BTCManager Exclusive: Interview with XYZ Director Shayan Rostam

Today we are interviewing Shayan from XYZ, a firm recently which partnered with Ethereum to make transactions easier by launching 1.111B class domains which could be used as addresses to receive ether.

Shayan, can you please Introduce Yourself and Your Role at XYZ?

I’m Shayan Rostam, the Global Director of Registry Operations at XYZ. I oversee the day to day operations of our portfolio of 10 top level domains, which include .xyz, .Security, and .Storage, among others.

How hard is it and What Process is Involved in Procuring a TLD?

ICANN, the governing body of the internet, allowed private entities to apply for the rights to operate new TLDs several years ago. It’s a several hundred page application per TLD, which includes details about what community/industry the string would support, how it would be technically run, financed, etc. There was a non-refundable $185,000 application fee per TLD, plus there are dues to ICANN every year.

So XYZ originally applied for three TLDs, which included .xyz. We were the only registry to apply for .xyz, so we launched it in June 2014 as the go-to domain ending for the next generation of internet users. It is now the most popular new domain ending in the world.

Because of the success of .xyz, we were able to go out and acquire nine additional TLDs from other businesses. The acquisition costs of these assets were all much much higher than $185,000, but we have the resources and retail network to make them successful.

“It is now the most popular new domain ending in the world.” Can you backup this statement with some stats for our users?

About 2.3 to 2.5 million domains. You can check namestat.org.

With the launch of the 1.111B Class, where all 6, 7, 8, 9 digit numeric .xyz domains are now $0.99 for all Creates/renewals/transfers at registrars, we expect this number to increase significantly.

I notice that if we see the stats of today, .xyz has most registered domains and the highest increase in number of new domains as well. You guys are doing a commendable job!

Thanks! Our popularity is thanks to our direct marketing and engagement efforts to innovators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. .xyz end users include MIT (Engine.xyz), Deloitte (Exponentials.xyz, GoInnovate.xyz), and HBO (Hooli.xyz) .xyz has been adopted in 230+ countries and territories worldwide

I feel the process to link .xyz with Ethereum address is very complex for average user, does your company plan to make it easier?

Yes we are actually working on that process right now. This partnership was just announced, and we have been working behind the scenes to make .xyz a simple and secure platform to manage and trade ETH.

The goal is to allow the average user anywhere in the world to start using Ethereum through .xyz. There are hundreds of millions of people/businesses who already know how to manage domain names and have access to .xyz through their registrar. We want those people to start using Ethereum as well with a 1.111B Class domain. And even if they need assistance, our registrar network already offers customer support and other services to help people to use their .xyz domains. And to support them, XYZ is also developing tools and tutorials to make it easier to map ETH to .xyz

I understand that users would be able to link their ETH address to their .xyz domain name, then transactions would be possible to a .xyz name.

Correct. The beauty of this is that .xyz is part of the root DNS, which is one of the most stable and secure iterations of a blockchain in the world.

Can you explain “For example, an American can easily transfer funds from his/her GoDaddy account to someone in Japan using Onamae, in France using Gandi, or in VietNam using Matbao. The transaction is publicly recorded in the WHOIS history, although title can be kept private at the owner’s option.”

Sure. .xyz domains can be easily registered and managed at hundreds of domain registrars and resellers worldwide, which include GoDaddy (the most popular registrar in the world), Onamae (the most popular registrar in Japan), and Gandi (one of the most popular in France), and MatBao (one of the most popular in Vietnam). .xyz is also one of the most popular domains offered at each of these registrars as well, which means their customers are familiar with .xyz and already use .xyz for their business or personal projects.

By pairing Ethereum with a .xyz domain, these customers can now easily transfer funds from one part of the world to the other. If they transfer a 1.111B Class .xyz domain, the transfer fee is only $0.99, regardless of the value of that wallet.

WHOIS is basically the public white page directory for domains. You can do a WHOIS lookup of any .xyz domain to see who owns it at: www.gen.xyz/whois.

This information can be made public, so others can verify that the domain or wallet is, in fact, yours, or you can make it private for additional security. This is an opportunity to introduce virtual currencies to a much broader pool of individuals and businesses. Because there are exponentially more people, who are familiar with domain names right now versus cryptocurrency. So we want to simplify it and ensure security and stability by bringing it to .xyz through established registrars like GoDaddy. These customers do not have to create any kind of new account to use .xyz.

Alright, moving on can you tell us about your experience with folks at Ethereum for this integration?

Sure. Their team was very enthusiastic when we reached out to them about this opportunity. I think they immediately saw the benefit of introducing Ethereum to a huge global audience through .xyz while also connecting your wallet directly to the DNS. I was impressed by how they worked to develop this solution.

Alright Shayan, it was a pleasure to interview you. Is there anything you would like to share with our readers?

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me! And yes, I would encourage your readers to visit www.gen.xyz/1111b to search for available patterns and blocks of 1.111B Class .xyz domains. They can then go to www.GoDaddy.xyz or another registrar to register these domains for just $0.99 per year.

They can also read our white paper and watch Nick Johnson’s full Ethereum/XYZ partnership announcement at: www.AYDACFU.xyz.