Dot-Com Redux—Crypto Domain Names In High Demand As Web3 Gains Currency

Dhruv Ajmera, a 29-year old blockchain enthusiast based out of Mumbai, has started collecting new domain names like “noborders.bitcoin”, “cashorcard.wallet”, and “naughtyboy.nft”.

These domains aren’t like regular URLs and if you try to visit them, the browser won’t connect. Also called crypto domains, these are based on blockchain and are suddenly in high demand as crypto adoption improves and early adopters rush to buy them in the hope of making a packet by selling them later.

Think the dot-com era, when domain names were bought mostly in the hope that someone will come along and be willing to pay more for it. The same is now happening with Web3 domains.

“At the end of 1990s, there was a surge in demand for these domains because it was the easiest way to get discovered on the internet. They were sold for millions,” said Ajmera, while refusing to disclose how many he has bought so far.

He has listed a few of them for sale on NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, which currently lists over 319,000 domain names for sale from just one registrar, with a floor price under 0.01 ETH.

According to Dune Analytics, a community-powered analytics platform, almost 90,000 domains were minted in November 2021, the highest ever in a single month. In total, there have been more than 369,000 unique registrations with more than 200,000 participants.

Some of those who bought these domains early have managed to sell them, in some cases at high prices. Recently, Budweiser bought the domain “beer.eth” for 30 ETH, or $95,000