Watch Now: The Metamorphosis Round of gTLDs from The .locker Room

The domain industry is in a full metamorphosis.

That was the prevailing sentiment from Lillian Fosteris of Fosteris Consulting after her time at the InterNetX Domain Summit. The feeling was similar at ICANN86 in Seville, where Web3, AI, and a new wave of gTLD applicants collided in ways that felt genuinely different from previous rounds. The industry is shifting.

In the latest episode of The .locker Room, we sat down with gTLD consultant Lillian Fosteris, founder and principal of Fosteris Consulting, to make sense of it all.

This Round Is Different

This round of new gTLDs arrives at a unique inflection point. The conversation has moved well beyond "what extension should I register?" Applicants, registrars, and consultants are now grappling with questions about long-term outlooks, utility, and where domain names fit in an increasingly decentralized internet. One concrete reality: the auction process for top-tier strings could run significantly longer than many applicants expect. Planning for that timeline isn't optional, especially if you're an applicant going for a top-tier string.

Beyond the Website

For decades, a domain name meant one thing: a website address. That definition is breaking down. Domain names are becoming a utility layer for a much broader digital stack of wallets, identities, alternate naming systems, and more. The industry is starting to catch up to that reality, and the new round is accelerating the conversation.

Alternate Roots and Responsible Integration

One of the more forward-looking threads at ICANN86 was the acknowledgment of alternate root systems. It's no longer a fringe topic. As Web3 infrastructure matures, the question isn't whether alternate roots exist. It's how the industry engages with them responsibly. Our own General Manager Don Ruiz is part of an ICANN technical study group working on exactly that: smart, responsible Web3 integrations into DNS.

What Comes Next

Seville made one thing clear for the .locker team: the next gTLD round isn't just about new extensions. It's about what the internet becomes next, and who shapes it.

Watch to The Metamorphosis Round of gTLDs on The .locker Room for the full take, available now on YouTube.