My question to Godaddy's CEO at NamesCon: Domain Liquidity for the industry

[Rob Monster]

Earlier this morning, I wake up to seeing a lovely comment from Shane Cultra on his blog:

To my eyes, that comment from Shane is actually pretty crazy. Ironically, many people told me unsolicited, that my question was the highlight of the Q&A. This is not the first time that Shane has spoken out of school against me with trash-talk and it probably won't be the last since it shamelessly drives up his page views for his affiliate site. I don't know if anyone has a video of the Q&A section of Aman's keynote but if so, would be great if someone would upload the actual video clip. I believe anyone who objectively reviews my question will find it to be rather selfless. It was a question about domain liquidity. There were 2 parts, and I believe they were reasonable and sincere.

Part 1: Domain Liquidity via Loans

As some folks know, Epik provides interest-free loans secured by domains. This is popular but we cannot lend to everyone in the amounts that everyone might like. Compared to Godaddy, we are a relatively small company without access to the vast pool of capital that Godaddy has access to. I asked if Godaddy would consider extending domain loans to its customers. The lending model is proven. Godaddy has the ability to scale it to a much greater degree. Rather than forcing Godaddy customers to abandon domains to their expiry stream, why not allow Godaddy customers with liquid names to borrow against their portfolio? It seems reasonable to me.


Part 2: Working with US Congress to make domain names a bankable asset.

I have also been a long-time believer in the potential for domain names to be a respected asset class. The challenge there is that the banking industry does not recognize domains as a bankable asset class. People can donate domains to non-profits and can get a write-down for their investment basis, but if you go to a bank and ask to borrow against a 3N.com, they have no idea what you are talking about. The House subcommittee on banking could engage here but we would need some lobbying power to make that happen.

For anyone who has ever studied the history of the housing market, the correlation between the availability of borrowing capacity and the prices of the associated asset is indisputable. When credit is available, asset prices go up. If domain owners could more methodically borrow against their domains at conventional banking rates rather than only from hard money pawnshops that dominate the landscape today, it would be a game-changer for making the pie bigger for everyone.

I will be interested to hear what folks have to say on this very reasonable topic about domain liquidity that can greatly impact the future of the industry.

 

[Rob Monster]

That really didn't address my post. The reality is you could do more if you were in GoDaddy's position. You've basically been saying that yourself in this thread. Not sure why you keep bringing up useless domains, when again, you make money on those yourself, you had spreadsheets of useless random 4 letter .orgs you were ok with people registering.

Again, all that advertising is for what? If you don't want to be #1, what then? Top ten? Shoot for the moon, go for #1.

JB Lions --

I would love to have Godaddy's balance sheet and access to capital. Absolutely. I don't say that in a covetous way as much as to acknowledge that we do a lot with a little, and could do more with access to more resources.

As for your repeating reference to .ORG lists, to be clear, I was not suggesting that people go buy all the available ones, as much as someone was kind enough to pull that list for me and I thought it was a useful courtesy to publish it so that people would not pound our servers with duplicate requests.

As for my personal end-game, ICYMI, my treasures are in heaven. Read Daniel 12:4 or watch the video:

 

[JB Lions]

As for your repeating reference to .ORG lists, to be clear, I was not suggesting that people go buy all the available ones, as much as someone was kind enough to pull that list for me and I thought it was a useful courtesy to publish it so that people would not pound our servers with duplicate requests.

The list was made by your employee before the thread was started. You also dropped a .org coupon in the thread. So yes, you wanted people to register random 4 letter .orgs. Useless domains.

 

[Rob Monster]

The list was made by your employee before the thread was started.

I believe you are referring to this thread:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/why-i-am-bullish-on-org-plutocratic-guilt.1161692/

Yes, I was bullish on .ORG. I am still bullish on .ORG. So what.

 

[Pat8]

I have a sneaky feeling this was a pre arranged marketing announcement

Nothing of this sort was pre-arranged.

would you believe it 80% of the code is in place

This is because we already provide Domain Loans and some of the code of Integrating domain transfer ..etc can be picked up from NameLiquidate.com

what is the relationship between you to

I do work for Epik as Country Manager of India. But this doesn't change anything. Idea was spontaneous .

 

[NickB]

Aha, funny, but no. That was providence. Prathmesh is our young and talented India country manager. He happened to be up at 1 am and sent me that note. I was just sharing it because I give credit where credit is due and because I think this thread has people who will help vet the idea. And if Godaddy wants to do that idea it is totally great. That might be a better fit with their model anyway.

All good then, as I said it is a nice idea and also someone can correct me if I'm wrong but the regulations are a bit looser than conventional banking/lending streams. so in theory should be much easier to implement

 

[NickB]

Nothing of this sort was pre-arranged.


This is because we already provide Domain Loans. And some of the code of Integrating domain transfer ..etc can be picked up from NameLiquidate.com




I do work for Epik as Country Manager of India. But this doesn't change anything. Idea was spontaneous .

Rob has answered this already....

 

[najeb alrefaie]

In real life people can get loans against thier Realestate to buy stocks

In the digital world people should be able to get loans against thier domain names to buy crypto

@Pat8 had an idea just now:

Show attachment 144024

What do folks thinks of that? If Godaddy won't provide a lending solution, perhaps Epik should power one. We have the domain name DomainEquity.com for a similar idea.

Peer to peer lending for domains with Epik as registrar to enforce the agreement between borrower and lender. Who would be up for that? We have 80% of the code to do it already written.

Still waiting to hear from Godaddy about this topic.

 

[Samer]

I have a sneaky feeling this was a pre arranged marketing announcement and maybe the reason for this thread being created in the first place?

Take a swipe at the competition
Discuss the issues
Lo and behold a solution is found where the domain is already secured and would you believe it 80% of the code is in place

Just for transparency sake, what is the relationship between you to? If there is none then I will apologise for my paranoid behaviour.....

On a less sarcastic and sceptical note, it is a good idea......

Pat is an epik employee and a genius.

Samer

 

[NickB]

im


Pat is an epik employee and a genius.

Rob and Pat have answered this......

 

[Samer]

Rob and Pat have answered this......

aw man! I tried

at least edit my quote to final one

Samer

 

[Pat8]

@NickB and @Samer guys this post received reply so quickly that until I hit "Post Reply" it already had so many replies. I didn't refresh the page . My bad

 

[JB Lions]

Yes, I was bullish on .ORG. I am still bullish on .ORG. So what.

The "so what" is that you want to go at another company for useless domains, when you do exactly that. I forgot to mention besides having the lists ready before the thread was started, you also posted an Epik .org coupon. For random 4 letter .orgs. As far as what domains are registered, that's on the domainer. I don't actually see GoDaddy posting spreadsheets here of useless domains. Sometimes you go at other companies for the same things you do yourself. This or going at them for enforcing their TOS, you enforce your TOS as well.

As for your repeating reference to .ORG lists, to be clear, I was not suggesting that people go buy all the available ones,

So you posted those spreadsheets plus an Epik .org coupon because you didn't want people to register them? How stupid do you think people are.

----
Imagine this..........

Namesilo gets a list together of available 4 letter .biz domains.

Starts a thread saying they're bullish on .biz. Posts some random .biz sales.

Posts the spreadsheets of available 4 letter .biz domains plus a Namesilo .biz coupon

They do that because:

A. they want people to register .biz domains

B. they don't want people to register .biz domains

I mean seriously. It feels sometimes I'm reading in some alternate universe where people deny the obvious.

 

[Keith]

Y’all realize you’re debating a OP that runs a registry and gives 1% of customers special privileges?

@Rob Monster you can’t want the industry to move forward while you don’t operate straight across the board.

@Domain Shane epik does have a few good features. Fairness/equality is not one...

 

[wwwweb]

@Pat8 had an idea just now:

Show attachment 144024

What do folks thinks of that? If Godaddy won't provide a lending solution, perhaps Epik should power one. We have the domain name DomainEquity.com for a similar idea.

Peer to peer lending for domains with Epik as registrar to enforce the agreement between borrower and lender. Who would be up for that? We have 80% of the code to do it already written.

Still waiting to hear from Godaddy about this topic.

I think that is a great idea for a marketplace, and a good business model for Epik without exposing themselves to default risk, but just making a % on each deal completed. Each person can assess their own risk, and go from there, it just needs a platform, and the functions are already built into Epik's payment plan model.

 

[wwwweb]

I have a sneaky feeling this was a pre arranged marketing announcement and maybe the reason for this thread being created in the first place?

Take a swipe at the competition
Discuss the issues
Lo and behold a solution is found where the domain is already secured and would you believe it 80% of the code is in place

Just for transparency sake, what is the relationship between you to? If there is none then I will apologise for my paranoid behaviour.....

On a less sarcastic and sceptical note, it is a good idea......

It doesn't matter what they say on this thread, it is not going to make people who use godaddy move domains away from there, I think Epik is always poking, and thinking, and trying to make domain investing more viable. There are not many companies that are thinking of new ways to get more liquidity out of portfolios. By thinking outside the box, they are not hurting anyone, it seems people are taking this more personal, than business. It is really just business, the more options you have to accept payments, and use services the better it is for everyone.

A majority of people here are promoting something, or another, you have a guy who bumps a dozen .company names at a million plus every day, you have people bump threads for months on end with the same dumb domains, you have people here who create want ads based on hoop dreams, and big budgets, but with nothing to back it up. You have to read between the lines, you guys are attacking a CEO who has the ability to create products, and make real viable things happen, what is wrong with this?


If you don't like Rob, or Epik you have a choice not to do business with them, you have 10 other places you can register domains. You will see the .com increase emails start going out soon, some investors are going to start feeling the squeeze in the coming years if they are domain rich, and cash poor.

 

[Kyleirv]

Part 2: Working with US Congress to make domain names a bankable asset.

I have also been a long-time believer in the potential for domain names to be a respected asset class. The challenge there is that the banking industry does not recognize domains as a bankable asset class. People can donate domains to non-profits and can get a write-down for their investment basis, but if you go to a bank and ask to borrow against a 3N.com, they have no idea what you are talking about.
.

I don't agree with domains being an asset class. It's like crypto with bitcoin being .com as the CURRENT market leader and alt coins being the other tld along for the ride. Who knows what fad will replace them in the near future or tld that will become the leader! Your odds of you getting the right scenario is too high for the risk (it could be worthless in 10 years time).

 

[NickB]

It doesn't matter what they say on this thread, it is not going to make people who use godaddy move domains away from there, I think Epik is always poking, and thinking, and trying to make domain investing more viable. There are not many companies that are thinking of new ways to get more liquidity out of portfolios. By thinking outside the box, they are not hurting anyone, it seems people are taking this more personal, than business. It is really just business, the more options you have to accept payments, and use services the better it is for everyone.

A majority of people here are promoting something, or another, you have a guy who bumps a dozen .company names at a million plus every day, you have people bump threads for months on end with the same dumb domains, you have people here who create want ads based on hoop dreams, and big budgets, but with nothing to back it up. You have to read between the lines, you guys are attacking a CEO who has the ability to create products, and make real viable things happen, what is wrong with this?


If you don't like Rob, or Epik you have a choice not to do business with them, you have 10 other places you can register domains. You will see the .com increase emails start going out soon, some investors are going to start feeling the squeeze in the coming years if they are domain rich, and cash poor.

My very last line did say the idea was a good one? Why you felt the need to rant about promotion, personal feelings and the rest is beyond me.......

 

[dncafe]

Maybe I missed it, but is there video or a transcript of what the comment was?

 

[ExploitOdds]

@Rob Monster I do have a couple of questions about the lending. What will the interest rates be like? Are they based on the assets only, or do income and credit worthiness come into play?

A domain equity loan sounds like a nice idea . . . I have to live somewhere, so its less likely id default on a heloc than a deloc . . . all things being equal.

Additionally, if my deloc funds can only be used at Epik that is an extremely narrow application of funds in my view. If you are doing this for the greater good of domaining, why limit where the funds can be used?

Im trying to get my mind wrapped around this whole thing. Domain has to be at Epik?? If it isn't currently, then it has to be transferred there, right? Monies can be used to renew, register, and purchase . . . only at Epik??

Are you thinking this will impact a lot of domaines or a select few?

 

[Compassion]

Domains are truly assets. The Real Estate of the Internet.

Money is not an asset, it is imaginary - printed out of thin air, backed by blind confidence in its infinite creation.

All centralized currencies are by definition debt instruments only - valueless.

Could the industry mastermind a way to integrate decentralized currencies of value with domain assets to create a new class of liquidity without usury?

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster I do have a couple of questions about the lending. What will the interest rates be like? Are they based on the assets only, or do income and credit worthiness come into play?

A domain equity loan sounds like a nice idea . . . I have to live somewhere, so its less likely id default on a heloc than a deloc . . . all things being equal.

Additionally, if my deloc funds can only be used at Epik that is an extremely narrow application of funds in my view. If you are doing this for the greater good of domaining, why limit where the funds can be used?

Im trying to get my mind wrapped around this whole thing. Domain has to be at Epik?? If it isn't currently, then it has to be transferred there, right? Monies can be used to renew, register, and purchase . . . only at Epik??

Are you thinking this will impact a lot of domaines or a select few?

Thanks.

I had a long call this afternoon with fellow Epik Board member @Braden Pollock about this topic. We have the domain name DomainEquity on the shelf since forever to be used for something in this category.

Braden had some great input which I will share here.

In short, Epik would be the guarantor on these peer to peer loans. If you are familiar with how US Small Business Administration loans work, the banks lend but the SBA backstops.

So, if there is a default, the lender is not left holding the drippy bag. The result is that a lender could get some risk-free return. If there is a default, Epik would handle the liquidation/settlement.

The amount of available backstop is set by Epik. So, if someone lends more than that, they are only protected up to the amount of the backstop. Some lenders might offer to lend more at a higher interest rate.

The interest and commission is pre-paid. For example:

- Net proceeds to borrower: $1,000

- Interest rate for 1 year: 10%:

- Commission for Epik: 2%

- Monthly repayment over 12 months: $83.33

As for use of proceeds, it can be cashed out.

As for domains, they would be at Epik held as collateral but in the borrower's Epik account.

If there is a default, the domains move into a managed account for orderly liquidation.

That is the initial thinking. The design team and engineers have yet to weight in on this topic, but I see a pretty clear path for getting this done. The successful launch of NameLiquidate.com shows what is possible.

 

[FlipperC]

The interest and commission is pre-paid. For example:

- Net proceeds to borrower: $1,000

- Interest rate for 1 year: 10%:

- Commission for Epik: 2%

- Monthly repayment over 12 months: $83.33

So someone has to pay $120 upfront, transfer there domain names to epic, and then pay back $83.33 per month?

Is that right?

And only if you accept the domains as asset and wroth $1,000?

And by the way, call off your dan sanchez watchdog who is trying to intimidate me on private message. Starts off nice, then gets mean. I owe you nothing dan sanchez. I can comment jsut like anyone else here!!!

 

[.X.]

Domains are truly assets. The Real Estate of the Internet.

Money is not an asset, it is imaginary - printed out of thin air, backed by blind confidence in its infinite creation.

All centralized currencies are by definition debt instruments only - valueless.

Could the industry mastermind a way to integrate decentralized currencies of value with domain assets to create a new class of liquidity without usury?

I like where you are going with this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ @Compassion

 

[FlipperC]

Imagine this..........

Namesilo gets a list together of available 4 letter .biz domains.

Starts a thread saying they're bullish on .biz. Posts some random .biz sales.

Posts the spreadsheets of available 4 letter .biz domains plus a Namesilo .biz coupon

They do that because:

A. they want people to register .biz domains

B. they don't want people to register .biz domains

I mean seriously. It feels sometimes I'm reading in some alternate universe where people deny the obvious.

exactly. rob monster is so tone deaf he cannot even realize what he is doing. it's amazing.

 

[.X.]

Thanks.

I had a long call this afternoon with fellow Epik Board member @Braden Pollock about this topic. We have the domain name DomainEquity on the shelf since forever to be used for something in this category.

Braden had some great input which I will share here.

In short, Epik would be the guarantor on these peer to peer loans. If you are familiar with how US Small Business Administration loans work, the banks lend but the SBA backstops.

So, if there is a default, the lender is not left holding the drippy bag. The result is that a lender could get some risk-free return. If there is a default, Epik would handle the liquidation/settlement.

The amount of available backstop is set by Epik. So, if someone lends more than that, they are only protected up to the amount of the backstop. Some lenders might offer to lend more at a higher interest rate.

The interest and commission is pre-paid. For example:

- Net proceeds to borrower: $1,000

- Interest rate for 1 year: 10%:

- Commission for Epik: 2%

- Monthly repayment over 12 months: $83.33

As for use of proceeds, it can be cashed out.

As for domains, they would be at Epik held as collateral but in the borrower's Epik account.

If there is a default, the domains move into a managed account for orderly liquidation.

That is the initial thinking. The design team and engineers have yet to weight in on this topic, but I see a pretty clear path for getting this done. The successful launch of NameLiquidate.com shows what is possible.

That is a outstanding well thought out itinerary @Rob Monster , I like it a lot, Any thoughts on what @Compassion posted above??