Just in time to create a new Super Bowl ad, Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek made the most expensive domain purchase in history, buying AI.com for $70 million, according to the Financial Times. The deal, paid entirely in cryptocurrency to an unknown seller, breaks all previous records. (Broker Larry Fischer, who brokered the sale, is probably celebrating his good fortune.)
Marszalek plans to launch the site during Sunday’s big game, offering consumers a personal AI agent for messaging, using apps and trading stocks. “If you look long term – 10 to 20 years – (AI) will be one of the biggest technology waves of our lifetime,” 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 held the crown at $49.7 million (2010), followed by VacationRentals.com ($35 million in 2007) and Voice.com ($30 million in 2019). Other stunning sales include PrivateJet.com ($30 million), 360.com ($17 million) and Sex.com, which sold twice each time for more than $13 million, although its second owner went bankrupt trying to monetize it.
“With assets like AI.com, there are no substitutes,” Fischer told the FT. “Once someone becomes available, the opportunity may never come again.”
Whether these mega-dollar domains actually generate revenue remains an open question. But for Marszalek, who already owns Crypto.com and spent $700 million on the stadium’s naming rights, owning two category-defining domains is clearly worth the expense.