Crypto.com's $70M Domain Buyout Sparks Hype and Frustration

Crypto.com's co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek has made headlines for purchasing the top-level domain ai.com for $70 million in April 2025. This move comes after years of speculation about who would acquire this highly sought-after domain, with OpenAI and xAI being two prominent contenders.

The price tag is a staggering one, nearly twice the previous sale price of the premium domain voice.com. The transaction was facilitated by domain broker Larry Fischer using cryptocurrency as the payment method.

Marszalek has stated that he believes this domain name is crucial to establishing trust and awareness for his company's future business ventures, going so far as to declare 'We will make ai.com successful again.'

However, just days after its launch during the Super Bowl game on February 8, the ai.com website experienced a server outage, with users reporting a 504 error. The site has since returned to normal operation, but this incident raises questions about the readiness and functionality of the platform.