Owning a single letter domain in any TLD can be both useful, and pricey.
Single letter domains can cost millions of dollars to acquire, and many registries hold onto them until later on, to sell individually or via auctions.
The dot .IO Registry operates the ccTLD for the British Indian Ocean Territory, and not without controversy.
Regardless, many tech and fintech start-ups support the shortness, efficiency, and input/output references of the .IO ccTLD. It has become synonymous with bootstrapping on a budget, and blockchain technology companies have adopted it as well.
Single letter .IO domains are all taken, naturally, but are they being used?
We ran a full check on the 26 letters and here’s what we found: 15 domains are for sale by the Registry, 2 are for sale by private parties, 4 are used as forwards to other domains, and just 4 are developed. One more does not resolve.
The domains that are for sale by the .IO Registry bear this message, e.g. the one from i.io:
“This could be your new website address! i.io is a premium domain name, being released from an allocation of domains that were previously unavailable for registration. In a world of long domain names, a premium, short and memorable domain name is a very attractive URL for a website or email. They are easier to remember, faster to type, and are bold, distinctive ways to stand out from the rest of the crowd. These domains are becoming available as part of an historic process where the registry is relaxing its prior restrictions regarding allocation of this and other domains.”
Here is the complete breakdown:
a.io – Developed
b.io – Developed
c.io – For sale by the Registry
d.io – Forwards to Diobox.com
e.io – For sale by the Registry
f.io – For sale by the Registry
g.io – Parked for sale
h.io – For sale by the Registry
i.io – For sale by the Registry
j.io – For sale by the Registry
k.io – For sale by the Registry
l.io – For sale by the Registry
m.io – Coming Soon lander – Most likely Message.io
n.io – Forwards to Niolabs.com
o.io – Does not resolve
p.io – For sale by the Registry
q.io – For sale by the Registry
r.io – For sale
s.io – Forwards to sio.com
t.io – For sale by the Registry
u.io – For sale by the Registry
v.io – Forwards to vanadium.github.io
w.io – For sale by the Registry
x.io – Developed
y.io – For sale by the Registry
z.io – For sale by the Registry
Actually I am not sure these domains are for sale by the registry (e.g. C.IO) – I questioned the registry about these and they said they were owned privately.
Mike – If the seller is a private entity they must be closely knit with the Registry, to acquire all letters in bulk.
Single letter domains are generally always liquid and easy sales if you got them for the good price with plenty of room for s profit.