Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology have become mainstream terms and are now featured in most dictionaries. Crypto-related terms have a lot of value when they are tethered to a web domain, and these days digital currency domains are prime real estate, with some selling for up to seven figures.
Also read: How to Create Non-Fungible Assets and Collectible Tokens With Bitcoin Cash
Crypto Domains Are Being Snatched Up, Squatted and Sold for Profit
Cryptocurrencies have been around for 10 years now and the entire ecosystem is worth more than $250 billion. The many tentacles of the crypto industry have grown thanks to third-party platforms, competing blockchain projects, exchanges and brokerage services, wallets, and payment processors. Each of these projects and businesses has a unique web domain and some of the top bitcoin and blockchain websites are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars – and even millions in a few cases.
Desirable crypto domains include Blockchain.com, Bitcoin.com, Ethereum.com, Crypto.com, Btc.com, and Bitcoin.org. A rough estimate of how much one of these sites is worth can be seen by referencing a domain value calculator. However, that doesn’t mean the owner will be willing to part with the domain at that price; these tools only give a ballpark figure based on traffic scores and ratings from Alexa and Google. For example, the owner of Ethereum.com has left a message for the website’s visitors.
“Ethereum.com was registered on March 11, 2011. It has no relation to the blockchain technology, which later adopted the same name,” the website explains. “Ethereum.com is for sale for $10,000,000 USD.”
Apparently, the person who registered the Ethereum.com domain just happened upon an internet gold mine, but there are many individuals and businesses who register a domain with the intention of selling it later for a profit. Ever since web domains have been tradable, ‘domain squatting’ has been prevalent. This involves a person buying up a bunch of website names that are tied to a specific product or industry and then waiting for a more profitable time to sell them. In the crypto industry, domain squatters are prevalent and individuals and businesses of all sizes have to deal with the pressure of people snatching up the best domain names early. Because of the rising popularity of digital assets, especially after the bull run in 2017, crypto and blockchain-related websites are selling or have been sold for top dollar.
Observers Witnessed the Crypto Domain Price Peak in 2017
In 2009, the website Eth.com sold for just under $20K to a company which held it until 2013 when the subsequent owner used a Whois history privacy protection plan. Then in October 2017, the site was sold for $2 million and the website is now dedicated to ethereum mining. A few months beforehand, in April, the website Cryptobank.com was sold to Craig Ellis, the cofounder of Triangl, but the site is still undeveloped. Allegedly in 2018, Binance purchased the domain Cryptoworld.com from Mike Mann, the founder of Domainmarket.com, for $195,000. At the time, Mann told the world that he purchased the domain for only $11 back in 2011. In 2017, Globalcoin.com sold to someone from Shanghai, China for $35,516 and in January 2018, Cryptotrading.com was sold to William Thomas for $35,000.
There’s a large list of cryptocurrency-related domains for sale today for thousands of dollars on various marketplaces. This includes Bitcointransfer.co ($12,000), Coinsbio.com ($1,000), 360crypto.com ($30,000), Block-chain.com.de ($20,000), Btcwallet.club ($10,000), and Tokenpay.es ($12,000). On Twitter there are also many individuals selling cryptocurrency domains and these days it’s hard not to stumble upon some shilling their domains. One person on Twitter explains the domain name Coinistical.com is a “fantastic brandable domain that’s for sale now.” Another person writes: “The domain name Bitcazino.com is for sale — A fun take on the words ‘bitcoin’ and ‘casino.’” The account @Dotonlydomains, a business that sells dotcom website names only, is also selling the domain Realcryptocurrency.com.
Cryptocurrency-Related Website Sales Are on the Rise Again
Searching through the depths of social media and digital currency forums shows that the crypto domain real estate market is in high tempo. Search results from Namebio suggest a lot of websites associated with crypto names have been sold over the last few months. Cryptocpa.com sold for $12,000, Owncoin.com ($2,050), Cryptofocus.com ($1,155), Bitcoin.red ($4,860), Bituniverse.com ($3,156) and Coinpig.com ($1,225).
Just the other day, Runsonripple.com sold for $10,000, Bitsec.com was purchased for $4,550, and Cryptoman.com was sold by Namejet for $1,350. The average selling price for a digital currency styled domain name was around $1,057 on August 18. Between September and November 2017, domain names involving crypto could range between $2,000 to $4,000 and on October 22 average prices touched a high of $75,000. The most active website brokerage service which has sold the largest number of digital currency domains today is Go Daddy.
With the popularity of digital currencies growing, the domain names attached to this industry will follow the same path. Squatters are gambling as well because they don’t know if that specific name will be a good internet brand and one that will entice a future buyer. On the forum Namepros.com, a marketplace where people buy and trade popular domain names, one user explained that digital currency domains are following market prices.
“The overall momentum in the crypto market has changed from bearish to bullish and we can expect to see higher highs in crypto prices in the near and distant future,” the top member Judgemind detailed this April. “This switch in the market is great for domain investors, more new startups will emerge in the crypto space and blockchain technology will continue to evolve. Keywords to focus on for investment in .com, .org, .io include Bit, Btc, Bitcoin, Crypto, Coin, Chain, Block, Blockchain, Faucet, Token, and Airdrop.”
What do you think about the demand for cryptocurrency domains? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned companies, domains, domain vendors, and websites associated with this article. Bitcoin.com or the author is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services, domain products and website vendors mentioned in this article. This editorial review is for informational purposes only.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Go Daddy, Twitter, Namebio, and Pixabay.
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