2025 in Review: How .locker Helped Pave the Way for Interoperable Domains

The future of domains isn’t about replacement or disruption. It’s about interoperability. It’s about bringing together the trust and scale of DNS with the ownership, security, and sovereignty of Web3. This year, .locker focused on exactly that. Here’s a look back at how we helped move interoperable domains from concept to reality in 2025.

Bridging DNS, Bitcoin, and Ethereum with ENS Resolver Integration

One of the most important milestones for .locker this year was integrating with the ENS resolver. This integration enables .locker domains to resolve on Ethereum apps that use the resolver, unlocking EVM utility while still being anchored in DNS and minted on Bitcoin. It’s a meaningful step toward true cross-chain and cross-platform interoperability.

Rather than forcing users to choose between Web2 and Web3 naming systems, .locker demonstrated that domains can live comfortably in both worlds. DNS, Bitcoin, and Ethereum don’t have to compete. They can complement each other with .locker.

Introducing Minting as a Service (MaaS)

In 2025, .locker expanded its role beyond management of a single TLD by launching Minting as a Service (MaaS). MaaS allows other TLDs to leverage .locker’s infrastructure to mint on Bitcoin and resolve on Ethereum through a white-label solution. This opens the door for registries to offer Web3 capabilities without rebuilding their entire tech stack. By making interoperability modular and accessible, MaaS helps accelerate adoption across the domain industry while preserving the familiar DNS experience users expect.

Advocating for Collaboration at ICANN’s Contracted Parties Summit

Interoperability isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s an organizational one.

At ICANN’s Contracted Parties Summit in Hanoi, Viet Nam, .locker General Manager Don Ruiz led a live panel discussion focused on the importance of collaboration between the ICANN and Web3 communities. The message was simple but important: the future of naming depends on cooperation, not fragmentation. Web3 naming systems don’t need to exist in isolation, and the DNS ecosystem doesn’t need to stand still. Progress happens when both sides engage constructively.

Incentivizing Engagement with Bitcoin Rewards

As Bitcoin reached new all-time highs this summer, .locker launched something entirely new for the domain industry: the Digital Asset Reward Engine (DARE). DARE rewards users with $5 in BTC when they claim their .locker digital identity, making it the first promotion of its kind designed to incentivize post-registration engagement and renewals.

This wasn’t just about rewards. It was about rethinking how registrants interact with their domains and introducing digital assets as a natural extension of domain ownership and digital identity.

Championing Digital Sovereignty for First Nations

Digital identity is deeply connected to sovereignty, and that conversation extends far beyond technology. In 2025, Don Ruiz participated in a panel at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana focused on digital sovereignty for First Nations. The discussion explored how Web3 principles like ownership, self-custody, and decentralization can support long-term digital autonomy for Indigenous communities.

For .locker, this reinforced the belief that interoperable domains aren’t just about convenience or innovation. They’re about empowering people and communities to control their digital presence.

Proving Demand for Interoperable, Web3-Ready Domains

2025 marked an important milestone for .locker: our one-year anniversary. After a full year of operation, .locker surpassed 24,000 registrations, a strong signal that demand for interoperable, Web3-ready domains is real and growing. Even more telling is how these domains are being used. Many registrations align with emerging use cases at the intersection of AI and Web3, where identity, ownership, and security matter most.

As AI agents, autonomous services, and onchain applications continue to evolve, they require identifiers that are portable, resolvable across ecosystems, and rooted in user ownership. The adoption of .locker over the past year reflects a growing understanding that domains can play a foundational role in this next phase of the internet.

Looking Ahead to 2026

While 2025 laid important groundwork, there’s much more ahead. We will be testing Namechain from ENS to mint .locker names on Ethereum, transforming digital identity to potential NFTs, just like .locker does today on Bitcoin. Bitcoin rewards will still be offered with .locker, with $5 in BTC rewards returning in January. And of course, .locker will continue to be a model for responsible Web3 interoperability by advocating and collaborating across the Web2 and Web3 ecosystems.