Web3 TLD Consulting
for 2026 Round Applicants
From the team that designed & operates a live ICANN DNS-Web3 bridge
Applying for a gTLD means committing to infrastructure decisions you will live with for a decade. Backend selection, registry policy, launch sequencing, and increasingly, whether your namespace resolves on-chain as well as in the DNS.
The Applicant Guidebook tells you how to become a registry operator. It does not tell you how to connect one to a blockchain safely, or how ICANN will evaluate you when you try.
In early 2024, Orange Domains built a native DNS–Web3 bridge from the ground up for .locker. Behind it sits a full smart-contract stack authored for two different chains, hardened through formal security audit, deployed and publicly verified on Ethereum and Bitcoin mainnet, and operated every day as production registry infrastructure. Not a pilot, not a whitepaper, and not a third-party integration we resold.
As a new wave of Web3-enabled gTLDs prepares to enter the root, we are making that experience available to the operators building next.
ICANN's new gTLD application window closed August 12, 2026. Just two days earlier, the Technical Study Group on Integrating with Alternative Naming Systems draft report with recommendations was published its first public comment; the final recommendations for ICANN to approve won’t land until late Q4 after a second public comment, though that may change as well. That means applicants will start submitting RSEPs and building bridges for their gTLD before the recommendations are finalized. One wrong decision can mean a rejected RSEP and a derailed gTLD launch.
That timing creates real obstacles. There's no out-of-the-box solution for a Web3 integration, and most teams don't have the combined Web2 and Web3 expertise to build one from scratch. DNS-Web3 integrations introduce technical concepts most registry operators have never had to touch: string+controller integrations and USoT architecture across ecosystems, reconciling records between onchain alternative names and offchain registrant records, keeping smart contracts compliant with registry policy, resolving lifecycle mismatches, abuse mitigation in decentralized naming systems, and handling names with prior onchain history. None of this is common knowledge, and most gTLDs are still figuring out where to begin with the TSG’s recommendations.
Every gTLD operator knows registrar agreements, zone files, and ICANN policy. Every Web3 native knows protocols, gas fees, and the chain landscape. Almost no one has had to combine them until now.
That's the gap consulting with Orange Domains closes.
Looking for more information about ICANN and the Web3 gTLD landscape? We can help. Drop Don Ruiz a line at don@orangedomains.com.
We don't just advise. We also build. From your initial application through post-delegation and into daily operations, Orange Domains is the partner that gets your Web3 gTLD live and keeps it running.
Our dynamic team of innovators, engineers, marketers, and thought leaders is committed to bridging Web2 and Web3 securely and responsibly. Diverse industry experience helped us push the boundaries of what's possible in the domain and blockchain space for .locker:
Whether you're submitting an application or preparing to build post-delegation, we'll put together a plan shaped around your gTLD, your stage, and your timeline.
Answers for registry operators and applicants weighing a DNS-Web3 bridge for the 2026 round.
