How D3 Is Turning Domains into DeFi Gold

In Brief

Despite managing over 40 million domains and partnering with giants like Google, Fred Hsu founded D3 to fill Web3’s naming void with a programmable, finance-driven domain system bridging Web2 and Web3.

Despite overseeing more than 40 million domains and collaborating with industry leaders like Google and Verisign, Fred Hsu saw a critical gap in Web3: the absence of a legally authoritative naming system. This realization sparked the creation of D3, a platform that reimagines domains as dynamic, programmable assets driving the emerging DomainFi economy. Under Hsu’s leadership, D3 aims to unify Web2 and Web3 domains, unlocking new financial possibilities like fractional ownership, yield generation, and cross-chain interoperability.

Could you please introduce yourself and share a bit about your journey into Web3?

Absolutely. I’ve been in the domain industry for about 25 years. Historically, I’ve managed around 40 million domains through my first company. From early on, I understood the massive economic value locked inside DNS infrastructure. I started D3 to redefine what domains could be, not just as static digital real estate, but as programmable, composable assets.

What is the fundamental insight that led to the creation of D3? How does it redefine the role of domains in the digital economy?

The fundamental insight came from realizing that Web3 had no legally authoritative naming system. After managing over 40 million domains at Oversee and seeing billions in revenue generated with partners like Google, Yahoo, and Verisign, I understood the massive economic value locked in DNS infrastructure. But Web3 and Web2 domains existed in separate silos, limiting their full potential.

D3 redefines domains from static digital real estate into programmable, composable assets. We’re turning the $340B+ domain industry into the backbone of a new DomainFi economy where domains can generate yield, be fractionalized, serve as collateral, and power cross-chain identity—all while maintaining their legal authority and global interoperability.

In your view, what is the primary function of a domain in the 21st century: identity, asset, infrastructure—or something else entirely?

All three, unified. Domains are the convergence layer of the digital economy. They’re identity because they provide human-readable, verifiable names across chains and applications. They’re assets because they generate real cash flow through renewals, leasing, and monetization—similar to commercial real estate but global and digital. They’re infrastructure because they’re the root layer that connects billions of users to applications, websites, and services.

But more fundamentally, domains are becoming programmable reputation systems—they carry metadata, enable trust, and will serve as the passport system for AI agents and cross-chain interactions.

What systemic limitations in the existing domain industry does D3 aim to overcome? Why is now the right time to do so?

The biggest limitations are illiquidity and fragmentation. Today, premium domain deals take 4-8 weeks with brokers skimming 20-30%. There’s no fractional ownership, no programmatic lending, and no composability with DeFi protocols. Web2 domains and Web3 naming systems exist in separate worlds.

Now is the right time because we have the infrastructure—mature smart contract platforms, DeFi primitives, and institutional appetite for real-world assets. The 2026 gTLD application round creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity to launch blockchain-native TLDs that are natively programmable from day one.

What new types of digital products or services become possible through composable domain rights?

Instant domain finance revolutionizes the way domains are bought and managed by enabling Amazon-style checkout for whole or fractional purchases, leasing, or financing with transactions completing in under a minute and fees kept below 5%. Domains evolve into programmable passports for AI agents, providing verifiable and human-readable identities that function seamlessly across multiple blockchains and applications

Additionally, communities gain the power to launch and govern their own top-level domains (TLDs), such as .shib or .pirate, supported by on-chain treasuries that oversee renewals and policy enforcement. This system also introduces a cross-chain reputation framework, creating a single canonical identity that resolves uniformly across .sol, .base, .com, and traditional domains, effectively eliminating the silo problem

Furthermore, token holders benefit from diverse revenue streams by collecting pro-rata earnings from domain parking, leasing, and sales in real time, thereby creating a dynamic and participatory economic ecosystem around domain ownership.

In ways can tokenized domains participate in DeFi protocols—for example, in collateralized lending, staking, or revenue-sharing structures?

Once domains are tokenized through DOMA-enabled registrars, they seamlessly integrate with DeFi infrastructure, enabling a range of financial opportunities. Owners can use their domains, such as Chat.com, as collateral to borrow stablecoins instantly, with loans backed by verifiable DNS ownership. Token holders benefit from revenue sharing, receiving pro-rata earnings from domain monetization, including parking yields ranging from 20% to 40% annually—distributed daily or monthly

Premium domains like Hockey.com can be fractionalized, allowing smaller investors to participate while providing liquidity to current owners. Additionally, domain tokens can be staked in liquidity pools or used in governance to earn protocol rewards through yield farming. Central to this system is authoritative tokenization, which ensures that ownership is anchored in actual DNS registries rather than mere wrappers or copies, preserving authenticity and value.

How does D3 ensure compliance with ICANN policies while introducing blockchain-based domain functionality?

We operate within the existing DNS ecosystem as a legitimate registrar with proven infrastructure. Our team includes veterans from ICANN, GoDaddy, and major registry operators who understand the regulatory landscape.

We’re not replacing DNS—we’re enhancing it. Domains remain fully compliant with ICANN policies while gaining programmable features through tokenization. We work with established registries and maintain the legal chain of title that makes domains valuable in the first place.

For blockchain-native TLDs in the 2026 round, we’re applying through proper ICANN channels with the infrastructure and compliance track record required.

How does D3 support developers looking to integrate domain-based functionality into their dApps or marketplaces?

We’re building the Stripe of domains—protocol-first infrastructure that powers domain assets across all chains. Our DOMA protocol provides APIs and SDKs for:

• Fractionalization: Creation of fungible tokens to facilitate price discovery & sales
• DeFi primitives: Integrate domain collateral into lending protocols
• Identity solutions: Create wallets and apps that use DNS for cross-chain identity
• Marketplace integration: Build domain trading platforms with instant settlement
• Developer tools: Access live pricing oracles, lease yield data, and domain metadata

We’re the rails, not the storefront—enabling builders to create the next generation of domain-powered applications.

What are some of the novel use cases you’ve seen emerge from builders leveraging Doma’s permission-based smart contract framework?

Although the space is still in its early stages, promising developments are already emerging. Companies are beginning to explore domain treasury management, seeking to transform their domain portfolios from illiquid holdings into yield-generating assets. Institutional yield products are also advancing, exemplified by Plume’s integration of DomainFi into their Nest Protocol, which enables tokenized domains to produce institutional-grade returns

Meanwhile, fan identity infrastructure is gaining traction, with OneFootball leveraging .football domains as a foundational identity system for its community of over 180 million monthly active users.

What role does D3 envision for domain-based assets in multi-chain ecosystems, particularly with regard to interoperability and asset portability?

Domains solve the canonical identity problem across chains. We envision DNS as the universal resolver that connects all blockchain naming systems .sol, .base, .eth, traditional .com—under one unified system.

With partnerships like Solana Foundation (for .SOL and .SOLANA TLDs), Base, and Avalanche (for .AVAX TLD), we’re creating native interoperability. Your domain becomes your universal passport that works across every chain and application, eliminating silos and fragmentation.

DOMA protocol is chain-agnostic, so domain assets can move between Solana, L2s, and other networks while maintaining their DNS authority and legal standing.

What is D3’s long-term vision for DomainFi? How might it influence the future of web infrastructure or digital finance?

If D3 wins, the Internet in 2030 will look like a borderless nation where identity, ownership, payments, agentic communications, and reputation are rooted in DNS and interoperable across every chain and app.

DomainFi becomes the infrastructure layer for the next internet, where every digital interaction is anchored to verifiable, programmable identity. AI agents use domains as their passports. DeFi protocols use domains as prime collateral. DAOs govern their own TLDs as on-chain nations.

We’re not just tokenizing domains, we’re creating the foundation for a new digital economy where the internet’s naming layer becomes its financial and identity layer.

Could you please share the roadmap of D3?

By 2025, the DOMA protocol is set to launch its mainnet, marking the debut of the first fractional domain sales alongside live pricing oracles and comprehensive domain market data—effectively creating a Bloomberg Terminal for domains

In 2026, the ecosystem aims to drive significant participation in the gTLD application round, empowering DAOs and blockchain communities to launch their own top-level domains, while achieving full DeFi integration with leading protocols for lending, yield farming, and liquidity provision

Looking ahead to 2027 through 2030, the vision includes universal cross-chain and interoperable Web2 and Web3 identity resolution, scalable AI agent identity infrastructure, and institutional adoption of domains as a core real-world asset (RWA) class, culminating in a complete transformation of domain transactions from weeks-long brokered deals into instant, programmable commerce.

The roadmap is about building the rails that power the next generation of internet infrastructure—making domains as liquid and programmable as any DeFi asset while maintaining their unique position as the legally recognized, globally interoperable foundation of digital identity.