Here's
the The Lowdown from
DN Journal,
updated daily to fill you in on the
latest buzz going around the domain name
industry.
The Lowdown is
compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron
Jackson.
Elon
Musk Reveals He Made One of the Most Expensive
Domain Purchases of All Time in Tesla.com at $11
Million
Tesla
Founder Elon Musk
Tesla
Founder
and billionaire entrepreneur Elon
Musk lit up the domain
aftermarket grapevine like a
Christmas tree with a simple tweet
over the weekend. In those two
sentences Mush revealed he had made
one of the biggest domain purchases
in history when he bought Tesla.com
for $11 million. Prior to
that acquisition Musk's famed
electric car company was based on TeslaMotors.com.
That
is the second highest domain only
purchase confirmed by one of the
parties to a sale that I have seen
since I started tracking the
aftermarket in 2003, behind only Sex.com
at $13 million. Tesla.com
will be added to our all
time Top 20 domain sales list,
as well as at the top of our 2016
Top 100 Sales Chart when
we do our next weekly
sales report Wednesday
evening (December 12).
Over
the years I have seen higher prices
than those on our list cited for
some domains but those have never
been publicly confirmed by a
participant in the transaction. I
also see a lot of sales of online businesses,with assets well in excess of
the value of the domain name alone,
that some have mistakenly been cited
as being a domain sale. In an effort
to "compare apples to
apples" and not oranges, I have
limited our sales reporting over the
past 15 years to completed
cash sales of domain names only
where the salesprice has specifically
been stated.
It
is not always easy to determine when
a sale meets that standard so on
rare occasions like this (where we
are not going to get access to the
documents surrounding a sale) I have
to make a "judgment call."
Musk stated a specific price, he had
the means to pay for the name (and
many more like it if wanted to) and
he had an obvious pressing need for
it. He did not note any other assets
gained with the domain (nor are any
apparent) and he would have nothing
to gain by making it up. That all
adds up to high credibility.
Should more detailed information
surface contradicting the price
stated I will, of course, correct
the record.
The
above is in keeping with the verification
procedure I have
followed from day one - a procedure
that is summarized on the page
linked to above that has been
accessible at the bottom of our weekly
Top 20 Chart for over a
decade. The Tesla.com sale presents
a good opportunity to review that
information if you are interested.
The domain community has also played
a invaluable role in helping
make our sales reports as accurate
as possible by contributing
information and letting me know when
they spot any errors that need to be
corrected. This also presents a good
opportunity to thank all of you
for that!
Donuts
Co-Founder Jonathon Nevett Named President and
CEO of .ORG Operator Public Interest Registry
Public
Interest Registry
(PIR), the nonprofit operator of the
.org domain, today announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously selected
Jonathon Nevett as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective December 17, 2018.
The PIR announcement said Nevett,
who has a wealth of experience and
expertise in the domain name industry,
"will guide the growth of the .org domain while advancing the organization’s advocacy efforts in support of collaboration, safety and security on the internet."
Nevett co-founded the world's
largest operator of new gTLD
registries, Donuts
Inc., in 2010 and helped
to raise in excess of $150
million to form an administrator
of more than 240 top-level domains.
He served as Donuts' Executive Vice
President for corporate affairs and
on its Board of Directors. Nevett is
also a founding board member of the Domain
Name Association, a
widely supported industry trade
association. Previously, Nevett
served as senior vice president at Network
Solutions, where he was
responsible for policy, government
affairs, registry relations, and the
corporate ethics office. He
also served as chair of the board of
NameJet and Central
Registry Solutions.
Jonathan
Nevett New
President & CEO Public Interest Registry (PIR)
Lise
Fuhr, chair of the Public
Interest Registry Board of Directors,
said “Jon’s combination of
industry expertise, commercial
experience, ethical values and
commitment to our nonprofit mission
means we will continue our
leadership as an exemplary registry.
I would also like to thank fellow
board member Jay Daley for
acting as our interim CEO and laying
the foundation for an enhanced and
refocused strategy that ensures the
resilience of .org and its
continuing place as the go-to domain
for mission-driven organizations and
individuals.”
"Nevett
will bring his proven
track-record of leadership
to Public Interest Registry
and reaffirm its continued
ambition to be an exemplary
registry. He will spearhead
the organization’s
strategy to expand the
reach of the .org domain,
strengthen security and
resiliency, and advance
outreach and education to
the millions of
forward-looking
organizations and
individuals that rely on
Public Interest Registry’s
domains.
Nevett
said, “Over the course of my
career in the domain industry, I
have admired Public Interest
Registry and its dynamic team. I’m
incredibly humbled to be part of it.
PIR has a long history of ensuring
all who are committed to the public
interest have a voice online. I look
forward to working with the growing
PIR team and wider domain industry
to continue advancing that
mission.”
Web.com
Acquires Tucows Interest in NameJet - Now Has
Sole Ownership of NameJet & SnapNames
Web.com
Group, Inc. has
acquired all remaining interest in
the domain name drop catching and
aftermarket sales platform, NameJet,
LLC, from its former
partner in the business, Tucows,
Inc. The transaction, announced
today, gives Web.com sole ownership
of two of the top platforms
in the domain aftermarket. The
company already owned SnapNames
Web.com, LLC, a pioneer
in the drop catching and domain
sales space.
Today's
press release noted, "NameJet
launched in 2007 as a joint
venture between eNom, Inc.,
now a subsidiary of Tucows, and
Web.com subsidiary, Network
Solutions, LLC.
Like
SnapNames, NameJet has exclusive
partnerships with top domain name
registrars across the globe and
helps domain professionals,
businesses and individuals acquire
valuable domain names, including
those that have recently
expired."
Web.com
CEO & President David L.
Brown said, “This move to
complete ownership aligns with our
goal of nurturing our core domain
business, supporting and
anticipating the diverse needs of
our customers, and driving new
opportunities for innovation and
growth." Web.com Aftermarket VP
Michael White added, "We
welcome the NameJet team to the
Web.com family and are excited to
leverage their thought leadership
and expertise as we continue to
invest in the aftermarket
industry.
David
Woorch, Domains Executive Vice
President for Tucows, said, "Web.com has
been a great partner and we look
forward to working with and
leveraging their aftermarket
expertise in the future.
Meet.com
Changing Hands for $1 Million in Deal Put
Together by Broker Sharjil Saleem
Domain
Broker Sharjil
Saleem, who has
put together a string of top tier
sales in recent years, told us his
latest has just been signed - a $1
million deal for Meet.com.
The buyer (whose name was not
disclosed) will pay for the domain
in installments and Saleem told us a
substantial first payment has been
made via Escrow.com.
We
don't chart sales until a domain has
been fully paid for and transferred
to the new owner but Saleem's track
record shows a high rate of success
in finding buyers who follow through
on sales agreements. He had three of
the 15 highest publicly reported sales
in 2017 - #2 (tie) ETH.com
at $2 million, #9 SW.com
(made with RightOfTheDot.com)
at $660,000 and #13 Asset.com
Sharjil
Saleem (at right) withAli
Rajpoot
at $406,000.
This year he already has three sales
on our 2018
YTD Top 100 Chart - #30 DXB.com
at $220,000 (made with Ali
Rajpoot), #38 Deposit.com
at $171,100 and one of the
year's biggest non .com sales
#73 08.net at $87,000.
08.net is ranked #6 on our YTD
Non .Com gTLD Top 100 Sales Chart.
$825,000
Sale of Cover.com Uncovered - New Insurance
Company Reveals Price Paid in 2017 Transaction
When
domain sales are madeat the upper end of the
aftermarket the price paid is
revealed in only a small fraction of
those transactions. Of those that do
come to light, the news often comes
months (or ever years) after the
sale has been made. The latest
example of that is Cover.com
- a domain that a startup insurance
company acquired last year at a
price that has only now been made
public - $825,000 (a number
that will put it among the 10
biggest sales reported for 2017 when
our Top
100 Chart for that year
is updated following our next weekly
sales report).
Over
the years George
Kirikos has uncovered
countless top tier sales while going
through SEC filings made by
public companies, so it was not
surprising that I first heard the
Cover.com news from him. However, in
this case, Kirikos didn't find it in
an SEC report - he spotted it in an article
that the Co-Founder and CEO of
Cover.com, Karn Saroya,
personally wrote for Entrepreneur's
Handbook (published November
21, 2018) about the path his company
took to secure their dream domain
from Digimedia.
Karn's
story is a great account of the
month-long negotiations that went
into acquiring Cover.com and why his
company, as a startup,
Karn
Saroya
Cover.com Co-Founder & CEO
decided
it was worth committing such a huge
percentage of their available
resources to getting the domain name
they wanted. He noted, "Cover
justmade sense. There is
probably no better name to build a
brand on in insurtech. You see
companies using every permutation of
the word, so why not own the word
outright?" Today Saroya is
more convinced than ever that the
company made a smart purchase.
"Fast forward one year and
Cover has scaled significantly and
recently closed our Series B funding
round," Saroya said. "Each
week that passes only further
vindicates our decision to commit to
the brand name. We sell an
intangible product and at the end of
the day, we’re in the trust
business. Owning Cover.com has
lent an extra level of legitimacy
to the brand and this, in turn, has
translated into sales."
Karn's
story reminds me so much of the
story of the $1 million acquisition
of Ring.com in 2014 that
Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff
revealed earlier this year. While
talking about how valuable the
domain name has been in Ring's
meteoric rise Siminoff said he would
estimate the name turned out to be
worth between $30 million and $50
million to the company!
Cover.com has a lot of room to
grow and when Saroya's company
is four years down the line (as
Siminoff's was) I wouldn't be
surprised to hear him making the
same kind of assessment. Both of
their stories are powerful
testaments to the extraordinary
value of a great domain name when
one is put in the right hands.
This
isThanksgiving
Day in the U.S. (Nov. 22, 2018) -
one of America's most cherished holidays. It is
a day when we pause to give thanks for our many
blessings (a day that over the years has morphed into
a four-day weekend filled with food, fun, family and
friends). I try to never let a day go by without
giving thanks before going to bed at night. We have
much to be thankful for and are especially grateful
for YOU!. Without your encouragement and
support over the past 15 years (16 as of January 1) I
would not be here writing this right now. So thank
you and may your day, weekend and every day
ahead be filled with blessings and joy for you and
yours.
Michael
Cyger Predicts His Cash + Equity Sale of
Brew.com Will End Up Being a 7-Figure Deal
DNAcademy.com
Founder Michael
Cyger has earned kudos
for the site's diverse offering of
courses designed to help digital
investors and entrepreneurs achieve
success. Michael now has
another real world case study he can
share of how a premium domain sale
can be structured in a way that
generates profits long after the
sale agreement has been signed - his
own cash & equity sale of Brew.com
this month.
While
the exact terms of the Brew.com deal
are subject to an NDA, Cyger said
the cash component alone would put
the sale among the
year's 10 biggest to date.
Better yet, he expects the equity
stake he got in the business the
buyer is building on the domain will
end up being worth seven figures
in the long run.
Brew.com
was purchased by the new
company's Founder & CEO Jijo
Sunny who discussed the
venture in this Twitter
thread. Jijo and
his team launched another
company, BuyMeACoffee.com,
earlier this year. As it
happens, neither that
company nor Brew.com is
involved in the coffee
business. The
"coffee" is a metaphor
for small donations made to
all kinds of creators of
quality content - artists,
designer, writers,
developers, etc.
BuyMeACoffee.com is a
platform that showcases the
creators and collects the
donations. For that, the
site collects 5% of the
amount donated.
Brew.com,
which will be a separate
enterprise, could be thought
of as a premium
version
of BuyMeACoffee, one that
will feature the best
content with exclusive
rewards and perks in an ad
free environment.
Cyger
told us, "I'll be a member of
Brew's Advisory Board for the
next few years as they launch and
scale. It's a deal that will be
worth seven figures when Brew.com
gets traction and I'm really proud
to be associated with Jijo, his
brother Joseph, and the
entire Brew.com team. It's going to
be an exciting journey!"
Cyger
added, "They are located in San
Francisco and are applying to Y
Combinator. Like most
startups, they have no formal office
space so I asked Escrow.com
General Manager Jackson
Elsegood if we could borrow
their conference room in San
Francisco to meet, complete due
diligence and sign the paperwork for
the Brew.com deal. Jackson, Brian
Tharp and the entire Escrow.com
team were very generous in allowing
us to use their facilities."
(Left
to right: Jackson Elsegood
(Escrow.com), Madhavan
Ramakrishnan (Brew.com), Jijo
Sunny (Brew.com), Michael
Cyger and Brian Tharp
(Escrow.com).
In
closing Cyger noted, "My hope
is that more founders with
innovative and industry changing
ideas go with a stellar brand and
domain name from day 1 because
as I wrote in this blog
post: "New research
shows that choosing the right name
– and more importantly, the
right domain name for your
business – can have an outsized
impact on the success of your
business, including trust,
authority, credibility, visibility
and fundraising."
Radix’s
Startup League Backed Over 40 Startups at Web
Summit 2018 in Lisbon
The
massive 2018 Web
Summit
conference was held November 5-8
in Lisbon,
Portugal with over 70,000attendees from over 100
countries on hand. For the 3rd
consecutive year new TLD registry
operator Radix
was there to support its community
for startups, the Startup
League, backing over
40 startups that have been
built on Radix TLDs.
Overall,
more that 2,000 startups from around
the world exhibited at Web Summit.
Among those that were able to go
thanks to their Startup League
connection were:
Startup
League Program Head Lenold Vaz said,
“We are thrilled and proud to have
supported so many innovative
startups at Web Summit. We believe
that high-potential startups deserve
a powerful go-to-market strategy and
Web Summit is the perfect platform
for startups on our TLDs to showcase
their product to the most evolved
tech audience in the world.”
Above:
Lenold Vaz (far right) and Tanisha Gupta
(center) from the
Startup League with the
startup founders. Click on the photo
to see the full size version of it.
Along
with their booth sponsorship, the
Startup League provided booth
goodies such as stickers, badges,
stationery as well as t-shirts
branded with respective startups’
logos for greater booth engagement
and visibility for each startup.
They also amplified the promotions
for these startups through online
marketing, content marketing and
social media hype.
Lenold
Vaz
Startup League Program Head
After
sponsoring over 50 startups at
Web Summit last
year and dozens
more this year, the Startup
League is setting their sites
even higher for 2019. Lenold
noted, "The incremental
impact that we are able to
create for these startups is
encouraging and we are looking
forward to an even bigger show
next year. This is an
exciting time for new domains
as more and more startups are
embracing them to reflect
their commitment to innovation
and focus on futuristic
trends."
Some
of the startups supported by
the Startup League previously
at Web Summit include sensei.tech
(2017), which later got
selected for TechStars
Metro Retail Program,
Berlin; Watr.tech
(2016, 2017), which became a
finalist at Web Summit’s
PITCH event; Nu-rise.tech
(2016), which became a
semi-finalist at
Web Summit’s PITCH event;
and YouClap.tech
(2017), which received
a €100K
funding.
The
Startup League’s efforts have been
spread across the globe. In addition
to Web Summit, they have supported
startups at TNW (Amsterdam), Collision
(USA), TechCrunch Disrupt
(USA), TechSparks (India), RISE
(Hong Kong) and many other events.
GGRG
Says Sales Activity in "Liquid" Domain
Names (Short .COMS) Rebounded Strongly in
3Q-2018
Domain
brokerage and consultancyGGRG.com
has released their latest free
quarterly report (.pdf
file) breaking down aftermarket
sales and development of "liquid
domain names" in the 3rd
quarter of 2018. GGRG defines
liquid domains as being very
short .com domains consisting
of all letters (L) or all numbers
(N), as well as 3-character (C)
.coms that have a combination of
letters and numbers. GGRG terms
these categories "liquid"
domains because they are relatively
easy to sell at prevailing market
rates.
There
was a lot of good news in the latest
report, showing a strong rebound
in this category's sales
levels compared to the previous
quarter. GGRG reported "In Q3 the
total volume of disclosed sales
almost doubled from $5.4
million to $9.2 million. We also registered a 50% increase in the volume of
Escrow.com sales, which jumped from
$12 million to $16.7
million. According to
Escrow.com, the most traded category were the
3-letter .com domains, with $11.4
million in sales, followed by the
4-letter .coms ($3.2 million) and the
3-number .coms ($1.1 million). According to
ShortNames.com, the disclosed volumes for these categories showed a similar pattern with
$5.2 million for 3Ls, $1.7
million for the 4Ls and almost $1
million in 5Ns."
GGRG
Founder Giuseppe Graziano
However,
the reported also included some bad
news, noting " The positive numbers in terms of volume are in stark contrast with the continued decline across the board in
5th percentile values (a
representation of a reasonable
category pricefloor) which recorded the worst quarter since the inception of our report.
5-number and 3-character .coms lost
38%, 4Ls lost 28%. The only stable category were the 3Ls, which registered a modest loss of
2.8%.
You
can review the complete report,
including GGRG's liquid market
market forecast, here.
Two-Letter
.COM Changes Hands in $700,000 Deal Brokered by
Joe Uddeme at NameExperts.com
Another
rare two-letter .com domain
has changed hands and as is so often
the case with these highly prized
assets, the name went to an investor
based in China. This time it
was MK.com in a $700,000
all cash deal closed by veteran
broker Joe Uddeme at NameExperts.com.
When
we do the next weekly update of our 2018
Top 100 YTD Sales Chart
Wednesday evening that will make
MK.com the 5th biggest sale reported
so far this year. It is interesting
to note that Joe also had the 5th
biggest sale on our 2017
Top 100 Chart with a
blockbuster $1,750,000 sale
of 20.com.
Uddeme
told us he contacted multiple large
corporations, including Michael
Kors and Mary Kay, that
would have been natural homes for a
marquee domain like this but surprisingly
passed (many Kors products,
especially handbags, have an MK
emblem on them). A $700,000 purchase
would have been peanuts to a corporate
giant like Kors who logged over
$4.7 billion in revenue in its
2018 fiscal year. However,
many companies still fail to
understand the value and prestige
this kind of domain can add
to a brand (even one that is already
a prestigious one).
Joe
Uddeme
NameExperts.com
That
point is not lost on the investors
that have been acquiring the very
few 2-letter .coms that made it to
market (there are only 676 possible
combinations in the two-letter .com
universe and many reside with owners
that will never let them go). No one
can say for sure how their
investments will pan out but, as
with physical real estate, when you
invest in quality you certainly
improve your chances of a solid
return in the long run.
How
Can You Mend a Broken Heart? Making New Music is
Helping Emme Lentino Heal from the Untimely Loss
of Husband Tony
Two
years ago
the domain industry prematurely lost
one of its most successful
entrepreneurs when TonyLentino
- the founder of registrar OnlyDomains.com
- left
us at the age of 42
after a 15-month battle with cancer.
Many of our readers also know Tony's
lovely wife, Emme, a long
time friend who I first met over a
decade ago when she came into the
domain business (where she later met
Tony) as a representative of a
domain parking company called Klickerz.
While Emme knows domains her real
passion has always been
singing (in fact I watched her
sing with Howard Neu at a
social event during the 2007
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in New
York City).
Even
before domains, Emme had released an
independent music CD and
performing was never far from her
mind, even while she had two
beautiful daughters with Tony
that are the apples of her eye. Emme
has
been healing since the
Emme
Lentino
loss of her
husband and one thing has helped her
in that recovery process -
pouring her heart and soul into new music that
she has now released and is
performing at venues in front of
appreciative audiences around the
world. There are many signs that
this extraordinarily talented artist
is on the verge of a major
breakout.
The
centerpiece of Emme's new
work is an EP
called The
Oxygen Collection
that is getting airplay in
many major markets around
the world. The amazing thing
about this project is that
Emme has dome all of it
from writing, performing,
producing to distributing
her mesmerizing recordings
and videos. Emme told us,
"I am an indie unsigned
singer/songwriter who writes
and performs Pop rock, Soul
and Americana music. It’s
really the message in
my music that is the reason
I am sometimes be found
pushing myself uphill! In a
world where you can hear
“no, or not yet, or you
don’t fit in...”. I say,
I dare ya! Let’s do
this! Let’s make
the impossible possible."
"I
want to uplift,
empower, show
kindness and love and
most of all hope
to the masses. I am
on a mission to
bring a movement of
hope to the world.
Because I believe
that no matter what
we face, we can
survive, thrive and
help others. It is
in helping others
that we find
purpose and identity.
So much of our time
can be concentrated
on what we are in at
the moment. But when
we can step out, and
share our hearts and
lend an ear to
others, volunteer
and spend time with
someone who needs
us- we suddenly feel
energized!
There are moments
everyday when we can
touch just one
persons journey and
make a difference in
their life."
:I
would love to share
my music with as
many people as
possible. As one
person, without the
endorsement of a
record label, I
rely on friends and
family and those
who connect with
my message to
like, share and
follow! So if
you’re on social
Emme
Lentino on stage.
media : Twitter,
Instagram,
Facebook,
Youtube
- I would really
appreciate your
support! Also,
my music is available
on all platforms so
whether you use Spotify,
iTunes, etc.,
please add Emme
to your playlist!
It’s all
algorithms- so the
more adds and likes
and follows the more
people hear the
music."
"I
feel so strongly that I am
doing exactly what Tony
wanted. To sing my heart
out and to encourage others
to do the same!
Wishing everyone hugs and
peace and joy.
I will always remember
the kindness and support of
my domain community.
Thank you for being there
for us!
Just
as I was getting read to
post this article I got an
another exciting note from
Emme. Her manager just
notified her that she has
been invited to perform in January
2019 at the Toyota
Country Music Festival
Tamworth in
Australia! "It is
such an honor and I’ll be
announcing details of this
as I learn more," Emme
said. She will also be
releasing a new Christmas
EP in a couple of weeks
that will be distributed by
MGM. It will feature an
original Christmas song that
Emme co-wrote in Los Angeles
at the Paramount
Recording Studios.
They
say "seeing is
believing" so I will
leave you with a brand new
video that Emme just
released for her inspiring
song "Seasons of
Life" that
will show you exactly why
her legion of fans is growing
so quickly!
Radix
Registry's .ONLINE Hits the One Million Domains
Mark to Become One of the 5 Biggest New gTLDs
The
Radix
registry announced today
that its flagship TLD, .ONLINE,
has surpassed 1 million domains under
management - a number that Radix predicted
they would hit when the new gTLD
entered General Availability in
August 2015. .ONLINE thus
becomes one of just a few new gTLDS
that have crossed
the 1 million mark, a
landmark that makes .ONLINE the 5th
largest new TLD by zone size.
.ONLINE
originally began as a joint
venture between Radix, Tucows
and Namecheap who won the
rights to .ONLINE in a private
auction. Not long after Radix,
convinced that .ONLINE would be a
winner, was able to acquire the
Tucows and NameCheap's stake in the
TLD. The term "online" has
long been a popular component in
domain names so Radix management
felt it would be natural ending for
those seeking a more concise
identity online.
Radix
CEO Sandeep Ramchandani noted,
"Businesses and consumers have
long settled for long and less
memorable domains on familiar legacy
strings such as .com. .ONLINE
offers the global audience an
opportunity to get their
first-choice domain name without
having to compromise. With only 1
million .ONLINE names vs. 135
million .com names taken, there is
ample availability for customers and
tremendous growth for us to tap
into.”
Sandeep
Ramchandani
Radix CEO
Radix
cited a number of favorable reviews
from end users of .ONLINE domains. Aaron
Agius, Founder-CEO of Louder.Online,
said, “We are an SEO company and
we moved from LouderOnline.com and
LouderOnline.com.au to Louder.online.
Being a global company, it has
definitely made sense to move to a
.ONLINE domain, especially in terms
of branding for an online marketing
company."
Based
on an internal analysis by Radix, 65%
of developed .ONLINE domains are in
use by SMBs. As of this date, Radix
said .ONLINE has generated over
$13 million in revenue of which $1.5
million has come from premium
domains sold directly by the
registry and close to 90 premium
.ONLINE domains have been sold
organically in the aftermarket. To
further expand .ONLINE’s
footprint, Radix is presently
working on a large-scale end-customer
marketing campaign for the TLD
that is slated to launch in Q1 2019.
Through the campaign, Radix aims to
broaden awareness about .ONLINE by
directly targeting active-intent
users.
Guta.com
Launches New Quarterly Report on Premium Domain
Sales
Guta.com,
a domain brokerage firm that has
gained fame as a bridge between the
Western and Chinese domain
communities, has just launched a new
quarterly Premium
Domain Sales Observation Report
that will be of interest to anyone
interested is selling to (or buying
from) the Chinese market. Bilingual
Guta Founder & CEO George
Hong maintains homes and offices
in both the U.S. and China
which has put him and his staff in
the middle of many high end sales
between and within the two
nations.
Guta's
first report breaks down sales of
premium domains (with a primary
focus on those containing 1-4
numbers or 1-3 letters)
that Guta observed in the just
completed 3rd quarter of 2018. The report includes individual domain
names and prices paid if not subject
to a non-disclosure agreement. Here
are just a few interesting notes
from the initial Guta report:
Nearly
50% of rare 2-letter .com sales
went to blockchain or
cryptocurrency related end
users.
While there is always a demand for
3-letter .coms, wholesale prices
paid by Chinese buyers declined
while prices for short numeric
domains remained stable.
George
Hong
Founder & CEO, Guta.com
Most
3-letter .coms were purchased by
domain investors. Only about
1/6th of them went purchased by
end users.
The
buying spree from crypto
companies seemed to slow in
Q3-2018 - likely because the
crypto market itself has been in
a bear market in recent
months.
You
can access the full free report here.
It is also accessible through the Guta.com
blog.
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Archive!
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Lowdown, so please email editor@dnjournal.comwith any interesting information you might have. If possible,
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