Will Domainers ever be able to shake the “Squatters” label?

Not a week goes by that I don’t hear from a friend of mine in the startup world that a “squatter” as the domain name they want for their company. I usually respond the same way every time, “Oh, so you mean you Trademarked the name, started using it for your company, and someone read about it and bought the name?”

After a confused pause they usually respond, “No, we just thought of the name yesterday, but someone’s squatting on it and wants way too much for it.”

This is usually where I explain the difference between a squatter and an investor, pop over to DNJournal and show them domain sales and also usually spill the beans that I’ve been investing in domains for over a decade. Most of the time, after about thirty minutes and hopefully a beer, they start to see the light and realize the person who bought the domain name ten years before they thought of the name is an investor, not a squatter.

But I’ll be honest – it’s exhausting explaining this over and over again and it’s always been a struggle for me and many other Domainers. We’re all passionate about domain investing but the vast majority of people put domain investors in the same category as scammers and patent trolls.

For this to change I think there will need to be more broad-based media coverage on domain investing as a real investment strategy. What’s crazy is DOGE, a memecoin that’s just pure speculative gambling, is getting coverage on every major news outlet and is heralding people who max out credit cards to get into DOGE. People who yell, “buy the dip” on Reddit every time DOGE drops are looked at as inspirational to new investors all over the world but domain investors that spend a decade analyzing the market and buying valuable digital assets are looked at as shady characters in the Internet underworld.

Am I being dramatic, sure, a bit. At the same time, I can’t tell you how many people have told me that they don’t want their family and friends to know they’re a domain investor, yet everyone who buys DOGE brags everyone about how they’re a crypto investor and gets accolades for it.

I hope this changes, but it’s going to be tough and there’s a long road ahead. I’m a proud Domainer, when I used to go the gym (remember gyms?) I would sport a #Domainer shirt. But I also end up spending quite a bit of time explaining to people what a Domainer is, and how it’s different from squatting. In six month DOGE gamblers have earned the moniker “investor” for news outlets around the world, can we get there with Domaining?

Feels like it must be possible right? What do you think? Will Domainers ever be able to shake the squatter label? I want to hear from you, comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton