Cameron Winklevoss Compares Domain Names to Crypto

Cameron Winklevoss, Co-founder of a Bitcoin exchange called Gemini (which operates on the brand match Gemini.com), tweeted about domain names a few days ago, comparing the early days to crypto assets:


Winklevoss compared the valuation and appreciation of 4 letter .com domain names in the early days with cryptocurrency assets. I don’t really think it is a great comparison. For one thing, there is a very small percentage of 4 letter .com domain names worth seven figures. Every 4L .com has some value, but that can range from hundreds to millions of dollars. Secondly, each 4 letter .com domain name is unique, and the value differs for each name based on a variety of factors. I don’t think it is a great comparison.

What do you think about this comparison?

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

19 COMMENTS

  1. He nailed it !!
    in 1995 porn.com was registered for $100
    Today porn.com is worth $50m, making it the worlds most valuable domain name.
    Whats the IRR on that ?
    Whats the % return on that in 24 years ?

    They make a point that BTC as a digital asset is correlated to Domain Names as another purely digital asset with both utility value and a store of value.

    this is GOLD !!

    • Domain names have real utility value because they can be used to make money as commercial assets, or used for some purpose deemed valuable. Bitcoin has no such value except to some degree the latter, but only by agreement. Domain names require no such agreement to be used for a valuable purpose and can be used that way whether anyone agrees or not. Bitcoin is created out of thin air and has no monetary value unless it is agreed upon in the market place. And the only reason people agree it has any monetary value is because of its perceived utility for converting into desired goods and services, i.e. its ability to function as money even though government will only allow it to be officially classified as a commodity just like their stance on gold. And government can kill Bitcoin and its perceived value any time it wants to, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. That is the direction in which society is headed and sooner or later it is inevitable. Government will not tolerate anything challenging the status of “money” outside of its control. It’s far easier to kill Bitcoin and all cryptos than it is to kill gold. So enjoy while you can, and many might still get rich off it while it lasts, but the direction of history is toward digital money and digital currency – only not with us in any driver’s seat, but with government firmly in control.

      • @John
        That what I was trying to say…Govt wants the money. It will regulate and tax and tax and tax.
        Govt will always want a piece of the pie!! and they want the biggest SLICE .

        • Crypto does not interfere with Govs. Not a single Gov around the world has banned BTC or Crypto. Not US, Not China, Not Turkey, Not Russia !!
          While some countries have banned ICOs and some dont have licenses exchanges, thats fastly different from banning crypto. You Still need a Fiat to on ramp and off ramp. Crypto is all digital, traceable, trackable and taxable.

        • Not yet. But some in the US have already begun trying in Congress, in case you haven’t been paying attention. Because it does “interfere with govs.” You are mistaken. Anything that threatens government control over money is in the cross hairs sooner or later. Just like gold. And any country that threatens to abandon the dollar is immediately targeted for destruction and regime change, and usually gets it. Iraq, Libya, Venezuela, Syria, Iran. A day will almost certainly come when it is game over for independent crypto and the government steps in to take total control. In the meantime, many may still have time to get rich from it, but we don’t know how long the ride will last. In fact, it appears to be a virtual certainty that is what is to occur here, and whatever this means, this will occur one day: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+13%3A17&version=NASB. The difference between now and when that was written is that now it is already technologically feasible. In fact, it seems most people don’t realize that it can be a literal “mark” and not just some kind of implant or chip as some speculate, even now with current technology.

  2. Everything on the internet revolves around domain names. Everything on web 3.0 blockchain powered network revolves around tokens. The value of the token is proportional to the value created on the network. 80% of the value created on a blockchain stays on the blockchain. The rest goes to apps. The value of the domain is proportional to the value created by the brand build on it. Both are digital assets, that have intrinsic and utility value and by extension have shown themselves to be good stores of value. They do not correlate 1:1 with each other, but they are also uncorrelated to any other asset class.

  3. How can .com domain’s be worth anything when they are backed by nothing & made out of thin air? Are .com domains fake investments?

    Please Note: Each Bitcoin & Ethereum token are all the same, but they are also limited in quantity, so they are very scarce resources. We need these tokens to run crypto-web 3.0 applications + we need these tokens to manage the crypto assets—Crypto-Assets, such as “Ethereum Domains”/ address URLs (knows as Ethereum-ENS), and also to manage unique & scarce colletables like CryptoKitties & other Game-NFTs.

    Don’t miss this revolution of new technology in these, still, early days!

    • “How can .com domain’s be worth anything when they are backed by nothing & made out of thin air? Are .com domains fake investments?”

      Bogus apples to oranges argument.

      “limited in quantity, so they are very scarce resources”

      Total bs idea people sell. There’s a limited number of dalmations in the world too.

  4. I keep reading how porn.com is worth whatever millions (10+) and wonder where most of you get the business model that brings you to that value. Except for older folks like you, who pull out your credit card and pay for porn, Milennials and Gen X like myself NEVER, EVER pay for porn. EVER. We know a world (20 sites or more) where porn is an all you can eat buffet but free as in free beer. If you ever invested 50MM or even 10MM in buying porn.com, plus the technological services, and content rights you would need to make that site successful, you would never ever ever ever get your money back. This 2019 folks. Wake up!!

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