Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl

Just in time to create a new Super Bowl ad, Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek has made the priciest 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, shatters previous records. (Broker Larry Fischer, who facilitated the sale, is presumably celebrating his good fortune.)

Marszalek plans to debut the site during Sunday’s big game, offering consumers a personal AI agent for messaging, app usage, and stock trading. “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,” he told the FT.

The purchase rewrites the domain record books — not that 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 eye-popping sales include PrivateJet.com ($30 million), 360.com ($17 million), and Sex.com, which has sold twice for over $13 million each time, though its second owner went bankrupt trying to monetize it.

“With assets like AI.com, there are no substitutes,” Fischer told the FT. “When one becomes available, the opportunity may never present itself again.”

Whether these mega-dollar domains actually deliver returns remains an open question. But for Marszalek, who already owns Crypto.com and dropped $700 million on stadium naming rights, owning two category-defining domains is apparently worth the outlay.