How Monte Cahn Unlocked Instant Liquidity for His Premium Domains on Doma
By Fred Hsu, CEO & Co-Founder D3
The domain industry has been built by a small group of pioneers who understood the sheer potential of domains as “digital real estate.”
Monte Cahn is one of those pioneers.
Long before “digital assets” became a mainstream phrase, Monte helped define how premium domains are bought, sold, protected, and valued. Monte is the founder of Moniker.com, RightOfTheDot.com, Dot Hip Hop LLC, Internet Equity Limitada, and a key figure behind some of the largest domain transactions in history - $625M+, including WallStreet.com, Autos.com, Porn.com and Omegle.com and more.
Needless to say, Monte has spent more than three decades shaping the infrastructure of the domain economy.
Recently, Monte started using Doma and managed to successfully tokenize three domains on our platform: Investors.xyz and HighTech.xyz, and Foundations.xyz and more coming.
Today, I had the opportunity to sit down with my good friend to talk about his experience with the platform.
Fred: Monte, we’ve known each other a long time. You’ve seen every version of the domain market, booms, busts, auctions, private deals, all of it. So, when you decided to use Doma, what did you actually do?
Monte: I tokenized three domains I already owned: Investors.xyz, HighTech.xyz, and Foundations.xyz so far and will activate more soon.
These are not throwaway names. These are real domains I’ve held like any other long-term domainer would.
Fred: And before this, those domains were just… sitting there?
Monte: Exactly like most premium domains with the hopes of selling them to an end user at some point..
They had value, but that value was locked up unless I sold the whole asset. That’s the part people outside the industry don’t always get.
Domains are just like real property/real-estate. You can own something great and still have zero liquidity for years.
Fred: That’s been the domainer pain point forever.
Monte: Forever.
You either wait for the perfect buyer. And, you know that this can take years. There’s never been a clean middle ground. That’s what made me curious here. Not the tech. The potential for liquidity.
Fred: So walk me through what actually happened after launch.
Monte: Alright. So, I tokenized my domain on Doma and waited for them to be bonded. Once done, I had tens of thousands of dollars in liquidity unlocked within hours. This is actual usable liquidity I am talking about here. And, the best part? I still owned the domains!
Fred: That’s the sentence domainers need to hear.
Monte: Yes, because everything else is secondary.
I didn’t need a broker, or to negotiate with someone in private. I didn't even need to guess what a buyer might pay. The market showed up immediately.
Fred: What surprised you most?
Monte: You know me Fred. I am always an opportunist. However, I was honestly surprised with how fast everything happened.
Domainers typically are used to slow everything. Slow sales. Slow transfers. Slow escrow. Slow payments.
This wasn’t slow.
Within hours, I could point to a number and say, “That’s liquidity I didn’t have yesterday.”
Fred: For people who may not know about domains. How important is the whole liquidity angle?
Monte: That’s an important point. Even if you’re well-capitalized, having capital trapped in assets is still inefficient. That’s true in real estate, equities, anything.
Domains were one of the last asset classes where that inefficiency was just accepted. Thankfully, it looks like that's going to change.
Fred: You have touched on this before but let's talk about this. Did you worry about losing control of the domain?
Monte: Of course. That was my first concern. I’ve spent my career protecting domain ownership. What made this work for me is that tokenizing didn’t mean “giving it away.” I had extensive talks with the team to understand what the process will look like. The best thing about Doma is that while it has all that Web3 magic, it is still built for quintessential Web2 domainers. It is ICANN-compliant so it must follow every single rule and regulation. At no point are you losing ownership of your domains. That important distinction mattered a lot in my final decision.
Fred: How would you explain this to a domainer who’s never touched crypto and doesn’t want to?
Monte: I’d say this. Im invested in crypto also and feel there is great upside, however, Think of it as a new aftermarket mechanism.
Instead of one buyer behind a curtain, you get a visible market. Instead of waiting years, you get feedback immediately. Instead of all-or-nothing, you get partial liquidity.
If you understand domains, you already understand why that’s powerful.
Fred: Was the process complicated?
Monte: No, and that was another surprise. I’ve seen “innovations” that required ten steps and a whitepaper. This didn’t. Pick the domain -> Tokenize it -> Market shows up.
The complexity stays under the hood, where it belongs.
Fred: You’ve now done this with three domains. Does that change how you think about holding domains long-term?
Monte: It does. Before, holding meant being patient and illiquid. Now, holding can also mean being flexible.
I can test demand, unlock capital, play around in the Web3 ecosystem with that unlocked capital, and still decide later whether to sell the whole asset.
Fred: Last question. If a domainer reading this is on the fence, what would you tell them?
Monte: I’d tell them this. If you’re sitting on good domains and you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could unlock some value without selling,” this is the first time that’s actually been possible. Like I said before. Forget that it's "crypto" or "web3." Just think of it as a cool new liquidation tool for domainers.
Fred: That’s about as clear as it gets. Monte, appreciate you doing this, and more importantly, proving it works in the real world.
Monte: Happy to. The domain industry needs this for sure!
Check out the Doma App
