A Domain Name Just Sold for $30 Million

No, that headline is not a typo. The domain name Voice.com just sold for $30 million cash, a record amount for a single domain name… Cha-ching!

So, who are the folks with the (seemingly) bottomless bank account? It’s actually not a secret. MicroStrategy, a publicly traded analytics company, sold the domain name to a blockchain company called Block.one. They are now all set to use the domain for a social media network that’s based on blockchain.

A New Record

The selling price of $30 million for a domain name shatters the previous record for a publicly-revealed, all-cash domain sale. The previous record was $13 million for Sex(.)com.

According to DNJournal, only 11 domains have sold for $5 million or more (that have been disclosed to the public, anyway). Most large domain transactions are covered by non-disclosure agreements, so people aren’t aware of their terms.

The Value of a Good Domain Name

According to the broker that handled the deal, Block.one planned to release its social network on another domain name but realized getting a great .COM domain name would help its launch.

Credibility is a major benefit of valuable, one-word .COM domain names. As you can imagine, Block.one will face an uphill battle in a social media market dominated by Facebook and Twitter. Using a great domain like Voice.com gives its project instant credibility.

Block.one raised billions of dollars in an initial cryptocurrency offering and is putting some of the money to work by buying this domain.

The Seller Isn’t Done Yet

MicroStrategy’s business isn’t about domain names, but it certainly has a nice portfolio of domains. As an early Internet pioneer, the company registered many domains for future use. Many of these are sitting dormant now.

In case you have deep pockets and want to make a big investment, here are some of the company’s best one-word domains that it is willing to sell:

• Wisdom.com
• Alert.com
• Strategy.com
• Speaker.com
• Hope.com
• Courage.com
• Mike.com
• Emma.com
• Usher.com
• Frank.com

It previously asked $3 million for Emma.com, so the company has big expectations when it sells its domains. The $30 Voice.com certainly sets a high bar!

And now it’s your turn. If you had unlimited resources, what’s the one domain name you’d love to own? Let us know in the comments!