The top-level domain (TLD) you referred to: XN—VERMGENSBERATER-CTB is an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN), which means that it includes characters other than the standard ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) set. In simple English, this means the domain name contains non-English or special characters.
IDNs allow users around the world to use domain names in local languages and scripts. These are encoded using the Punycode technique to be represented in ASCII characters, which is the readable language for Domain Name System (DNS). This allows the usage of different scripts like Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, etc. in domain names.
The domain XN—VERMGENSBERATER-CTB, when decoded, represents “vermögensberater”, a German word that translates to “financial advisor” or “wealth advisor” in English. The prefix “XN—” is a standard indicator that the domain following it is a Punycode-encoded IDN.
This top-level domain is classified as a generic top-level domain (gTLD). gTLDs are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. According to ICANN, the organization responsible for managing domain names, there were 1,547 gTLDs as of October 2021.
This wealth advisor gTLD can be used by registered financial advisors, wealth management companies, or even personal finance bloggers who want to have a domain that immediately signifies their business or field in German-speaking regions.
However, like any other domain name, one cannot merely assume that a site using this domain extension is trustworthy without further verification. It is important to check for other credibility indicators (such as SSL certificates, the presence of contact information, etc.) and to perform a WHOIS lookup to identify who is behind a given website.
The Unicode form for this domain name extension is “vermögensberater” in German. It is registered under the German domain registry DENIC.
References:
1. ICANN (n.d.). “About Generic Top-Level Domains”. ICANN. Retrieved from: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtlds-2012-02-25-en
1. Wirtén, E.H. (2015). “Unicode, universalism and the global domain name system”. Media International Australia.
1. Zook, M.; Dodge, M. (2007). “Mapping the global domain name system: a cartography of internet power and politics”. The Geographical Review.
1. DENIC (n.d.). “IDN-Domains”. DENIC. Retrieved from: https://www.denic.de/en/domains/idn-domains/
1. Navigator, I. (2017). Soviet Cyberspace and the DNS War. NC: Duke University Press.
