Just in time for a new Super Bowl ad, Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek made the most expensive domain purchase in history, acquiring AI.com for $70 million, according to the Financial Times. The transaction was paid entirely in cryptocurrency to an unknown seller and broke previous records. (Larry Fisher, the broker who brokered the sale, is probably celebrating his good fortune.)
Marszalek will debut the site during Sunday’s big game, giving consumers a personal AI agent for messaging, using apps, and trading stocks. “If you look at the long term, 10 to 20 years,[AI]is going to be one of the biggest technology waves of our lifetime,” he told the FT.
The acquisition rewrites the record books for Domain, but the crypto industry itself is not known for being restrained when it comes to spending. Previously, CarInsurance.com took the crown with $49.7 million (2010), followed by VacationRentals.com ($35 million in 2007) and Voice.com ($30 million in 2019). Other eye-popping sales include PrivateJet.com ($30 million), 360.com ($17 million), and Sex.com. Sex.com was sold twice, each time for more than $13 million, but the second owner went bankrupt trying to monetize it.
“There is no substitute for an asset like AI.com,” Fisher told the FT. “Once available, that opportunity may never present itself again.”
It remains an open question whether these huge domain names actually bring in profits. But for Marszalek, who already owns Crypto.com and spent $700 million on stadium naming rights, owning two category-defining domains seems clearly worth the expense.
