The domain AI.com sold for $70 million, marking the highest price ever paid for a domain name in history.
Chris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, acquired the domain through broker GetYourDomain, according to the Financial Times and TechCrunch on Wednesday. The payment was made entirely in cryptocurrency.
The sale surpasses the previous record of $49.7 million paid for CarInsurance.com in 2010. Other high-value domain sales include VacationRentals.com at $35 million, Voice.com and PrivateJet.com at $30 million each, 360.com at $17 million, and Sex.com at $13 million.
"Looking at a 10-to-20-year horizon, I thought AI is going to be one of the greatest technological waves of our time, so I saw it as a good investment," Marszalek said. He added that it was "interesting that one person can own two domains representing such important categories," referring to his ownership of Crypto.com.
Marszalek plans to launch an AI agent service through the domain that will perform tasks such as sending messages and executing stock trades on behalf of users.
The CEO entered the cryptocurrency exchange market in 2016 with Crypto.com when many considered the sector already saturated. He has since grown the company to approximately $1.5 billion in annual revenue. In 2021, he purchased the naming rights to the Staples Center, home arena of the Los Angeles Lakers, for $700 million, renaming it Crypto.com Arena.