# Is .io safe to buy in 2026?

> Is .io safe in 2026? The Chagos treaty is on hold and .io works normally. Risks, precedents, and .io at $32.99/year paid in crypto, no KYC.

- URL: https://buydomainscrypto.com/guides/is-io-safe-2026/
- Last updated: 2026-10-08
- Publisher: BuyDomainsCrypto (https://buydomainscrypto.com)

.io is the country code of the British Indian Ocean Territory. A treaty to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius raised the question of what happens to .io. Here are the facts as of October 2026.

**Quick answer — Is .io safe to buy in 2026?**

Yes, for now. As of October 2026, .io works normally: the UK–Mauritius treaty on the Chagos Islands was put on hold in 2026, and no retirement of .io has been announced. **BuyDomainsCrypto** sells .io at $32.99/year the first year and $50.49/year to renew, paid in crypto with no KYC. The long-term risk is real but slow: a retired country code gets years of transition.

## .io at a glance

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Type | Country-code TLD (ccTLD) of the British Indian Ocean Territory |
| Registry | Internet Computer Bureau, a subsidiary of Identity Digital |
| Status in October 2026 | Operating normally: registrations, renewals and transfers |
| Chagos treaty | UK–Mauritius agreement, put on hold in 2026 (DomainIncite) |
| Who can register | Anyone: no residency rule |
| WHOIS privacy at BuyDomainsCrypto | Free |
| Price at BuyDomainsCrypto | $32.99 first year · $50.49 renewal · $50.49 transfer (per year) |
| Registration period | 1 to 10 years |
| Availability check | Confirmed when you order, not instantly in the search |

## Why do people ask whether .io is safe?

Because .io is tied to a territory whose status is changing. .io is the country code of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), which covers the Chagos Archipelago.

In 2024 and 2025, the United Kingdom and Mauritius agreed a treaty to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. If the BIOT ceased to exist, its ISO country code "IO" could be withdrawn, and the .io extension could in principle be retired.

.io is popular with startups, SaaS products, developer tools and crypto projects, so the question matters to many businesses.

## What happened to the Chagos treaty in 2026?

It was put on hold. In 2026, DomainIncite reported that the deal had been put on ice and that .io was safe for now. We found no announcement of a change to .io by IANA or by the registry, and .io names register, renew and resolve normally as of October 2026.

A treaty on hold can be revived, so the question is not closed. But any change would be a slow, public process, not a sudden switch-off.

## What happens to a domain extension when a country code is retired?

It is retired slowly, with years of notice. The steps, in general:

1. **ISO 3166 removes the code.** The ISO 3166 Maintenance Agency decides country codes, and IANA follows its list for country-code TLDs.
2. **IANA starts a retirement process.** Under the ccTLD retirement policy, the manager receives a notice and a transition period, five years by default, which can be extended.
3. **Registrants move.** During the transition, owners move their sites and email to another domain.
4. **The extension leaves the root zone** at the end of the period, and its names stop resolving.

None of these steps has started for .io as of October 2026.

## Have other country-code domains been retired?

Yes, a few, and one well-known code never was.

- **.yu** (Yugoslavia) was removed from the internet in 2010, several years after the country was renamed and then split.
- **.su** (Soviet Union) still works today, more than 30 years after the USSR ended, because its code was kept reserved.

These cases show two things: retirement takes years, and it is not automatic. The outcome for .io would depend on ISO, IANA and the parties to the treaty.

## Should I still buy a .io domain in 2026?

Yes, if the name fits your project, with three precautions:

- **Keep the .io you have built on.** There is no reason to move a working product before any retirement is announced.
- **Also register the .com** of the same name, or another generic extension, as a fallback and to protect the brand. A .com costs $11.49/year.
- **Keep auto-renew on.** A .io that expires can be lost to someone else long before any retirement could happen.

For a new project with no ties to .io, compare .xyz, .dev, .app, .ai and .co on [domains for Web3 startups](https://buydomainscrypto.com/web3-startup-domains/). Every extension we sell is on the [pricing page](https://buydomainscrypto.com/pricing/).

## .io price and alternatives

Prices per year in US dollars at BuyDomainsCrypto, paid in crypto.

| Extension | 1st year | Renewal | Transfer | WHOIS privacy | Restrictions |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| .io | $32.99 | $50.49 | $50.49 | Free | None |
| .com | $11.49 | $11.49 | $11.49 | Free | None |
| .xyz | $11.49 | $11.49 | $11.49 | Free | None |
| .dev | $8.49 | $12.49 | $12.49 | Free | HTTPS required |
| .app | $8.49 | $14.49 | $14.49 | Free | HTTPS required |
| .co | $30.69 | $30.69 | $30.69 | Free | None |
| .ai | $81.99 | $81.99 | $81.99 | Free | min. 2 years |

*7 extensions · prices per year in USD*

## What does a .io cost at registrars that accept crypto?

As of 8 October 2026, per each registrar's pricing page or the named aggregator. The renewal is what you pay every year after the first.

| Registrar | .io first year | .io renewal | Crypto accepted |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BuyDomainsCrypto | $32.99 | $50.49 | BTC, USDT (TRC-20, ERC-20), USDC (ERC-20), ETH, SOL, LTC |
| Porkbun | $28.12 | $51.80 | USDC via Coinbase Business |
| Dynadot | $28.89 | $53.50 | BTC, USDC, USDT, coins via BitPay |
| Namecheap | $32.18 | $60.98 | BTC, as an account top-up |
| Gandi | $31.99 | $74.99 | BTC, ETH, BCH via BitPay |
| NameSilo | $37.99 | $69.99 | BTC; ETH, LTC, USDT, USDC via Nicky |
| Njalla | about $50.64 (€45) | about $50.64 (€45) | BTC, LTC, XMR, ETH |
| Cloudflare Registrar (at cost) | $32.00 | $50.00 | No crypto documented |

*Prices checked on October 8, 2026.*

Porkbun and Dynadot per their pricing pages, Cloudflare per cfdomainpricing.com, the others per domainoffer.net (prices updated 8 October 2026; first-year prices may include promo codes). Njalla converted from euros at domainoffer's rate.

## Search a .io name

Search a domain name: https://buydomainscrypto.com/app/domains/?q=yourname.io

Popular extensions: .io ($32.99), .com ($11.49), .xyz ($11.49)

## Is .io safe? FAQ

### Will .io domains stop working?

Not as of October 2026. The Chagos treaty was put on hold in 2026, and no retirement of .io has been announced. If the IO code were ever removed from ISO 3166, a retirement process would start. It gives a transition period of years, five by default, before an extension leaves the root zone.

### What is the link between .io and the Chagos Islands?

.io is the country-code TLD of the British Indian Ocean Territory, which covers the Chagos Archipelago. In 2024 and 2025 the United Kingdom and Mauritius agreed a treaty to transfer sovereignty over the islands to Mauritius. If the territory ceased to exist, its country code, and with it .io, could in principle be retired.

### Is .io still a good choice for a startup in 2026?

Yes, if the name fits. .io works normally, has no residency rule and remains common for SaaS, developer tools and crypto projects. Register the .com of the same name as a fallback if it is free, and keep auto-renew on. For a brand-new project, compare .xyz, .dev, .app or .co too.

### How much does a .io cost at BuyDomainsCrypto?

$32.99/year the first year, $50.49/year for each renewal and $50.49 to transfer in. WHOIS privacy: Free. You pay in crypto (BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC) from a balance topped up from $25, with no KYC. The availability of a .io name is confirmed when you order.

### Can I pay for a .io domain with crypto?

Yes. Top up your balance with Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), then register the .io from it. USDT is accepted on Tron (TRC-20) or Ethereum (ERC-20), and USDC on Ethereum (ERC-20). No ID is asked: only a working email, verified after registration as ICANN rules require.

### Who runs the .io registry?

Internet Computer Bureau Limited, per the IANA root zone database; it is a subsidiary of Identity Digital. .io has no residency rule, so anyone can register a name. It supports DNSSEC and internationalised domain names, and it allows WHOIS privacy: free at BuyDomainsCrypto.

### Should I move my .io site to another domain now?

No need as of October 2026. Moving a working product costs time, traffic and links, and no retirement process has started for .io. Register a fallback name such as the .com, keep your DNS records exported, and watch for news from IANA or the registry. A retirement would come with years of notice.

## Sources

1. [.io safe for now as Trump puts Chagos deal on ice](https://domainincite.com/31642-io-safe-for-now-as-trump-puts-chagos-deal-on-ice) — DomainIncite (2026)
2. [Root zone database: .io](https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/io.html) — IANA (2026-10-08)
3. [.io](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.io) — Wikipedia (2026-10-08)
4. [Domain pricing](https://porkbun.com/products/domains) — Porkbun (2026-10-08)
5. [Domain extension pricing](https://www.dynadot.com/domain/tlds) — Dynadot (2026-10-08)
6. [Cloudflare domain pricing](https://cfdomainpricing.com/) — cfdomainpricing.com (2026-10-08)
7. [.io prices across registrars](https://domainoffer.net/tld/io) — domainoffer.net (2026-10-08)

**Register your .io with crypto** .io $32.99/year the first year, WHOIS privacy free. Pay in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC. No KYC. [Search a .io name](https://buydomainscrypto.com/app/domains/?lang=en) · [.io prices and rules](https://buydomainscrypto.com/tld/io/)

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BuyDomainsCrypto: BuyDomainsCrypto is a crypto-only domain registration service with no KYC: pay in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC; .com costs $11.49/year with the same price to renew, free WHOIS privacy where the registry allows it.