The mempool.space operator is racing to lock down the .bitcoin top-level domain for the Bitcoin community before it gets auctioned off to the highest bidderWiz, the operator behind the popular Bitcoin block explorer mempool.space, has filed a community priority application with ICANN to secure the .bitcoin top-level domain. If the Bitcoin community doesn’t secure .bitcoin through this community priority process, the domain goes to auction, where anyone with enough money could acquire it. What a community priority application actually meansICANN’s generic top-level domain program lets organizations apply to operate new domain extensions. A community priority application is a specific mechanism that gives preference to applicants who represent a clearly defined community with a legitimate claim to the string in question. Wiz is essentially arguing that .bitcoin should belong to the Bitcoin community, not whoever writes the biggest check.