Crypto domains may be hot, but ICOs sure aren’t any more

Lately crypto has been back in the headlines in the domain name world as the sale of Crypto.com for a reported $12M is generating a lot of buzz about crypto-related domain names. What I think is interesting about this particular sale is just how powerful this word has become. Think about it, of the over 1,500 different cryptocurrencies, 99% could die and this domain would still be relevant. In short – it’s a monster.

What isn’t quite as big of a deal is ICOs, which stands for initial coin offering, and I recently read a pretty shocking statistic. Over 50% of ICOs actually go bust within four months of their token sale taking place.

About 56 percent of crypto startups that raise money through token sales die within four months of their initial coin offerings. (Source – Bloomberg)

Yikes! That’s a scary number, and in my opinion probably a good enough reason for domain investors to not go nuts registering domains related to a specific token that is doing an ICO since it might not be around for very long.

That being said, let’s not confuse ICOs with cryptocurrencies that have already stood the test of time like Ether (often referred to as Ethereum), Litecoin, Monero, and a handful of others. For the most part I’m staying out of the crypto-related domain space outside of a handful of domains that I’ve had for a while now.

While I’ve heard a lot of people say that crypto is dying or even pronouncing it dead, I think that’s pretty far from reality. But numbers don’t lie and I do think it’s fair to say that the ICO craze is dying, which IMO is probably a very good thing for all of us.

What do you think? I want to hear from you, comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton