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Cryptocurrency fever persists in Lithuania: the number of the domains related to the virtual currency is increasing

The Internet Service Centre DOMREG at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) notices a particular increase in the volume of the registration of the Lithuanian cryptocurrency-related domains since the middle of the last year. 126 new Lithuanian cryptocurrency-related domains have been registered during the first two months of this year; there are more than 350 of them registered in total.

The interest in cryptocurrency was low in Lithuania until 2017; only few .lt domains related to virtual currency were registered per year. The popularity of bitcoin and other virtual currency prompted the increase of the numbers of people entering this market. Almost 200 Lithuanian cryptocurrency-related internet names were registered in 2017. Currently, a few new domains are registered per day on average.

Cryptocurrency fever in Lithuania

The Head of the Client Service Office at KTU Internet Service Centre DOMREG Tomas Mackus thinks that the registration boom of the cryptocurrency-related internet names was prompted by both, the miners of the virtual currency, and the start-ups who prefer Lithuania for a well-developed information technology infrastructure.

“Lithuania is known in the world as one of the countries with fast internet, well-developed infrastructure and highly competent specialists, therefore quite a few start-ups that develop the FinTech projects establish in Lithuania and register the Lithuanian internet names related to the area of their activities. We notice a particular activity in the registration of the domains related to the most popular cryptocurrencies, their mining and cryptocurrency wallet”, – notes T. Mackus.

Tomas Mackus, Head of the Client Service Office at KTU Internet Service Centre DOMREG

Quite a large part of the Lithuanian cryptocurrency-related internet names are registered with the idea of the increase in the popularity of cryptocurrencies in the future, therefore, such a domain is considered a great investment.

“There are more and more news on the large industrial cryptocurrency mines or crypto farms establishing in Lithuania. The activity of the suppliers of the equipment required for the cryptocurrency mining is also increasing. As well as the amount of people who rush to be the first ones to register the popular names, thinking about new projects or hoping for even more popularity for the virtual currency in the future. New domains are also registered by the digital currency exchanges”, – states T. Mackus.

Most of the cryptocurrency-related domains are registered by the Lithuanian registrants, but there are also a few dozens of foreigners. The most active Lithuanian are from Vilnius (129 domains), Kaunas (82 domains) and Klaipėda (19 domains), however, there are quite a few domains registered by the customers from the smaller Lithuanian regions or even rural areas.

Domains with the names of the most popular cryptocurrencies

There are more than 1500 various cryptocurrencies in the world, and the number is increasing. Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the most popular ones. The names of these currencies are most commonly used in the registration of the Lithuanian domains.

“The domains with the names of the most popular cryptocurrencies have already been created. Various cryptocurrency-related word combinations are also common: mine, mining, rig, coin, wallet, etc. When registering a new domain related to certain activities, you have to consider what it will be used for, so that its name would be the most accurate reflection of its activities. If its activities will be cryptocurrency mining, the name should reflect this particular area of activities. It is not necessary to mention the currency itself, you can creatively use other words and create your name, for example, digital mine”, – advise DOMREG specialists.

For those, who consider, if they should register generic internet names of Lithuanian ones, it is recommended to think of the target users of your services. If you plan working in Lithuania, your buyer or recipient of your service is from Lithuania, it is better to choose the Lithuanian domain. Lithuanian domain better reflects the territory of your activities and provides validity.

It is possible to register for a period longer than one year

The Head of KTU Internet Service Centre DOMREG Daiva Tamulionienė informs there are approximately 192 thousands Lithuanian domains in total. Almost 90% of the registrants of domains are Lithuanian, but quite a few foreigners also register Lithuanian domains.

Daiva Tamulionienė, Head of KTU Internet Service Centre DOMREG

“Each year, the number of the Lithuanian internet names increases by 3%. The growth of new domains in Lithuania is quite consistent in comparison to other European countries. We can even notice a decrease in some countries (for example, in Poland or Estonia), but number of domains is continuously growing in Lithuania for many years in a row”, – says D. Tamulionienė.

New edition of the procedural regulation is applied from 2014. Amongst other amendments, it provides a possibility of the long-term (up to 5 years) domain registration.

“Such a possibility was necessary, because not all registrants find it convenient to extend the validity term of their domain for one year for various reasons. There are many domains for the international businesses or various long-term projects that are registered for several years for the sake of convenience. We notice that a long-term domain registration is used by one tenth of the customer and their number is increasing with each year, – notes D. Tamulionienė.

According to her, in case the domain is not renew, such domain is put in “quarantine” and stored for 30 days. If a registrant fails to renew the domain name within this period, the domain is deleting. The deleted internet name can be re-created by any registrant; therefore, if the registrant fails to renew the period and restore the domain from “quarantine”, there is a risk of losing it.

Currently, the services of registration and renewal of the Lithuanian internet names are provided by 68 Lithuanian and 55 foreign accredited registrars.

Published 2018-04-17