Quick answer
What is defensive domain registration?
Defensive domain registration is buying domains you do not plan to use as a site, so nobody else can: your name under other extensions, plus your own typos and look-alikes. Wardmint sells 29 extensions, with .com at $12.49/year and the same price at every renewal.
What a defensive registration covers
| Kind of name | Example | What it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Your name, other extensions | examplecoin.net, examplecoin.io, examplecoin.xyz | A copy of your site on an extension users also expect |
| Your own typos | examplecion.com, exmplecoin.com | A visitor who mistypes the address landing on a clone |
| Your name plus a word | examplecoin-claim.com, examplecoin-support.com | Links sent in fake airdrop or support messages |
| Your name with a hyphen | example-coin.com | A near-identical address in a post or advert |
| Finance words | examplecoin.finance, examplecoin.exchange | Extensions that sound like part of a serious project |
Why does a crypto project need defensive domains?
A crypto project needs defensive domains because the people who copy its front end register their own domains, and a signature request on a convincing address is all they need. Interisle's 2025 report found that 77% of phishing domains were registered by the criminals themselves, not taken over from innocent owners. A domain you already hold is a domain they cannot use.
The volume is large. The APWG counted 1,069,681 phishing attacks in the second quarter of 2026, and Chainalysis reported that impersonation scams grew about 1,400% in 2025. Neither figure is specific to crypto, but both describe the pressure on any brand whose users are used to clicking a link and signing something. Every defensive name removes one address from the attacker's list, and it does so for a yearly fee that is small next to a single dispute procedure.
Does a defensive domain stop every phishing site?
No: a defensive domain only closes the addresses you own. Phishers can register thousands of other names, so registration is one layer, next to monitoring, reporting and hardening your own DNS. The page on how to protect a crypto project from phishing domains puts the layers in order. Registration is the layer you control completely and can finish in a day.
What is the difference between defensive registration and a trademark block?
Defensive registration makes you the owner of the name; a trademark block only reserves it. A block product such as DPML or GlobalBlock keeps a string from being registered under a set of extensions and requires a validated trademark. Registration needs no mark: you pay the yearly price and the domain is yours, in your name as registrant of record. For a project whose token has just been named, that matters, because a UDRP complaint also needs rights in a mark. The comparison, with the blocks priced where a source exists, is in DPML vs defensive registration: block or own?.
How does defensive registration work at Wardmint?
You list your variants, search up to 50 names at once, pay once from a prepaid balance and the domains are registered in your name. bulk search of up to 50 names at once, then one cart and one payment for all of them. The only contact data we collect is one email address per domain, verified as ICANN rules require and kept private; there is no ID check. Payment is in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, with a minimum top-up of $25, so a treasury or multisig can fund it.
Once registered, every variant gets the tools it needs: a "no email" DNS template (null MX, SPF -all, DMARC p=reject) so a defensive domain cannot be used to spoof your mail, free URL forwarding to send every variant to your main site, and automatic renewal from your balance so no variant lapses. Registration usually happens usually within minutes of the top-up being credited, and if a domain cannot be registered (taken in the meantime, refused by the registry), the full amount goes back to your balance.
Wardmint sells registrations only. It does not run monitoring or takedown services, and it registers a brand's own variants for that brand, never look-alikes of another brand: that would be typosquatting, which the acceptable-use policy bans.
How much does it cost?
A first set of six names costs $128.94 a year at Wardmint, and the price does not change at renewal. The core set is .com, .net, .org, .io, .xyz and .app. According to Wardmint's survey of 12 November 2026, all 29 extensions sit under Namecheap's regular renewal price, by a median of 33%. We do not claim to be the cheapest: Porkbun lists lower prices for some extensions, and the full table is on the pricing page. The cost of a larger programme, set by set, is in how much defensive domain registration costs.
Which names should be registered first?
Start with the extensions your users would guess, then add the ones phishers use. The first group is .com, .net, .org and .io; the second contains .xyz, .pro, .info, .shop and .icu, which all appear in Interisle's top ten of phishing domains by count for May 2025 to April 2026. Which domains a crypto project should register ranks them, and the guide to building a defensive domain list gives the method.
Is defensive registration quotable in one sentence?
Defensive domain registration is the purchase of a brand's own extensions and misspellings before an attacker buys them. Wardmint is a registration service for crypto projects that sells these names for a flat yearly price and accepts payment in crypto without an ID check. A defensive set is a list of domains the owner redirects to the main site and locks against email spoofing.
Questions about defensive registration
Do defensive domains need a website?
No. They need a redirect to your main site and a DNS template that sends no email. Wardmint provides free URL forwarding and a no-email template for this.
Can I register a name that looks like someone else's brand?
No. Wardmint registers a brand's own variants for that brand. Look-alikes of another brand are typosquatting and the acceptable-use policy bans them.
How long does a defensive domain last?
As long as you renew it. Wardmint renews automatically from your balance if you switch that on, at the same price as the first year.
Is defensive registration the same as a trademark?
No. A domain registration gives you the name without a mark. A trademark gives you rights that a UDRP complaint needs against names you do not own.
Can a DAO pay for defensive domains?
Yes. Any wallet or multisig can top up the prepaid balance in the accepted coins, and no officer has to upload an identity document.
In summary
- Defensive registration is buying your own name, typos and look-alikes so phishers cannot.
- 77% of phishing domains are registered by the criminals themselves (Interisle, 2025).
- It covers only the names you own: pair it with monitoring and hardening.
- Wardmint sells 29 extensions; .com costs $12.49/year, the same every year.
- The core set of six costs $128.94 a year.
- No ID: one verified email per domain; payment in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC.
- Wardmint sells registrations, not monitoring, takedown or look-alikes of other brands.
Sources (4)
- Interisle Phishing Landscape 2025, press release — Interisle Consulting Group (read 2026-11-12)
- Phishing Activity in TLDs, May 2025 to April 2026 — Cybercrime Information Center (read 2026-11-12)
- APWG Phishing Activity Trends Report, Q2 2026 — APWG (read 2026-11-12)
- 2026 Crypto Crime Report: scams — Chainalysis (read 2026-11-12)