By Robekah Lindsey
Anguilla, a small Caribbean island, has seen tremendous financial benefits from the global rise of artificial intelligence (AI) – all thanks to its .ai domain extension.
Companies worldwide, from startups to tech giants, have purchased .ai domain names to brand their AI-driven businesses, bringing millions of dollars in annual revenue to Anguilla.
With AI booming, Anguilla now makes between US$30 to $100 million annually from selling .ai domains, a massive economic boost for a small island.
This success proves that a strategic digital asset can transform an economy.
What if Montserrat did the same with .ms?
Montserrat has the .ms domain, but it remains underutilised. However, with the right vision, we can position .ms as a premium digital asset, just like Anguilla did with .ai
One powerful idea? Metaverse Systems (MS).
The vision: .ms as the home for the metaverse
The metaverse is the next big digital frontier – major companies like Meta (Facebook), Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are investing billions into virtual worlds, immersive experiences, and blockchain-based ecosystems.
If Montserrat brands .ms as the go-to domain for metaverse-related businesses, we can create a global market for .ms domains.
Imagine this:
facebook.ms, amazon.ms, google.ms – Big tech firms securing their metaverse presence with .ms domains.
Startups and Web3 businesses buying .ms domains to build VR worlds, digital real estate platforms, or blockchain-based metaverse services.
Montserrat generating millions annually by selling .ms domains, similar to how Anguilla profits from .ai.
How do we make this happen?
To capitalise on this, Montserrat must:
Brand .ms as the domain for ‘metaverse systems’. Market it as the essential domain for businesses creating virtual worlds, gaming, VR, blockchain, and AI-powered immersive experiences.
Develop and sell premium .ms domains. Just like .ai is used for AI companies, .ms can be used for metaverse projects and digital ecosystems.
Create a Montserrat metaverse hub – A space where international businesses register and operate metaverse-related ventures under the .ms domain.
Partner with global tech players – Work with metaverse pioneers like Meta, Decentraland, The Sandbox, and blockchain companies to increase the value of .ms domains.
The potential: A digital goldmine for Montserrat
If Montserrat executes this well, selling .ms domains alone could generate tens of millions of USD per year, creating a new revenue stream for the island while positioning Montserrat as a global digital leader in the metaverse space.
Anguilla did it with AI. Montserrat can do it with the metaverse. The time to act is now.
What do you think? Should Montserrat take advantage of this opportunity? Let’s make .ms the next big thing!
.ms would be recognised as Microsoft, so may not be attractive to Meta. The next big thing is .io, which is the domain of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Sadly, the British government sold it before it took off.
This is a well-written opinion by the author. However, the article’s premise does not take into account what actually occurs regarding country code domain names.
First and foremost, it must be understood that Anguilla did not ‘do’ anything to create the market for .ai domain names.
ICANN came up with the domain name system many years ago (1985) using the ISO two-digit country codes. The individual countries had nothing to do with the name assignments. The country code .ai was first delegated in 1995.
In recent years, by sheer luck, companies started using .ai as an abbreviation for Artificial Intelligence. Without any special advertising by Anguilla, widespread use of the country code took off and resulted in millions for the country.
People who have been paying attention on the internet would recall many years ago a similar but not so lucrative boom occurred for the country of Tuvalu with the country code .tv being used to denote media and streaming. There are other examples, but none has blown up to the degree that ai. has so far.
So what of .ms for Montserrat as your article asks?
Well the government of Montserrat already makes money from the .ms domain name, but up to now, there is no similarly exciting use case for the abbreviation .ms. If somehow the metaverse or something else makes it desirable to the extent that ai. has become sought after, then the government and people of Montserrat are similarly poised to capitalise.
Click on the big names suggested in the opinion piece and you will see that those names are already taken by their respective companies, and they are already paying Montserrat for using them.
https://www.google.ms/
https://www.microsoft.ms
Amazon does not seem to be using the name anazon.ms, but they have it under their control; most likely paid for via a trademark company which does these this service across all country code domain names. Click to look up the details here:
https://www.whois.com/whois/amazon.ms
Facebook seems to be registered, but not to Meta.
https://www.whois.com/whois/facebook.ms
meta.ms and metaverse are already registered:
https://www.whois.com/whois/meta.ms
https://www.whois.com/whois/metaverse.ms
.ms domain names are sold everywhere that .ai domain names are sold. There is no marketing advantage in that regard.
Domain names are sold based on a first come first served basis to anyone who sees value in a particular country code. So there is no branding necessary by Montserrat per se.
So yes, there may potential for .ms to blow up in the future, but your metaverse idea is not a straightforward as you were perhaps thinking. Others were suggesting selling .ms to Microsoft. But Microsoft is already paying the government for whatever .ms names they think are necessary for them to use or protect as trademarks.
My advice to you would be. Explore some more ideas, but do not share your ideas about the use of .ms names with others too quickly. First, buy the .ms names you think people may be interested in and then sell or auction them off to the highest bidder in the future when they become desirable.