Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider revealed Monday that the company applied to turn “.bsky” into an actual internet domain suffix, sitting alongside .com and .org rather than underneath them. If approved, a handle like @sarahp.bsky.social could eventually shrink down to simply “sarahp.bsky,” a small change that could open up bigger shifts in how Bluesky profiles actually function.
That shift matters beyond just shorter usernames. A dedicated domain suffix could let Bluesky evolve user profiles from a basic page holding someone’s bio and posts into something closer to a genuine personal homepage, establishing an online identity that extends well past what a typical social media profile usually offers.
Nothing has landed as confirmed yet, though. Schneider said ICANN, the nonprofit that manages domain names globally, will publish all new domain applications on October 7, 2026, with Bluesky’s request sitting in that list. From there, the approval process typically takes 18 to 24 months, so .bsky domains, if they happen at all, remain a long way off.
Bluesky also hasn’t worked out the mechanics yet. The company told reporters it hasn’t finalized how it would request, register or distribute .bsky domains to users. What Bluesky has decided, though, is more interesting than the technical details: it has no plans to sell or monetize these domains at all.
That’s a genuinely unusual choice. Domain registration is typically a reliable, profitable business, and for a startup that has raised substantial funding without yet generating meaningful ad revenue, selling premium .bsky domains could have been an obvious path toward actual income. Bluesky is passing on it anyway.
COO Rose Wang framed the decision around the company’s broader philosophy rather than short-term revenue. She described domains as central to the idea of an open web, since they let users genuinely control their own online identity rather than borrowing it from a platform. Bluesky, she said, built itself specifically on the idea that people should own their online presence, not rent it from a platform that could revoke it at any moment.
Whether that principle holds once Bluesky actually needs sustainable revenue down the line remains an open question. For now, the company is betting that giving users a stronger form of digital ownership matters more than the business opportunity sitting right in front of it.
