Blog
Eugénio Pinto
.PT Director of Innovation and Technology
24-04-2025
Domains of the Future: Your Name, Your Brand, Your World
Imagine if your name were the gateway to your entire digital world. What if, instead of being just another user on a social network, you had your own space: unique, personal, permanent?
Sounds like an exaggeration? It’s not. That’s exactly what’s happening with domain names.
For years, we thought of internet domains like road signs on the digital highway: go this way or that way. Useful, but boring. Today, they’re becoming something far more powerful: extensions of our identity. Having a domain like mariaalbertina.pt or renato.tech is no longer just about having a website. It’s a statement. It’s like wearing a personalized t-shirt with a strong message. Or getting a tattoo with personal meaning.
In a world where we spend half our lives online, a domain is no longer just a web address—it’s who you are.
Moreover, we no longer live in a time when having a .com or a .net was an innovation. Now there are top-level domains like .tech, .eco, .ai, .life, and also ccTLDs (country code top-level domains), like .pt, offering a stronger tie to national identity. It’s as if the vocabulary of the internet has exploded. That brings freedom, but also confusion. How do you choose the best one? Which one represents you the most? And will it be accepted by all browsers and antivirus systems? (Yes, some new top-level domains are blocked by antivirus software.)
There are also domains that don’t belong to anyone... and yet belong to you forever. With emerging technologies like the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), you can have a domain that exists on a decentralized system. It’s not registered with an organization but on the blockchain. No one can take it from you, renew it, or block it. It’s yours—and it can be used for much more than a website: it can be your digital wallet, your login for Web3 services, your passport to the future online. However, if you lose it, no one can help you recover it...
Another powerful trend is that domains are becoming more local, more diverse, more human. We’re now seeing domain names in languages that previously had no place on the web, using accents and cedillas, for example. Through IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names), these domains can be used for websites and email, but they can bring challenges with keyboard support, email services, recipient trust—and again, antivirus blocks.
Domains aren’t just for companies or projects. More and more, they’re for individuals. They’re for you. In a time when digital identity is as valuable as physical identity, having a domain is like planting your flag in new territory. And the question is no longer "Do I need this?” but rather: "Do I want my online presence to depend on platforms I don’t control—or do I want to build something that’s truly mine?”
For those who want to make their mark in the digital future, the answer seems clear. And in preparing for the future, don’t underestimate the power of your online name.
This article was originally published on Imagens de Marca.
Please note: the articles on this blog may not convey the opinion of .PT, but of its author.
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