Dot XXX and domain speculation

Today was a big day in the domain world.  The .xxx extension finally made its way to general availability. The problem for the domainer imo is the price.  At $85 at Name.com per .xxx or $100 at Go Daddy the price seems just too high to speculate.

We started off with a lot of the great names being either founders program to the likes of a Frank Schilling or names being restricted for future sales. A name like F#ck Me shows this:
Reserved by ICM Registry for Premium Generic Domain Names Program (Contact premium@icmregistry.com)

That is fine its their registry. This does make it hard to speculate in the extension for someone not interested in being a developer.  I think its safe to say many domainers regging a .xxx are only doing it to speculate in the extension, not to become an adult webmaster.

I will say one niche I thought might be attractive would be female first names. I think there will be performers that will like having a short, brandable first name. True many could use their full name rather than pay a domain speculator, but some use a common first name and only that.  Plus many amateur cam girls might find this an appealing way to brand their business.

Some first names were held back and others went right away. I was looking at names there were available. Names like Vanessa,Gina,Kate,Rachel,Naomi.  These all were good choices imo and some went right away.  Naomi did not get registered til late in the day and all the others got regged pretty fast.

Full disclosure I registered none of these names, because I think there are some other factors at play.

1) How many am I going to register ? I am not starting an adult site, so it would be purely speculation.

2) If I registered 10, could I find a better place for $1000 in .com ?

3) If no one bought them, how long would I renew

4) How effective will blocking .xxx names be ?

5) With so many people in adult against the extension, who will buy these domain names?

At $85 it is just too much of a gamble for any domainer not at the elite level. Frank Schilling and Michael Berkens could lose every penny they invested and their lifestyle is not affected in any way. The average domainer could find himself affected. Most domainers would not drop after one year, so now they got $200 invested and then maybe $300 and they did not get the top names.

I asked dot XXX on Twitter how fast can these be sold ?

@dotXXX Dot XXX

@hybriddomainer There is a 60 day no transfer hold; beyond that no restrictions.

Look there will be money made in this extension imo, the risk reward is too great for an average domainer with no desire to become an adult webmaster. Again IMO

Best of luck to all