Domain names related to cryptocurrency have seen a massive surge in interest in the past few years. Many of these domains have attracted higher than average prices because of their association with the crypto industry.
In a March article, The Verge reported the sales of similar domain names. Tokens.com was sold for $500,000, while Cryptowold.com was sold for $195,000. The big winner was Eth.com, which sold for $2 million.
However, another crypto domain Crypto.com has now been sold for an undisclosed amount to a crypto VISA card company called Monaco.
What Could the Domain Sale Be Worth?
The deal could be worth millions of dollars, but the company is keeping the details of the transaction under wraps. Considering the price of other domains in the market, it is likely that the Crypto.com sale is a multi-million dollar bagger. Note that other popular domains have eye-watering price tags. Blockchain.us is on sale for $3.45 million while Ethereum.com’s asking price is $10 million.
The owner of the domain, Matt Blaze, is a well-known cryptography researcher. He works as an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Blaze also coined the term “trust management,” which is a widely regarded concept in information security for preserving the authenticity and reliability of parties. He is also on the board of directors of the Tor project and testified in front of the Congress in November last year because of his involvement in cybersecurity research for voting machines.
He frequently posts tweets about people trying to get hold of him to buy his domain. In September last year, he tweeted:
“No, my domain name isn’t for sale. Yes, I mean it. Yes, I’ve probably already muted you.”
On January 5, he wrote:
“For anyone else trying to contact me for this reason, don’t bother. Not for sale.”
The cost of the domain could be around $10 million, if Niko Younts, the owner of over 1,000 crypto related domains is to be believed. He said that the term “crypto” is very essential to the industry leaders, especially from a marketing point of view. He and several other domain experts talked to The Verge and called it a $5 million to $10 million domain.
Why Did Monaco Buy a Seemingly Pricey Domain?
Kris Marszalek, the CEO of Monaco, did not reveal the price of the domain. However, he stated:
“If it was only about money he’d have sold it a long time ago.”
The Hong-Kong based company completed its ICO in June 2017, raising $25 million worth of cryptocurrencies. Today, the company boast of $200 million on its balance sheet, due to year-on-year price gains.
The company is rebranding itself as Crypto.com, and its wallet app, P2P transfers, and upcoming crypto VISA card will become MCO, the namesake of the company’s cryptocurrency.
The CEO believes that the card will be available to European and Singaporean customers by summer. A U.S. rollout is planned for Q4. The company already has a waiting list of 70,000.
