never seriously pursued.

Rated thin: 2028 is a long way off and none of it is committed.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

The round closed on 12 August 2026 with more than 1,600 applications and VeriSign never confirmed whether it filed any. Nothing about this is resolved, and nothing launches before 2028.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
New .com and .net registrations, latest quarter
12.7 million in Q2 2026, from 10.4 million

More than 1,600 new-gTLD applications compete for the same new names; .com's new registrations holding up is the answer so far.

Source: VeriSign, Inc. second-quarter 2026 results (Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1) ↗
References
  1. ReportedICANN's 2026 application window opened on 30 April 2026 at an evaluation fee of USD 227,000 per application, the first round since 2012.
    ICANN — the New gTLD Program 2026 Round application window opened on 30 April 2026 at an evaluation fee of USD 227,000 per application, the first round since 2012, accepting applications in 27 scripts for internationalised domain names. — 2026 · publ. 2026-04-30 · source ↗
  2. ReportedManagement said on the first-quarter 2026 call that VeriSign was taking the necessary technical steps to be ready should it choose to apply, without committing to participate.
    VeriSign first-quarter 2026 earnings call transcript — management stated that the company was taking the necessary technical steps to be ready should it choose to be an applicant in ICANN's 2026 new gTLD round, while not committing to participate. — Q1 2026 · publ. 2026-04-23 · source ↗
  3. ReportedNew gTLD registrations grew 34.0% year over year to 52.9 million against 5.1% growth for .com and .net.
    Domain Name Industry Brief Quarterly Report — 401.6 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains at the end of the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 9.1 million or 2.3% on the first quarter and 29.9 million or 8.1% year over year. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined 179.1 million registrations in the domain name base, up 3.0 million or 1.7% on the quarter. Country-code TLD registrations were 148.6 million, up 5.2 million or 3.6% year over year. New generic TLD registrations were 52.9 million, up 3.3 million or 6.7% on the quarter and 13.4 million or 34.0% year over year. — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-07-23 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe .com and .net Registry Agreements provide that terms not similar to those generally in effect across the five largest gTLDs would be brought into line on renewal.
    VeriSign, Inc., Form 10-K FY2025 — Item 1A, Risk Factors. Demand for domain names could be negatively impacted to the extent end-users establish their online identities using social media such as Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, or transact business through mobile applications. Local governments actively promote ccTLDs that VeriSign does not operate. The .com and .net Registry Agreements provide that if certain terms are not similar to such terms generally in effect in the registry agreements of the five largest gTLDs, a renewal would be upon terms reasonably necessary to render them similar. VeriSign is subject to obligations that do not apply to ccTLDs and other gTLDs and that may create a competitive disadvantage. The company depends on key personnel and warns that a failure to attract, retain or effectively implement succession plans could harm the business. Dividends are subject to declaration by the board and to numerous factors including results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, contractual prohibitions and other restrictions, with no assurance that any will be paid and with board discretion to decrease the level. Efforts to acquire the .web gTLD are identified as an initiative requiring significant resources and subject to regulatory scrutiny. — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02-05 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026