Crypto.com CEO Pays $70M for AI.com, Bets Big on Agents
Crypto.com CEO Buys AI.com for a staggering $70 million, marking what’s believed to be the largest publicly disclosed domain sale in history. Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, purchased the premium domain entirely in cryptocurrency in April 2025 and is now launching an AI agent platform that debuts during today’s Super Bowl LX commercial (ℹ️ The Block).
What Happened
The domain had been listed for sale with a $100 million asking price in March 2025, according to GetYourDomain.com. Broker Larry Fischer confirmed the $70 million price tag on LinkedIn, identifying Arsyan Ismail as the seller.
Marszalek announced the purchase on X on February 6, writing that he bought the domain in April 2025 and has been building a team since. The CEO revealed he’s already received what he calls “an absolutely insane amount of money” in offers for the domain but plans to keep it.
Breaking Records
The deal shatters previous domain sale records. Previous publicly confirmed records include CarInsurance.com at $49.7 million in 2010 and OpenAI’s purchase of Chat.com for upward of $15.5 million in late 2024 (ℹ️ The Block).
Cars.com has historically been cited as the most valuable domain name after being listed as an intangible asset worth $872.3 million in its 2014 acquisition, though that was part of a broader transaction (ℹ️ Gizmodo).
The AI Agent Platform
The platform will let users create personal AI agents that can send messages, execute actions across apps, trade stocks, and build projects, according to AI.com’s press release. User data will be encrypted with individual keys to address privacy concerns.
Marszalek will serve as CEO of both Crypto.com and AI.com. “We are at a fundamental shift in AI’s evolution as we rapidly move beyond basic chats to AI agents actually getting things done for humans,” he stated in the company release (ℹ️ The Block).
Why It Matters
This purchase follows Marszalek’s proven strategy of betting on category-defining domains. Crypto.com launched as Monaco in 2016 before acquiring its namesake domain for an estimated $5 to $10 million. The exchange has since grown to claim more than 150 million retail users and roughly $1.5 billion in annual revenue (ℹ️ The Block).
The company later struck a $700 million deal to rename the Staples Center in Los Angeles to Crypto.com Arena and spent $100 million on a Matt Damon ad campaign.
What’s Next
The AI.com platform officially launches following today’s Super Bowl LX commercial. The AI.com launch comes just days after Crypto.com spun out its prediction markets business into a standalone app called OG, also timed to Super Bowl activity (ℹ️ The Block).
When asked about recreating Crypto.com’s success, Marszalek told the Financial Times, “When we started Crypto.com, there were around a thousand different exchanges, and we somehow managed to make it work. We will make this work one way or another.”
Source: The Block, Gizmodo—Published on February 9, 2026
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About the Author
Alex Rivera is a creative technologist helping non-technical users understand and leverage AI tools. With a focus on making complex technology accessible, Alex writes step-by-step guides that inspire experimentation and creativity in the AI space.