Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl
Just in time to create a new Super Bowl ad, Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek has made the most expensive domain purchase in history: He bought AI.com for $70 million, according to the Financial Times. The deal, paid entirely in cryptocurrency to an unknown seller, shatters previous records. (Real estate agent Larry Fischer, who facilitated the sale, is probably celebrating his good fortune.)
Marszalek plans to debut the site during Sunday’s big game, offering consumers a personal AI agent for messaging, app usage and stock trading. “If you take a long-term view – 10 to 20 years – [AI] will be one of the biggest technological waves of our lifetimes,” he told the FT.
The purchase rewrites the domain record books – not that the crypto industry itself is known for its restraint when it comes to spending. Previously, CarInsurance.com topped the list at $49.7 million (2010), followed by VacationRentals.com ($35 million in 2007) and Voice.com ($30 million in 2019). Other notable sales include PrivateJet.com ($30 million), 360.com ($17 million) and Sex.com, which has sold twice for more than $13 million, although the second owner went bankrupt trying to make money from it.
“With assets like AI.com there are no substitutes,” Fischer told the FT. “If someone becomes available, the opportunity may never arise again.”
Whether these mega-dollar domains actually generate returns remains an open question. But for Marszalek, who already owns Crypto.com and has dropped $700 million on stadium naming rights, owning two category-defining domains is apparently worth it.
