Cape Verde wants to turn its country code, .cv, into a global identity layer for the AI era. Its partner operator Ola.cv believes profiles should live on the open internet, not inside a corporate network. They are giving away firstnamelastname.cv through partners like hello.cv and betting that a DNS-anchored profile protocol can be the next big shift in how people show up online.
When Cape Verde qualified for the 2026 World Cup, the world blinked. A nation of about 500,000 people had pulled off something that most football fans never imagined. Curaçao technically set the global record for the smallest nation to qualify, but Cape Verde’s run stood out on the African continent. It triggered a kind of national awakening. If they could challenge Africa’s football giants, what else could they challenge?
Inside the country’s digital community, that question took a different form. If .ai could turn the small island of Anguilla into a global internet player, why couldn’t .cv do something just as bold?
That thought began a quiet but ambitious project. It took on part of the internet that has barely evolved in twenty years. Professional identity.
The bet: profiles should not live inside a walled platform
LinkedIn has dominated professional identity for almost two decades. It is a closed system, an advertising engine, and a network that defines how professionals are discovered. In an AI world, the weaknesses are becoming obvious. AI is generating applications at scale. AI is ranking talent. Recruiters and employers are using agents that do not log in through a social network. Profiles have become inputs to algorithms rather than social objects.
Cape Verde sees an opening.
The .cv registry grew from about 3,000 domains to more than 25,000 in twelve months. Instead of stopping there, OlaCV went further. They are now making FirstNameLastName.cv free through partners such as hello.cv, professional networks, job boards, governments, edtech platforms, and freelancer communities.
Their reason is simple. The world needs something better than a proprietary profile system. If AI is the new interface, identity should live in a place AI can read, parse, and reason about without rate limits and API restrictions.
DNS is one of the oldest and most resilient protocols on the internet. And .cv wants to become the profile layer that uses it.
A decentralized approach in a world that has seen attempts come and go
Decentralized identity is not a new dream. We have seen projects like BlueSky attempt decentralization in the social space. Some succeeded, others stalled. The .cv team takes a different path. Instead of building a platform, they are opening the protocol.
A .cv domain is a home you own. Not a page inside a corporate network. Not a feed that lives inside an algorithm. Not a profile that disappears when a company changes direction.
Using DNS also allows something new. Cape Verde plans to enable extra records in the zone files, including immutable Web3 TXT records. Developers and platforms can build on top of .cv without asking anyone for permission.
The model is simple. If .cv becomes popular, the registry benefits. Premium names, short names, brandable names, and niche keywords fuel the revenue. Anguilla earns about 100 million dollars each year from .ai. Cape Verde believes it can chart its own version of that future.
Why give away names that could make money?
Giving away first and last name domains sounds reckless, but their logic is strategic.
A FirstNameLastName.cv is the most personal form of identity. The moment millions of people adopt it, the ecosystem becomes valuable for everyone. Developers get a consistent identity surface. Search engines get clean structured profiles. AI agents get stable endpoints. And platforms like hello.cv get a way to power profiles without fighting the network effect of LinkedIn.
hello.cv has already invested heavily in this idea. Their profile templates are optimized for answer engines. A typical hello.cv page shows up on page one of search results for “who is name” queries, even without a user typing .cv. The templates are engineered for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and any AI system pulling structured data from the web.
The company is also preparing an MCP and open API search layer. If it succeeds, it gives the world an open alternative to LinkedIn’s recruiter product, which has always been locked behind high fees and rate limits.
The privileged position of coming late
Most domain extensions grew before AI. Before JSON LD indexing mattered. Before structured identity mattered. Before developers considered profiles as machine-readable objects.
.cv can build a modern registry from scratch. They can embed new capabilities directly into DNS. They can support new records. They can let partners issue domains in bulk. They can turn .cv into a programmable identity layer rather than a passive extension.
This is the advantage of showing up late. You get to build for the world ahead. Not the world behind.
A protocol for an AI driven labour market
AI is applying for jobs. AI is screening candidates. AI is shortlisting. AI is sourcing. AI is reading resumes. AI is rewriting resumes. AI is querying the open web for talent.
The way profiles work today does not match this shift.
LinkedIn was built for people reading people. The new labour market is machines reading machine ready profiles. If that is true, then an open, DNS anchored identity protocol makes sense. It allows a professional to own their profile. It allows AI agents to pull data cleanly. It allows employers to verify a person by visiting a stable URL rather than relying on a platform feed.
Cape Verde believes .cv can be that protocol.
How to get a free .cv domain name
Right now, you can get a FirstNameLastName.cv for free through hello.cv, an agentic professional profile platform and an AI resume builder anchored on .cv domain names. You can also buy a short or rare name for $10 to $100. .cv domains are also available on hello.cv, Dynadot, Namecheap, NameSilo, Porkbun, Spaceship, Ola.cv, and twenty-plus registrars.
Adoption is accelerating. Developers are experimenting. Edtechs and freelancer ecosystems are testing bulk issuance. Governments are considering national programs. And the registry is adding features that other extensions never had.
It is early. The idea is still opinionated. But it is gaining momentum.
If this works, it changes everything
A tiny island nation may end up shaping how the world stores professional identity. A country that shocked football is now trying to shock the internet.
Time will decide how far .cv goes. But one thing is clear. Professional profiles will not stay the same in an AI-first world. And Cape Verde is betting that the next identity protocol will not come from a big tech platform. It will come from a domain extension.
It may come from .cv.
