In the world of internet, domains matter a lot. The more meaningful a domain is - the more valuable it usually is. A right domain can fetch several thousand dollars to the seller. The domain ‘crypto.com’ was an important domain in the world of cryptocurrency technology. This domain was owned by renowned cryptography expert and security researcher Matt Blaze. Earlier today, Blaze sold the domain.
Matt Blaze sold the domain to MCO Technology GmbH, the company that runs ‘Monaco’, a project working towards developing a cryptocurrency Debit Card. The sale of this domain name is quite noteworthy because Matt Blaze owned this domain for almost 25 years. He registered the Crypto.com domain name back in 1993 and has since been the owner of the domain.
There have been numerous occasions in the past, especially after the cryptocurrency boom of the past decade that Blaze has been offered to sell this domain name. However, he has been declining potential buyers up until now. There have even been moments when Blaze has publicly declined selling this domain name in the past - as early as six months ago, Blaze replied to a Tweet asking him to sell the domain name, stating:
“For anyone else trying to contact me for this reason, don’t bother. Not for sale.”
The price at which Monaco parent MCO Technology GmbH has acquired this domain name has not been disclosed. However, it is being speculated by many within the cryptocurrency and domaining community that the price of this domain should be north of $10 Million. Kris Marszalek, the CEO of Monaco has declined to comment about the price at which this deal took place. He further added that: “If it was only about money Matt (would) have sold it a long time ago”.
Monaco has been gaining popularity while it continues to be in an initial phase. The project has already raised $25 Million during their ICO in the June of 2017. The CEO revealed that the firm holds assets worth over $200 Million and the crypto.com domain name has found a right place with them. He also talked about the powerful identity that the organization would get with this domain name, stating that:
“This is a very powerful identity that we are taking on. It’s representative of the entire category so it comes with a huge responsibility on us to carry the torch. We don’t take it lightly and this is one of the things that I think we conveyed successfully, that, as a company, we do have a higher purpose.
Fundamentally, blockchain and crypto will enable [the next generation] to control their money, to control their data and to control their identity, these are the three fundamental things that weave the fabric of society. For us this is the purpose, we want to acceleration the world’s adoption of cryptocurrency,”
Blaze, who is a professor of computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania is a well known and respected name in the world of security and cryptography. He has also been associated with major names such as the is Tor Project, where is a member of the board of directors.