The financial services sector–one of the most powerful forces in the global economy–is under siege by a wave of startups looking to permanently disrupt the traditional frameworks of banks, brokerages and government regulators around the world.
Decentralized Finance (or DeFi) is a movement to create an independent financial system that offers alternatives to every financial service currently available–including banking, securities trading and insurance–without the need for central authorities. It’s a system with no middlemen that anyone can access with a smartphone, and it’s growing exponentially.
By its very nature, DeFi breaks all the rules–and so do DeFi entrepreneurs. Rather than being tethered to an antiquated system, they’re taking a page from the Bitcoin playbook and building their own next-generation financial platforms on blockchain networks. Even the domain names these cutting-edge companies are using defy convention.
Among major players in the space, including companies like Compound and Yearn, the .finance domain name extension is taking off like a rocket. In fact, three of the top 10 DeFi startups are using .finance and only one uses .com.
TrueName™, operator of the .finance and other financial industry TLDs, has seen a 700% increase in monthly .finance registrations since the beginning of 2020. During the same period, the DeFi industry overall saw growth soar by nearly 1,000%.
GROWTH
Sources: Dune Analytics and TrueName Business Intelligence
DeFi entrepreneurs are establishing future-facing and unconventional brand positioning, and it’s paying off. Compound, for example, has raised more than $30M in funding to date, while other hot DeFi companies using .finance include Neco and Idle.
An additional benefit of these new domain extensions is their availability and cost compared to their .com counterparts, and DeFi companies will likely find their brand keyword available at their registrar of choice, as opposed to dealing with resellers in the .com aftermarket.
And .finance is far from the only highly-relevant extension choice for DeFi entrepreneurs.
Other meaningful options include:
.network
.capital
.cash
.exchange
.fund
.investments
.loans
.money
Entrepreneurs seeking to make their mark in this growing new arena and show their true DeFi identity can secure a .finance domain name at registrars such as Name.com, sav.com, and GoDaddy. .Finance is part of the TrueName brand of domain names which have increased memorability, availability and security. All TrueName domains come with built-in anti-phishing protection.
Find your domain at TrueName.domains.
