April 8, 2025

By Fred Hsu (CEO & Co-Founder, D3)

I had the pleasure of catching up with one of our DomainFi Vanguard community leaders Braden Pollock at a recent SoCal Domainers Meetup that he hosts. Braden is a long-time friend, industry pioneer, and respected domain investor. Here’s what we discussed over dinner:

Fred: Let’s start light—how are you feeling about the domain market right now in 2025? You’ve had a front row seat to many cycles as an investor—what’s different this time around?

Braden: I’m totally bullish on the domain market. I’m buying like crazy and always on the hunt for premium inventory. Every year domains increase in value simply because more people are online. As businesses move online and a company’s virtual address becomes more and more important. 

What’s different in this cycle is AI. As we shift from Google searches, gpt levels the playing field. So how does a brand stand out from the sea of businesses out there who don’t get served up by an AI? They need to lean into marketing and having a memorable brand is priority one. Companies are realizing this and stepping up to the plate with more significant budgets than ever before.

 

Fred: You’ve been in this game for over two decades. For readers who might be newer to the space—how’d you first get into domains? And what keeps you interested after all these years?

Braden: I’ve had my digital marketing biz, LegalBrandMarketing.com, since 2004. We used to build websites for clients and include a (hand registered) domain. After a while we had “extra” domains that we weren’t using. I asked my good friend, David Rosenbaum, who – at the time – was the sales manager for the .TV extension, how I could monetize these domains. He opened my eyes to the domain aftermarket and took me to my first domain conference. I was instantly smitten! I started registering and buying investment quality domains and selling them to my existing clients. I built a portfolio of over 15,000 names back then but have since focused on moving “up market” opting for high value domains instead.

 

Fred: Let’s be real—what frustrates you most about the traditional domain industry right now? You’ve never been shy about calling things out.

Braden: Well, several things.

Domain investing is very capital intensive. So what frustrates me the most is the restrictions on buying inventory. I always feel like I’ve never got enough capital to deploy. 

The ability to find quality inventory is always a challenge. It’s definitely a grind to find great names at good prices. 

There are unscrupulous brokers that “front-run” by representing names without explicit permission. Also, I’m aware of brokers that have “double ended” deals by taking a commission from both the buyer and the seller. Our industry is still in its infancy and is a bit of the Wild West. I’d like to see brokers be required to have licenses (just like other industries) and be held to a code of conduct. 

 

Fred: We’ve both seen deals stall for months over nonsense—escrow, transfers, disputes. Why is the infrastructure still this clunky in 2025?

Braden: That’s a question I ask myself all the time. While it’s understandable when you’ve got a non-technical buyer or seller on the other side that simply doesn’t know the process. The question comes down to why is the process so complicated? While we’re no longer required to fax our requests to Verisign, we really need a more streamlined system to transfer domains. 

 

Fred: You’ve got a big portfolio. Has liquidity ever been a problem for you? Ever felt “asset-rich, cash-poor” with your domains?

Braden: Ah, yes! I was just mentioning that earlier in this interview. The domains I invest in are expensive so I can quickly burn through my investable cash. 

 

Fred: You’ve talked before about leasing and fractional ownership. Why do you think those models never really took off in Web2?

Braden: I think leasing is alive and well but most end users usually aren’t aware that this is a viable option. They lease their office space but don’t consider leasing their domain. I’d love this to be better well known. I offer this and lease-to-own all the time when my buyer doesn’t have the liquidity for an outright purchase. In my experience, buyers just don’t trust escrow and understand the leasing process. 

 

Fred: If you could wave a magic wand and fix the domain transaction process—what would it be?

Braden: There’s confusion on the buyer-side (or seller if I’m acquiring a name from an individual) when it comes to transferring the name. The lay person doesn’t understand how to accept a name nor unlock and send auth code. Making this intuitive and more user-friendly would go a long way. Another issue I have is the disconnect between a buyer signing a purchase agreement and actually making the payment. These two things should be integrated so when they sign, they simultaneously make the payment. Currently, the buyer signs an one platform (Escrow, DocuSign, etc) and then needs to go elsewhere to wire, ACH, send crypto, etc. There’s too much friction here. 

 

Fred: You’ve been exploring the DomainFi space. What part of it clicks with you the most—leasing, collateralization, tokenization?

Braden: Collateralization seems like the most promising aspect of DomainFi. Once we can tokenize as a means to collateralize a domain or portfolio of domains, we can then bring in third party institutional lenders so we can unlock liquidity.

 

Fred: Let’s talk compliance. You’ve been around long enough to know hype doesn’t last unless it works with the real world. What gives you confidence this approach could stick?

Braden: Once the registries and registrars are onboard, we’re off to the races. If the powers that be greenlight tokenized names, the lenders should be comfortable enough to loan against the assets. The trick is to get all parties aligned on DomainFi.

 

Fred: Do you think domains finally get their moment as real financial assets when they go on-chain?

Braden: If institutional investors see the value – and the margins – I think we have a real shot at adding domains to the list of “real financial assets”. GoDaddy’s share price substantiates that domains have real value. The issue is there are so many investors and we all have domains of varying value with no true system for comps.  

 

Fred: What’s the biggest missed opportunity in the domain industry today?

Braden: Lending. Domain Capital, Funding.com and a small handful of other lenders understand the space but it’s expensive money. There should be better and cheaper alternatives.  

 

Fred: Do you think we’ll start to see domain portfolios treated more like structured investment products—kind of like REITs but for domains?

Braden: Yes. I think it’s only a matter of time. Actually, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet.

 

Fred: How do you see subdomains playing into this future? New monetization layer? Identity layer?

Braden: I think monetizing sub-domains is an uphill battle. I haven’t seen much success in that space yet, with the exception of It.com. And that company is still young.

 

Fred: If you were mentoring a new domainer or startup founder entering this space—what would you tell them not to waste time on?

Braden: Non-coms unless the plan is to launch an MVP and upgrade later once they have traction. Most companies that get traction on a non-com eventually upgrade to the .com. 

 

Fred: Alright, let’s fast forward five years. What does success look like for domains as assets? What’s the best-case scenario?

Braden: I think we’ll see portfolio consolidation, tokenization and institutional lenders. And of course domains will be on-chain, because most everything will be on-chain – especially digital assets.

 

Fred: Finally, I’m pumped that we’ll get to speak more about the future of domain investing next week April 17 on an X Space and see you in-person in Los Angeles at the DomainFi Blueprint event on April 23 that you’re helping co-host!

Braden: For sure, I’m excited to help chart the future of our domain industry. See you on the X Space and our event together in LA!