Crypto.com sets record with $70 million AI.com purchase

Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek has reportedly purchased the AI.com domain name for $70 million, according to a report by the Financial Times. The transaction was paid entirely in cryptocurrency and represents the most expensive domain purchase in history. The acquisition adds to the company’s branding assets, which already include the Crypto.com domain itself and a $700 million expenditure on stadium naming rights.

The $70 million price tag surpasses all previous historical records for domain name sales. To put the transaction in context, the previous top domain sales include:

• CarInsurance.com: Sold for $49.7 million in 2010.
• VacationRentals.com: Sold for $35 million in 2007.
• Voice.com: Sold for $30 million in 2019.
• PrivateJet.com: Sold for $30 million.
• 360.com: Sold for $17 million.
• Sex.com: Sold twice for over $13 million, though its second owner went bankrupt trying to monetize it.

Marszalek plans to debut the newly acquired site on Sunday during the Super Bowl, which is the annual US championship game for American football and serves as a massive advertising event. Upon launch, the site will offer a personal AI agent designed to handle messaging, app usage, and stock trading.

The purchase reflects Marszalek’s long-term outlook on artificial intelligence. “If you take a long-term view — 10 to 20 years — [AI] is going to be one of the greatest technological waves of our lifetime,” Marszalek, the founder of Crypto.com, told the Financial Times. Larry Fischer, the broker who facilitated the transaction, noted that there are no substitutes for assets like AI.com, adding that when such an asset becomes available, the opportunity may never present itself again.

Why it matters

This acquisition represents the highest price ever paid for a domain name, signaling Crypto.com’s plans to integrate personal AI agent services into its platform.