Just in time for a new Super Bowl ad, Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek purchased AI.com for $70 million, making it the most expensive domain purchase in history, according to the Financial Times. The transaction, paid entirely in cryptocurrency to an unknown seller, shattered previous records. (Larry Fischer, the broker who led the sale, is probably celebrating his good fortune.)
Marszalek plans to debut the site during Sunday’s big game and give consumers a personal AI agent for messaging, app usage and stock trading. He said, “From a long-term perspective of 10 to 20 years, AI will be one of the greatest technology waves of our lifetime.”
Your purchase will rebuild your domain history. The cryptocurrency industry itself is not known for spending restrictions. Previously, CarInsurance.com ranked first with $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. Sex.com was sold twice, each time for more than $13 million, but the second owner went bankrupt trying to turn a profit.
“There is no substitute for an asset like AI.com,” Fischer told the FT. “Once available, an opportunity may never present itself again.”
Whether these massive domains actually provide revenue remains an open question. But for Marszalek, who already owns Crypto.com and has invested $700 million in stadium naming rights, owning two category-defining domains appears to be worth the outlay.
