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OpenAI, Google and Meta each applied for the new internet suffix .agent, and D3’s recap of ICANN’s 7 October 2026 applicant list counts 13 applications for that string. That is a contest to operate a domain registry—not a decision that any applicant has won, or that people can register .agent addresses. The same recap counts four applications for .wallet, but does not identify those applicants; the sources covered here do not establish who applied for .bitcoin or how many applications it received.
What did OpenAI, Google and Meta apply for?
Each company included .agent in its applications, according to D3’s recap of ICANN’s 7 October 2026 applicant list. D3 counts 13 applicants for .agent in total. The filings make the string contested; they do not establish which applicant, if any, will eventually operate it.
D3 reports 18 applications submitted by Meta across the round. That figure is not a count of Meta’s applications for .agent alone.
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A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of an internet address after its final dot: .com, .org and .ai are examples. A new generic top-level domain (gTLD) application seeks the right to operate a registry for a suffix. It is not simply an application to buy one address ending in that suffix.
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ICANN’s 2026 application window ran from 30 April through 12 August. The program is intended to expand the DNS by adding TLDs. D3’s recap of ICANN’s 7 October applicant list reports 1,616 applications covering 986 different strings. The Outpost reported a different total—1,615 applications—in its 8 October 2026 coverage, so the total should be treated as a reported count rather than an uncontested figure.
Are crypto firms targeting .bitcoin and .wallet?
The available reporting supports a narrower claim than the headline’s crypto framing. D3 counts four applications for .wallet and five for .crypto, but its recap does not identify the applicants. It provides no .bitcoin count or applicant identities. Those counts alone do not establish that the applicants are crypto companies or reveal their intended use.
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To establish who applied for a particular string, consult the application-level records in ICANN’s Application Publication and Statistics system. Without those records, claims about specific crypto-company applicants or the number of .bitcoin applications remain unconfirmed.
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Does an application mean the domain is approved or available?
No. The application reveal is an early step, not an approval, a registry launch or the start of public registrations. ICANN’s program includes evaluation and further stages such as public input, objections, appeals and, where needed, processes for resolving competing applications. A filing may not prevail, and the sources do not establish a launch date for .agent, .wallet or .bitcoin.
ICANN also requires new gTLD applicants to use a registry service provider that has completed its technical evaluation program. This is a requirement on applicants; it does not mean a particular application has passed evaluation.
How can applications be challenged?
ICANN appointed the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to handle limited public interest and community objections, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to handle string-confusion and legal-rights objections. ICANN’s description provides for administrative review followed by a determination from a one- or three-expert panel; a party that does not prevail may appeal.
These objection procedures address specified grounds. They are not the only possible way competing applications may be resolved, and an objection determination should not be confused with a public-registration launch.
What can be concluded about the .agent contest?
The documented facts are that OpenAI, Google and Meta applied for .agent, and D3’s recap counts 13 applicants for the string. The process still has stages ahead, so the filings show competition over a possible future registry—not a winner or a domain service available to the public.
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