Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jerry Chang, the visionary and CEO behind NFLY.com, an interesting new domain name marketplace looking to work its way onto the scene. Nfly.com is an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar in Singapore and currently provides professional domain name registration and domain name pledge loan brokerage services. Although they are a newer platform, the team has more than 10 years of domain name experience and hopes to provide financial services to domain name investors.
Mike: What makes NFLY.com different than the other marketplaces for domain names?
Jerry: First of all, Nfly.com does not provide funds to borrowers; we are a third-party intermediary platform that provides borrowers and lenders with lending protection and intermediary services. Secondly, we attach great importance to the safety of borrowing. During the borrowing process, the platform locks the domain name throughout the entire process, alleviating the distrust that may exist in traditional lending. Finally, our process is transparent with no hidden fees. The funds between the borrower and the lender are transferred through offline CtoC, and the platform does not touch the borrowed funds. From the borrower’s release of information to the domain name pledge and repayment, everything is operated within the platform. The entire borrowing process is visual, and users can track their borrowing status in real-time. This improves the efficiency of borrowing and further reduces the risk of the transaction.
Mike: How did you come across the domain name NFly.com, and what made you decide to acquire it and leverage it for this business?
Jerry: We started out with the brand name “GFBK (Global Financing Bank)”, but as we grew our business, we decided that this name didn’t fit well with our brand positioning of focusing on the domain name industry, and the idea of rebranding came up. As my team members and I were thinking about how to rebrand our identity, we happened to see the domain name Nfly.com in my friend’s portfolio. The domain name inspired me; “Nfly” means “domain flying” and symbolizes speed, freedom, and unlimited (value) possibilities. It is a perfect fit for our service mission, which is to “help our clients unlock the value of their domain names”. After consulting with our team, we chose the domain name Nfly.com with little hesitation. The former holder of Nfly.com is a good friend of mine for many years and a veteran domain investor, so our negotiation process was very smooth.
Mike: What is your background and experience in the domain name industry?
Jerry:Â My first contact with the domain name industry was in 2004, but I really started to focus on domain name investment in 2010.
In the past 10 years, I have been responsible for the intermediary services for the pledge loans of high-value domain names such as HG.com, 03.com, Chain.com, Beijing.com, HD.COM, 84.com, gold.com, etc., and the highest annual loan amount reaches to a nine-digit dollar amount.
In addition to domain pledge brokering, my team is also very good at domain name trading. Over the past few years, we have brokered deals for AV.com, TQ.com, Father.com, and many other fine domain names.
We have a proven brokerage team, professional staff, and a strong team of domainers.
With our mature brokerage team and professional business risk control, we are confident in providing multi-dimensional domain name financial services to global domain name investors.
Mike: Tell me more about the domain loan and investment services offered by NFLY.com.
Jerry: If the domain name has been transferred to Nfly.com, users can initiate borrowing on the platform at any time.
Nfly.com gives borrowers a high degree of flexibility and control when posting their borrowing information. Users can set their own borrowing amount, borrowing period and interest rate according to their own financial situation and needs.
Borrowing information will be displayed in the domain name marketplace on the homepage of the website, which also allows lenders to choose the appropriate borrowing program according to their own risk preferences.
After the borrower successfully borrows, the pledged domain name will be locked, this function does not affect the resolution of the domain name, but cannot be transferred. At the same time, the lender has the right to track and monitor the status of the pledged domain name through his own account.
When the borrower pays back the loan, the domain status will be automatically unlocked. If the borrower fails to repay the loan as promised, the pledged domain name will be transferred to the Lender’s name through the registrar function.
Please note that the borrowing amount, period and interest rate, all these are freely set by the borrower.
Of course, this requires the borrower to have some understanding of the market conditions of domain names, and a reasonable borrowing amount is usually set at 60%-70% of the market value of the domain name. Based on our experience, investors also prefer to invest in domain names with high liquidity.
As with regular pledge borrowing, if the value of the domain name is too low or the borrowing amount is unreasonable, no one may lend the funds, and the borrowing bid that no one lends within 7 days will be automatically taken down.
Mike: Has anything like what you are offering been tried before in the domain industry?
Jerry: As far as I know, domaincapital and Lend.me used to provide similar domain loan services, but their focus and operating models were different. Our approach is unique in that we emphasize the security and transparency of the borrowing process, and our platform acts as a neutral intermediary that locks the domain name and ensures compliance with the loan agreement.
Mike: Do you expect to offer additional services in the future?
Jerry: Yes, we plan to expand our services in the future. We are always listening to our users’ needs and opinions in order to keep improving and adding new features.
We did get some inspiration from our current business, and we maybe will add a domain valuation tool to allow users to better assess the value of their domains in the future. Plans are also underway to try to diversify payments and perhaps support lending using cryptocurrencies in addition to fiat currencies to meet the diversified needs of users.
Mike: What is one piece of advice you have for those new to domain name investing?
Jerry: My advice to first-timers who are dabbling in domain name investing is to determine your investment budget and stick to it. Domain name investment may involve uncertainty, so don’t invest more than you can afford.
Choose domain names with potential and consider investing for the long term, building a diversified domain name portfolio may help diversify the risk.
Of course, when on a limited budget but looking for an opportunity to gain domain name revenue at a lower cost, you can also keep an eye on Nfly.com’s domain name marketplace to see if there are borrowing bids that meet your investment requirements.
If the borrower repays the loan on time, you can get the corresponding interest. If the borrower defaults and fails to repay, you will get the ownership of the domain name .
