The Lifecycle of a Name

Names registered on Avvy Domains will pass through two primary phases: (1) the Sunrise Phase, where domains are initially distributed; and (2) the Domain Name Lifecycle.

The goal of the Sunrise Phase is to promote a fair distribution of domain names during the initial release. The Sunrise Phase will use a Sealed Bid Auction to distribute domain names. We believe this to be a fair method of initial distribution, despite requiring multiple steps from users.

After the Sunrise Phase, domains will enter into the Domain Name Lifecycle.

Sunrise Phase

Reservation Requests

We will be accepting name reservation requests from registered Trademark holders and from businesses in the Avalanche ecosystem. Requests that are approved will be automatically allocated to the requester, skipping the auction process. This is an important step to prevent bad faith actors from squatting names.

Legacy Name Transfer

Names purchased via the legacy system will be transferred over to the new system, if possible. If a name purchased on the legacy system cannot be transferred to the new system then the user will be offered a refund for their purchase.

Sunrise Auction

A sealed-bid auction process will be used to initially distribute the names. The use of a sealed bid will allow users to bid on their desired name without fear of shill bidding, bid sniping, or attempts at squatting. 

There will be three stages to the sunrise auction:

1. Placement of sealed bids: users will bid on the domains they wish to lease. Users should expect to acquire all of the domains they bid on and not bid more than they can afford.
2. Bid reveal:  users will reveal their bids placed in stage 1. Bids that are not revealed during this stage will be disqualified.
3. Claim: users will have the ability to immediately claim their domain. The claim function will grant the domain registration to the highest bidder that had enough funds in their account to cover their bid plus the leasing fee. If the claim function is not called, or if none of the bidders succeed in payment, then the domain will enter the Domain Name Lifecycle as Available.

Domain Name Lifecycle

Available Domains

Domains that are available can be immediately leased in one step. Users will be required to pay leasing fees for one or more years. Leasing fees will be dependent on the length of the domain name.

Leased Domains

Leased domains will be represented by ERC721 tokens. The owner of the token will be able to top up leasing fees, transfer the token, and make use of the token (i.e. by using the naming system).

Expired Domain Grace Period

If the registration of a leased domain expires, the domain will enter into a grace period. During this grace period, the owner of the domain will not be able to perform any actions using the token (e.g. setting records on the domain, transferring the domain, etc.). The owner will have the option of reclaiming the domain by paying the lease fees on the domain during this period.

Expired Name Auction

If an expired domain is not reclaimed during the grace period, it will enter into an English Auction process, where a minimum bid will be set, and participants will have the opportunity to submit unsealed bids on the name. At the end of the auction period a claim function will settle the auction. The token will be delivered to the highest bidder with payment available in their account (covering the bid + one year of leasing fees).

Suspension & revocation

Domain suspension & revocation is a necessary component of the name lifecycle. The mechanisms to support suspension & revocation have been built in, however the process for handling suspensions & revocations has not been finalized at this moment.