Domain Name Stock Market

[Frank Michlick]

Fusu introduces Domain Stock Exchange in private beta

Fusu - The Domain Stock Exchange. The world’s first Domain Stock Exchange provides a secondary market trading platform for domain names.

Many times the concept of owning shares of of a premium domain name has been discussed, but now someone has stepped up to the plate and developed a service that allows domain owners to sell ownership of part of their domains. This allows them to gain immediate liquidity, without loosing control of their names. Investors can participate in the growth of domain values buy acquiring shares of domains.

More at DomainNameNews

 

[Ronald Regging]

This entire thing sounds like a complete legal nightmare.

I'd be interested to read some more info about it though.

 

[labrocca]

This entire thing sounds like a complete legal nightmare.

I'd be interested to read some more info about it though.

I agree. It's an incredible risk to undertake for all involved. Let's say I back a name and it gets deleted, lost it udrp, or worse...gets sued for TM infringment and I get named as a defendant.

 

[tobiasr]

Just a very quick reply because I'm at the airport.

I'm the founder of this venture.

- Right now we don't allow floating of more than 45% of a domain. The owner/admin of the domain never changes. Ownership remains clear.

- This is a no doubt a high risk, high return kind of investment. As investor, you will need to try to assess the risk of a domain. But you should know that the registrants' risk profile does not change at all - ie, the risk exists with or without Fusu, and the legal risks really lies with only the registrant.

If interested, drop me a PM with your email address and I will get you an invite.

-Tobias

 

[smak786110]

WOW...DAMN! !!
My dream come true....
Stock market and Domains......... DAMNN DAMNN DAMNNN !!!
AMM INN AMMM INN DAMN IT !!!

 

[smak786110]

i tried....it seems kinda interesting as per wht u said here....but when i visit the web itself...It looks like there isnt much to do there....It just says on most pages Access Denied...
I think it'll be good when its launched completely !

 

[Michael]

Very interesting concept. People take on partners to buy premiums all the time, and this will just help facilitate the process. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this.

 

[tobiasr]

Smak, contact me again please for the pages you get Access Denied. If you are signed up, you should not see that message anyway.

Appreciate all feedback, keep it coming!

 

[Mobi Cheap]

I do see a lot of hurdles though. Be interesting to see what the SEC's take on it would be as it is called a stock exchange. How would share owners know what revenue was earned for dividends etc unless shares only entitle you to resell money etc. Who sets the inital price of the shares etc etc etc. Penny stock domains? would it be based on an apprasial etc etc etc lots o questions would need answered for investors as well as sellers. I would be interested very much though

I agree there are big challenges there, but if it's possible to partially own and trade REITs it should not be beyond the wit of man to solve all major problems (eventually), say by utilizing single purpose companies that own one or more prime domain names (ideally pass through for tax purposes, and perhaps required to distribute 90% of parking income, to make it clear that they stick to the real estate model in such a scenario).

The devil - as always - would be in the details.

 

[tobiasr]

Hi guys,

a few answers as to our thinking (btw I agree there are many hurdles - I think that's why it has not been done before):

1) Parking - I can't tell details there yet, but we have solutions for this.
2) Who sets initial price? Right now in the beta, the domain owner sets the value of the domain, Fusu sets the number of shares (therefore determines initial price). If the price is unrealistic, no-one buys at that price, but investors may offer a lower price. For launch, we will have a pre-bidding phase (book building) where investors can bid on initial share price.
3) SEC - we really don't issue shares (due to the disputed "property" nature of domains in many legislations, but have shareholders, domain owners and Fusu agree on contracts on future contracts. Our biggest investment so far was the legal side of things.

Let me know if you have other questions.

-Tobias

 

[Billidn]

Let me know if you have other questions.
-Tobias

Is the domain held in some kind of escro account?
Or what is the method to secure the safety of your investment?

 

[tobiasr]

Yes, it is. I hope I can announce details of this soon.

-Tobias

 

[mattonline]

this looks really interesting, sent you a PM

domains just seems to keep developing

 

[GeoOwners]

sounds cool ...who controls how the domain gets used?


.

 

[tobiasr]

The domain owner. We do not control the use of the domain unless a premium domain opts to pay parking revenues as dividends.

-Tobias

 

[BrandYourself]

in the event of an owner backsliding on promises to pay proportionate ppc say or selling the domain and pocketing all the proceeds etc what safety measures will be taken?

i love the concept though - if all the logistics are sorted and all safeguards are fully in place i'm convinced this is a BIG winner

 

[Steven]

In the case where the owner forgets to renew the domain (and drops eventually), what happens to those who have invested in it?

This domain stock exchange idea is interesting. Please keep in the loop tobiasr.
Thank you

 

[Mobi Cheap]

In the case where the owner forgets to renew the domain (and drops eventually), what happens to those who have invested in it?

...

And do you provide physical protection for the owner in such cases?:yell:

But seriously, this issue is bound to be at the forefront of everyone's mind IMHO.

You've almost certainly thought of this already, but shouldn't there be a standard clause requiring the owner to demonstrate - say at the end of each accounting period - that the domain is renewed for the maximum allowable period ahead (i.e. 9-10 years for a .com)?
:imho:

 

[tobiasr]

Hi,

our current plan is that there will be two segments:
- Prime, where Fusu verifies and monitors domain ownership, parking, renewals, etc. We will have technical, legal, and business means to accomplish this.
- Standard, where everyone can list their domains at a value they want; Fusu does not take responsibility for domains in this segment though.

Prime domains will be domains with a certain minimum value...

We originally wanted to verify all domains, but it has become clear in the beta that the demand to list domains is so strong that we could not accomplish this with our current resources... which is good :D

A question for you guys... who of you would buy shares, what amounts would you invest? Feel free to PM me.

 

[Ronald Regging]

We originally wanted to verify all domains, but it has become clear in the beta that the demand to list domains is so strong that we could not accomplish this with our current resources... which is good :D

Honestly, I'd suggest keeping within your resources. I'm sure investors would much rather put their money in a domain knowing that its been verified and all the security measures are in order. Otherwise you'll just end up with millions of crappy domains listed and scammers running amok... We don't need another Ebay...

 

[tobiasr]

Good point; I did not mean to suggest through that there is *no* verification on Standard domains. Whois and renewals would be checked for all domains in the Exchange, but Premium domains would have additional security measures.

It'd be like Over the Counter trading and NYSE trading, where companies have to meet different requirements...

-Tobias

 

[Shane]

I actually like this idea.. shares in domains.. a share in something like Godaddy would be excellent investment

 

[tobiasr]

Troopscott, sorry for the delay in answering this.

If I understand you correctly, you would value WorldCreditReport.com at $120,000 - there are a total of 40,000 shares, and you want to sell 10,000 (25%) at $3 each. If people pick up the shares at your suggested price, you would make $30,000. If investors don't agree with your initial price, they can make you offers at lower prices.

I will have to give more detail about dividends at a later date.

-Tobias

 

[tobiasr]

We have now released part II of the beta with real money... one of the first domain owners to list his name on the Exchange made $800 overnight.

I'm very interested to hear how much you would invest in buying domain shares... please keep sending me those PMs!

 

[jeffoverman]

Drop me an email. That's funny. I had 2 times this week and no answer or response

Having read through all of this it sounds so cool and unique. Of course its high risk like currency trade or trading futures or options

I am interested in learning more getting into beta form and testing this out

This is more towards .com plays I am concluding and people like frank and Rick that have amazing names, type in names like property.com vs my stuff and future growth in early stage things like .tv, .mobi, .cn names.

What's the min. To invest in. If people want to invest in a good name and buy shares say shares at 3.00 bucks and the offering is 25000 shares for .25 of domain can I buy 100 shares at 3 for a total of 300?

This dudes lawyer expenses and web security must be huge expenses. If this self funded or no big time investors or well known angel investors in this I would be hesitant in trying this out but I am dying to see how all this works.

J