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The founder of cryptocurrency trading site Crypto.com has bought AI.com for $70mn, the highest price ever disclosed for a domain name sale, to launch a new entrant to the artificial intelligence race.
Kris Marszalek, co-founder and chief executive of Crypto.com, plans to debut AI.com in a Super Bowl ad this weekend. The site will offer a personal “AI agent” that consumers can use to send messages, use apps and trade stocks.
“Last year an opportunity came up for me to acquire this domain and I thought if you take a long-term view — 10 to 20 years — that [AI] is going to be one of the greatest technological waves of our lifetime. And so it would be a good investment,” Marszalek told the FT.
Marszalek did not comment on the purchase price, which was confirmed by the deal’s broker, Larry Fischer of GetYourDomain.com.
The $70mn sum was paid to an undisclosed seller entirely in cryptocurrency, Fischer told the FT, who said it was the largest such sale ever disclosed.
“With assets like AI.com, there are no substitutes,” said Fischer. “When one becomes available, the opportunity may never present itself again.”
Marszalek launched Crypto.com into an already crowded market of cryptocurrency exchanges in 2016. He said its annual revenues have grown to some $1.5bn. Crypto.com has struck several large deals with the Trump family’s media company Trump Media & Technology Group.
Splashy marketing tie-ups, including sports sponsorships and celebrity endorsements, have played a big role in crypto.com’s rise.
In 2021, Crypto.com reached a $700mn multi-decade deal for the naming rights to a Los Angeles stadium, one of the best-known sports venues in the US.
Marszalek said there are “good business reasons” for paying such a high price for AI.com. “There is a big desire for us to own this touchpoint, otherwise you get commoditised,” he said.
“I thought it was quite interesting that one person can own two domains that stand for such important categories,” he added.
Marszalek said he hoped AI.com could offer similar features to OpenClaw, the AI agent whose viral popularity has captivated Silicon Valley over recent weeks, but offer a simpler set-up for a less technical audience.
He added that he had been offered “an absolutely insane amount of money” to sell on his new domain, but that owning AI.com would help build trust and awareness with prospective customers in one of the fastest-growing tech markets.
“When we started Crypto.com there were around a thousand different exchanges and we somehow managed to make it work,” he added. “We will make this [AI.com] work one way or another.”
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