That said, despite it being in a position where it would have normally disappeared, I don't think .io is going anywhere... there's way too much interest in keeping it around. I'd go so far as to suggest that maybe it should become "not" a "cc-tld" despite it being two characters and having it's origins in a national definition.

    There are two major problems with .io domains:

    The first is that the islands which should own the domain suffix, don't, thanks to a wonderful piece of modern day British Imperialism. If you ever feel the need to donate to us, please give it to a more worthy cause.

    Secondly, there was a security issue with the .io domain. In 2017, a researcher managed to take control of four of the seven authoritative name servers for the .io domain. We accept that mistakes can happen, strong processes limit the chances of them happening, but they still can.

Most countries protect their own much better than foreigners!