Unstoppable Domains and Hub Culture today announced their intent to submit .hub for ICANN's upcoming generic top-level domain (gTLD) application round

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unstoppable Domains and Hub Culture today announced their intent to submit .hub for ICANN's upcoming generic top-level domain (gTLD) application round, a strategic expansion that could transform how digital identities function across both traditional and decentralized internet infrastructure.

HUB_CONFIRMS INTENT TO ENTER_ICANN APPLICATION

The move positions .hub to join an emerging class of Web3 native domains including .anime, .twin, .agent, .her, .robot, .privacy, .agi, and .brave seeking dual recognition in both blockchain and conventional DNS ecosystems. If approved, .hub would become the first domain extension built for connection and collaboration to operate seamlessly across Web2 and Web3 environments.

"We're not just adding another domain extension to the internet. We're creating infrastructure for how people and organizations will build trust and coordinate in an AI driven, increasingly decentralized world," said Sandy Carter, COO of Unstoppable Domains. "ICANN recognition would give .hub users the best of both worlds: the reach and familiarity of traditional DNS alongside the ownership, verifiability, and payment capabilities that only blockchain can provide."

The ICANN application represents a significant evolution for .hub, which launched earlier this year as an onchain first domain built around Hub Culture's decades of experience in digital identity and sustainable innovation. Hub Culture operates the world's longest-running social network, anchored by its HubID system, and pioneered its digital currency Ven in 2007.

"The convergence of physical and digital identity is accelerating faster than ever," said Stan Stalnaker, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Hub Culture. "From innovation hubs and community centers to AI agents and autonomous systems, the future demands trusted coordination layers. With ICANN recognition, .hub becomes that layer: a universal namespace where sovereign identity meets real world utility, where your digital credentials work everywhere from your email inbox to your crypto wallet."

If approved by ICANN, .hub domains would resolve in standard web browsers like Chrome and Safari while maintaining full blockchain functionality including crypto payments, verified onchain profiles, IPFS-hosted websites, and secure messaging. This dual-stack approach addresses a critical gap in digital infrastructure: the ability to maintain a consistent identity across fragmented online environments without sacrificing control or privacy.

The domain's commercial appeal extends beyond technology circles. With tens of thousands of physical and digital hubs operating globally, from tech hubs and financial hubs to community hubs and transportation hubs, .hub offers intuitive branding that resonates across brands, networks and industries.

Hub Culture's Hub Icon project, the world's first tokenized building, demonstrates how physical infrastructure can integrate with blockchain-based identity systems. This convergence informs .hub's design as a domain that works equally well for physical locations, digital communities, and hybrid entities.

The ICANN gTLD application process involves multiple evaluation phases. While approval timelines vary, successful applicants typically see their domains enter the global DNS within 18 to 24 months of submission. .hub domains are currently available through Unstoppable Domains at unstoppabledomains.com, offering blockchain-based registration with no renewal fees.

The .hub domain is now available through Unstoppable Domains, offering individuals, startups, and enterprises a secure, forward-looking way to establish their digital presence. To learn more, visit unstoppabledomains.com.

About Unstoppable Domains

Launched in 2018, Unstoppable Domains is an ICANN-accredited registrar and leading digital identity platform dedicated to onboarding the world onto DNS and Web3. Unstoppable Domains provides Web3 domains minted on the blockchain, empowering individuals with full ownership and complete control over their digital identities, with no renewal fees. Users can replace lengthy alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses with easy-to-remember human-readable domain names, streamlining their interactions with apps, wallets, exchanges, and marketplaces. Recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Startup Employers for four consecutive years—2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025—Unstoppable Domains has rapidly grown, boasting over 4.2 million registered domains.

For more information, please visit: https://unstoppabledomains.com/

About Hub Culture

Born in 2002, Hub Culture is an advanced technology ecosystem network building frameworks for the first virtual state, with a mission to enhance collective consciousness. The ecosystem includes five major pillars of activity: physical and digital collaboration hubs, digital assets, metaverse, governance/A.I. and digital identity services.

As the world’s longest running online social network, Hub Culture provides members both tools and opportunities to support self-actualization. Digital assets like Ven, Ven Oxygen (Vo2), and Ven Carbon (VCo2) tie support of nature to the economic fabric of the community, while Ultra Digital Assets offer platform-centric tokenization marketplaces.

Online, Hubs offer deep collaboration services for events, content and connectivity, with governance solutions like Propel and Coalition supported by Zeke, a system-wide artificial intelligence. Members access these tools with user-owned data managed through HubID, their unique digital identity, which includes diverse credentialing. Services find added relevance in the metaverse, through projects like Gaia and Emerald City.

Over 80,000 guests in 65 Hubs have helped members create value in dozens of cities, with thousands more online hubs enabling real time collaboration between citizens. Hub Culture offers partners high-impact resources during global thought leadership and culture summits, with private workspaces in prime locations, social content creation and amplification, and exclusive concierge and hospitality services. The Hub Icon takes these Hubs to the next level with a scalable, modular, mobile and sustainable solution to regenerative construction, digitally twinned onchain and in physical reality. Upcoming Hubs in London, Cannes, Davos, Iceland, Istanbul,, Miami, Los Angeles, Dubai and other places are open or planned for 2026.

Press Contact
Unstoppable Domains: press@unstoppabledomains.com
Hub Culture: media@hubculture.com

Media Contact Information
Sandy Carter
press@unstoppabledomains.com

Unstoppable Domains and Hub Culture today announced their intent to submit .hub for ICANN's upcoming generic top-level domain (gTLD) application round

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