Some friends of mine have been quietly working away for the last months and are now ready to introduce a new product in a invitation-only beta release. This preview is a Domain Name News exclusive: Fusu - The Domain Stock Exchange. The world’s first Domain Stock Exchange provides a secondary market trading platform for domain names.

Many times the concept of owning shares of of a premium domain name has been discussed, but now someone has stepped up to the plate and developed a service that allows domain owners to sell ownership of part of their domains. This allows them to gain immediate liquidity, without loosing control of their names. Investors can participate in the growth of domain values buy acquiring shares of domains.

So if you are looking to create some liquidity without selling one of your domains, you can list up to 45% of a domain on the public market and get immediate liquidity as investors buy in. Investors can buy percentage ownership in domains and trade their shares, thus benefiting from the increase in domain values. Fusu is the clearing house - like a traditional stock exchange, it provides the platform for owners, shareholders and investors. For each transaction, the company charges a small fee.

“Going public” happens when the domain owner sells shares of its domain to the public for the first time. This is called an Initial Domain Offering, or IDO.

Prior to going public, a domain owner contacts Fusu to advise them about how many shares to offer and the price of the shares. Approval is based on verification of the domain owner, fitness of the domain, and realistic market value. Once approved, investors can buy shares and sell them on the Fusu exchange.

While Fusu is a young startup, I do know the founders personally and I will be participating in the beta myself. The beta with virtual money will last until November 1st, and then they will launch the Domain Stock Exchange with real money.

In order to secure the shareholder’s investments, the makers of Fusu have come up with a solution for the security of the exchange, which they will announce at the launch. Maybe the future will also allow domain owners to pay dividends to their investors.

The team at Fusu would love to hear your feedback and would like to hear what you have to say… Please comment here, or contact them directly at team@fusu.com. Please also comment or email if you would like to be considered to participate in private beta.

[Update]: And for those of you who asked “Why Fusu?” - I am not sure what that stands for, but I do happen to know that one of the founders likes 4 letter domains. They do also own DomainStockExchange.com.