Industry news · 4 min read
Identity Digital wins the .us registry contract. Here is what registrants should watch.
NTIA selected Identity Digital to administer .us after an open competition. The operator will change. New wholesale pricing has not been announced.
Summary
- On October 1, 2026, the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Identity Digital is the new administrator of .us, after an open and competitive selection process.
- Domain Name Wire reported that Identity Digital will take over from GoDaddy Registry, which inherited the role when it acquired Neustar’s registry business.
- The contract term, as reported by Domain Name Wire, is 36 months, including a transition of up to nine months, with option periods that could extend it to seven years.
- Wholesale pricing under the new contract has not been announced. An NTIA spokesperson told Domain Name Wire that further information, including wholesale pricing, would come later.
NTIA announced on October 1, 2026 that Identity Digital has been selected as the new administrator of .us, the United States country-code top-level domain. The agency said the selection followed “an open and competitive selection process.”
In its release, NTIA described .us as the online home for American businesses, individuals, and geographical localities, with more than two million domain names. It said Identity Digital is tasked with transforming administration of the usTLD “into a modernized, policy-rich environment that supports innovation and promotes end-user trust,” and that NTIA will work with the company to elevate .us to “a gold standard, best-in-class country code Top Level Domain.”
According to Domain Name Wire’s October 1 report, Identity Digital will take over from GoDaddy Registry. GoDaddy inherited the contract when it acquired Neustar’s registry business. Identity Digital CEO Akram Atallah, in a statement published there, said the company’s priority is “a smooth handoff,” planned “in close coordination with NTIA, and our registrar and channel partners.”
What is known — and what is not
| Question | Plain answer |
|---|---|
| Who will run .us? | NTIA selected Identity Digital as the new administrator. |
| Who runs it today? | GoDaddy Registry, per Domain Name Wire, until the contracted transition is complete. |
| When does the operator change? | Domain Name Wire reported a 36-month contract that includes a transition of up to nine months. A customer-facing cutover date has not been set out in NTIA’s award release. |
| Will registration or renewal prices change? | Unknown. New wholesale pricing has not been announced. |
| Do current .us names stop working? | A registry-operator change is not, by itself, a reason to expect names to stop resolving. Watch official and registrar notices for any required action. |
What .us holders should do now
- Keep using your current registrar account. A registry handover is not the same as a registrar transfer.
- Watch notices from your registrar, NTIA, and the official .us site for a dated transition plan — not social media summaries.
- Do not assume a price change. Wholesale pricing under the new contract has not been published.
- Keep renewals and account recovery details current so a later notice does not land on an expired login.
- If you rely on .us nexus or privacy rules, read any formally published policy update before changing how you register or display data.
FAQs
Does this mean I should transfer my .us name somewhere else?
Not automatically. Continue managing the name at your registrar unless a verified notice asks you to take a specific step. Treat unexpected transfer requests with caution.
Will DNX’s prices for other endings change because of this?
This award is about administration of .us. It is not a price list for other extensions. Check DNX pricing for the endings DNX sells.
Where should I read official updates?
Start with NTIA’s award release and later NTIA or official .us notices, plus messages in your registrar account.
Sources: NTIA, “NTIA Announces Identity Digital as New Administrator of .us Top Level Domain,” Oct 1, 2026 (ntia.gov); Andrew Allemann, “Breaking: Identity Digital wins .us domain registry contract,” Domain Name Wire, Oct 1, 2026 (domainnamewire.com), including the Identity Digital CEO statement and contract-term and pricing notes reported there. Re-check NTIA and registrar notices before treating transition timing or prices as final.
From reading to finding