Details About BitcoinWallet.com $250,000 Reported Sale

According to a report on CoinDesk this morning, the BitcoinWallet.com domain name was sold for $250,000, and the buyer is reportedly an entrepreneur named Alex Charfen. CoinDesk shared more information about Charfen in its article, although the purchase doesn’t appear to have been officially confirmed by him yet.

The seller of BitcoinWallet.com is Niko Younts, who reported this sale on his Twitter account yesterday. According to Younts, the sale was transacted at Escrow.com, and Younts sent me a copy of the closing statement as confirmation.  Due to Escrow.com’s policies, the company does not release any transaction information unless approved be all parties.

The BitcoinWallet.com domain name is currently registered under privacy at GoDaddy, but for a brief period this week, the information was public, and it revealed Charfen as the registrant. According to my research at DomainTools, Younts was first listed as the domain name’s registrant this past December. I reached out to Younts for comment, and he was able to share some information about his ownership:

The name was acquired for $11,000. I initiated contact with the prior owner on 12/8 and the Escrow closing statement was filed and domain landed in my account on 12/24.

Based on what Younts has told me, it looks like he was able to make over $230,000 profit in just over a month when you include the escrow fee. Not too shabby! You can read more about Younts and his domain investments on his NeverLoseVision.com website.

Making this even better, Younts was able to acquire similar domain names before the sale of BitcoinWallet.com was revealed. “After the sale, I very quickly and very quietly began rounding up the others in the aftermarket. I was very impatient and rightly so, nervous. Somehow, I managed to land the rest of these within six days without any red flags or competition,” Younts told me. Younts now owns BitcoinWallets.com, BitcoinWallet.net, BitcoinWallets.net, and a few other similar domain names in different extensions.

Congratulations to Younts on making these smart acquisitions and sales. $200k+ in profit in a month is a great way to start the year, and hopefully it’s just the beginning of an exceptional year for him.

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

68 COMMENTS

  1. Let’s see if it gets reported in DNJournal.

    If it does, good example of how new words, technology and trends can be taken advantage of in domains if you move quickly enough. If the deal happened as he says, then anyone could have done it if they moved first. Still opportunity out there for the bold and brave.

  2. Thanks Elliot.

    #1. Mark Cuban if you are reading this I will walk to Dallas barefoot from Cincinnati to meet you.

    #2. BitcoinWallets (.com) has multiple offers, two six-figure offers, but has not yet been sold.

    #3. A plug to my friend @LouKerner – follow him to join the (great) Bitcoin conference calls.

    #4. Frank Schilling! I asked Merlin to connect us, I want to learn more about your platform.

    #5. Thank you PAUL SLOAN for your 2005 – Master of their Domains article!

    #6. I invite EVERYONE to come introduce yourself if you think we can make money together.

    #7. I’m @NeverLoseVision and the website; NeverLoseVision [.com].

    #8. Prediction: BitcoinWallet [.com] will be eventually resold for seven-figures.

  3. Very nice sale, I hate to think what the guy that sold it for $11K is feeling today, I have done a few large purchases in the high 5 figures, and sometimes the seller puts in that if you sell it within a year, you need to pay me 25% etc…

  4. Wow..Great sale!……However, when I have sold a .com and the other extensions and plural are still available for registration, I advise the buyer to register them for their own protection. I have to question the ethics of someone who sells the .com (for a fair profit) and then grabs the plural and .net…..What are you going to do with those newly registered domains Niko??….. It would be a good time to offer those to the buyer of your original domain for free. Take your profits and be happy, not greedy….Best to you.

    • “Making this even better, Younts was able to acquire similar domain names before the sale of BitcoinWallet.com was revealed”……..C’MON MAN! This is not Domain Investing.

    • Disagree big time.

      Back in the day (5+/- years ago), I’d listen to the live auctions and see what others had for sale at BIN prices that were similar to sales that were made, and I’d buy if the prices were good. I also used to scour the weekly DNJ report as soon as it was published to see what was selling and for what prices and buy good comparables for better prices. This is a dynamic market and you can get good deals if prices weren’t updated to reflect the market conditions.

    • I bet everyone reading this looked for similar domains. Because the seller did it makes it wrong? Come on people..get real. This is about business. You move inventory, you restock. WTG Niko!!

    • Donna and Elliot,

      “I bet everyone reading this looked for similar domains. Because the seller did it makes it wrong?………………Yes, because the seller “secretly” registered and bought, not similar, but exact match domains PRIOR to the release of the public sale. To top it off, for justification, the seller mentions he is protecting the buyer by not allowing competition or venture capitalists to purchase the exact match domains…….So how much will it cost the original buyer to protect his new brand? He has already forked over several hundred thousand dollars to a person pounding his chest while bragging about the profits of the original sale…. Will the venture capitalist’s offer a higher price for the plural and beat the first buyer to a trademark? If you want to make “domain investing” legitimate you should not be supporting underground and weasel tactics. As domain resellers we have an obligation and a code of conduct to help the buyer, not screw them more…If you don’t see it my way, please contact that original buyer and see what he has to say about all this. I can guarantee he will not be happy that the seller sleazed his way back into his business. This is the kind of stuff that keeps professional “domain investors” looking sleazy and as a professional blogger you should re-evaluate your position.

    • I don’t see anything wrong with it.

      My opinion is that the buyer should do due diligence and secure agreements on all domain names of interest. In addition, if the buyer wants to keep things private, he or she should ask for a non-disclosure agreement, which I find to be fairly standard.

      Perhaps the buyer has no interest in the plural or other extensions. Frankly, if the plans are for the website to become a bitcoin wallet, the plural may make no sense at all, and the buyer didn’t care to go after it or other extensions. In that case, the seller who bought the other domain names took a gamble.

      Also, the whole insider trading accusation makes absolutely no sense to me. Are you saying that if I sell XRealEstate.com in private for $xxx,xxx, I am not allowed to go after other similar RealEstate.com domain domain names on the off chance that the buyer might want those, too? Do I need to get permission from him to buy other domain names, and if so, how long does that last? Secondly, if he isn’t interested and I still want to but those names, do you think I am obligated to reveal my private sales data to the owner of those domain names because he is underpricing them?

      Should I not be allowed to pursue other domain names in the same vertical in case a buyer is interested in those names, too? For how long do I need to stay away and how closely related do the domain names need to be?

      For the record, if I was in the same position, I personally would have told the buyer about the availability of domain names in other extensions because I would rather be nice than have the guy think I am a jerk for coming back and offering them to him later (I don’t know if Niko offered them nor will I judge someone else). However, that is a personal choice, and I see it as going above and beyond and certainly wouldn’t begrudge someone for not doing it.

    • “I personally would have told the buyer about the availability of domain names in other extensions because I would rather be nice than have the guy think I am a jerk for coming back and offering them to him later”…………………This would be an example of the right thing to do!

    • But I don’t think there is anything wrong with what Niko did, and I would have grabbed the plural if I saw it for a great price.

      Another hypothetical example/illustration…

      If I sell ChicagoHomes.com for $100k and I see ChicagoRealEstate.com for sale for $20k, I am going to buy that name rather than give the other person that opportunity. I think anyone who likes to make money on domain investments would do that.

    • I agree to disagree…..Maybe an interview with the buyer of BitCoinWallet.com on Domain Investing.com is needed to clear the air…Let’s see how the buyer feels, now knowing the seller purchased and registered exact match domains in other extensions and in the plural, before the sale was finalized and after the sale entered escrow…..There is so much wrong with these kind of domain tactics. Taking advantage of ignorance is not business, it is unethical.

    • I don’t think that is necessary. What the buyer thinks won’t change my opinion. If I was the buyer and wanted the plural, too, I would feel silly for not securing that. Do you think I should interview the guy who sold the name for $11k to see how he feels, too?

    • A wise man once told me, “Don’t argue with fools, those from a distance can’t tell who is who.”

      “…the seller purchased and registered exact match domains in other extensions and in the plural, before the sale was finalized and after the sale entered escrow.”

      You are an idiot.

      You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about.

      From the very first communication until the very last, via email, voicemail, and text message, never NOT ONCE did the buyer mention ANYTHING regarding development, alternative domain extensions, plural variations, non-compete agreements, non-disclosure agreements, or any form of state or federal trademark application or intent to develop a business with the newly acquired domain name asset.

      NOT ONCE.

      I did not engage in ANY research or investment activity with a diliberare attempt to extort money from the buyer. These generic domain assets were acquired from the owners through legitimate and standard business transactions via Escrow and PayPal and were publicly listed FOR ANYONE to acquire in the domain name aftermarket. These initial emails and negotiations were completed AFTER the original sale was 100% complete, and nearly a week later, DomainTools can provide verification.

      The buyer is a genius for his investment and it will pay major dividends in the future, I absolutely guarantee it.

      I ask you kindly, professionally, to end your personal bashing session, I take my professional career, which is also my hobby and passion, very seriously. This is how I earn a living, and never have I, EVER, had any legal disputes involving intellectual property, even after nearly ten years, countless global references and testimonials, and millions of dollars in media transactions.

      Once again, I ask that you find another use of your time. I have an idea! How about studying this industry for 70 hours a week for nearly a decade, and perhaps then we can have an educated and respectable conversation. Maybe.

    • “I ask you kindly, professionally, to end your personal bashing session, I take my professional career, which is also my hobby and passion, very seriously”……….. Perhaps next time you should consider protecting your client who has given you several hundred thousand dollars. After all this is your “professional career” and not the buyer’s………….

  5. @Ron – Thank you. I’ve never heard of that before, but I personally would never agree to a future “what if” clause.

    @Ron – CoinWallet is a good domain, but it lacks the current brand value and sexiness of Bitcoin. But, in the future, in the event that the global infrastructure develops for a variety of digital/virtual/crypto currencies, it could be a big sale without question.

    @Steve – See my comment to Ron, same applies here. But eWallet could in fact be more valuable.

    @Aaron – Thank you. I had to read your post three times in an attempt to really understand where you were coming from, especially considering we have never met and I have no clue who you are. Let me explain a very important fact, since you’ve called my ethics in to question. First, those three domain assets were each acquired in the domain aftermarket for thousands of dollars, they were not $8.67 hand-registrations. This being unclear to you makes me question your knowledge of the industry to begin with, but I’ll continue.

    Over the years I have helped hundreds upon hundreds of businesses with their digital media and marketing initiatives, ranging from $100 mom-and-pops operations to billion dollar Fortune companies. In many situations I have went above and beyond the agreement scope to ensure I exceeded their expectations. And, in addition, I have assisted several household name brands during the process with random acts of kindness, delivering alternative extensions and typos FREE OF CHARGE to the legal brand owner. I call it my domain karma.

    That being said, let me spin the conversation in an attempt to force you to a certain level of comprehension. I entered in to – and closed – the domain name purchase agreement in a positive, energetic, honest, and friendly manner with 100% of my goodwill on the line, signed in ink – and in my heart. FACT.

    But, I am Entrepreneur and professional media consultant who earns a living on the Internet. The generic branding of “Bitcoin Wallet” has no exclusivity, not in real life or via our legal agreement. I have zero legal ties to the buyer, although I made it very clear I was “in this space for the long-haul.”

    Bitcoin is BOOMING. It is everywhere, and growing fast.

    Just two weeks at the Bitcoin Conference in Miami, EVERYONE was preaching about “Bitcoin Wallet” and “Bitcoin Wallets”, yet no one in the room of 1,200 (very smart and very wealthy) people owned either of those digital assets. The corporate branding tag lines, marketing materials, booths and tables were all blasting the “generic branding” of BITCOIN WALLET. Shame on the marketing AND executives teams of each and every Bitcon Wallet company on the planet. One company handed out thousands of T-shirts that read, “No I will not set up your Bitcoin Wallet”. Another company had a 10′ booth that read “World’s Most Popular Bitcoin Wallet”. Just do a Google search, or a Google News search. You’ll see what I mean.

    Numbers don’t lie, people do. – DomainKing

    110,000 PEOPLE PER MONTH type in “Bitcoin Wallet” in to their Google search bar. The suggested bid for PPC (pay-per-click) through their Adwords product is $1.60 and the competition is growing. No matter how you twist and turn the conversation, it is the second best Bitcoin domain – behind Bitcoin.com – on the planet, and is well deserving of the six-figure tag. Same goes for the plural.

    So let’s twist the conversation one more time, just for fun.

    So, should Sex.net just close up shop and transfer their asset to Sex.com? No, they sold it for $450k. Do you think Hotel.com just rolled over and gave their asset to Hotels.com? What about DataCenter.com and DataCenters.com, both six-figure assets. Should the team have transfered Meet.me to MeetMe.com in exchange for a Christmas Card? I doubt they would sleep any better at night and would be out of $450k. What about DUDU.com? Should they have not sold to the DUDU Communications for $1m? I could list countless examples, some more similar in context than others. However, my point is, I would classify these post-sale acquisitions as savvy, not unethical. And for you to suggest otherwise is at least in my opinion, a sign of your inexperience in this industry or business in general, or perhaps even a streak of jealousy? I’m not convinced either way.

    Listen, I’m not here to argue or to have a penis measuring contest. I think I am very good at what I do and have dedicated nearly a decade of my life to “all things digital”. That being said, the buyer is well aware of my abilities, assets, contacts, and experience. And most importantly, he is aware that I am a HUGE fan of Bitcoin and would love nothing more than to be apart of his future team. In the event that doesn’t work out for whatever reason, I whole-heartedly believe it is much better that I own these alternative assets than one of his future venture capital backed competitors. They have the official [yet undocumented] first right of refusal without question.

    I think the bigger lesson here is not to ever have a “Buy-It-Now” price and to understand the end-user potential before you fire sale a premium [.com] domain asset.

    Best regards,

    NY

    • “I whole-heartedly believe it is much better that I own these alternative assets than one of his future venture capital backed competitors. They have the official [yet undocumented] first right of refusal without question”

      This is a hybrid of “insider trading” and “extortion”. A very good example of “cybersquatting”……….Nikko, you seem like a smart guy. Please put yourself in the “buyers” position and you may see it differently……. How much is it going to cost the original buyer to protect himself from venture capital backed competitors? How much more will you profit from this person based on the inside information you had on the original sale? …………..I am just saying, just trying to keep it straight….With our differences I still wish you the best.

    • “I think the bigger lesson here is not to ever have a “Buy-It-Now” price and to understand the end-user potential before you fire sale a premium [.com] domain asset.”

      Cool 🙂

    • Aaron,

      This is a hybrid of “insider trading” and “extortion”. A very good example of “cybersquatting”.

      You can’t be serious?

      LOL.

      And another LOL.

      One more for the record. LOL.

      Listen. I am a DOMAIN NAME INVESTOR. I research news, trends, and sales until my eyeballs bleed and my wrist begin to burn and numb — on a DAILY BASIS. Those domain names were NOT valuable as an result of the original sale, they were valuable THE DAY Satoshi Nakamoto published his official Bitcoin Whitepaper in Q1 of 2009. And, I have not spoken with the buyer regarding my new investments, definitely not “extortion” either. You are pretty brave. And perhaps drunk. WHO ARE YOU…? LoL. I acquired them because creating competitive advantages and EARNING money on the Internet is what I do for living.

      Bitcoin Wallet is as generic as Cat Piss or Purple Tigers or Fast Cars, and is based on a decentralized virtual currency, global payments system and technology.

      Insider trading…?

      I certainly appreciate you calling me unethical AND claiming I’m guilty of insider trading in one day!

      I hope you feel better!

      You remind me of one of those disgruntle moms at the high school basketball game that hate the coach even though he’s doing a great job with his passionate work, simply because her son isn’t good enough to play and rides the pine.

      You can continue to bash me without merit and waste your time, but I refuse to waste anymore of mine.

      The end.

    • I no longer have to question your ethics. Now I know………..and just for clarification, in case you are wondering, I am very brave!

  6. I think the word coin and any word attached to it has sustainable value because “coin” the company is a promising digital wallet and digital currencies are the future. But the word bit attached to coin (notice it’s coin desk, coin seed etc) has short shelf life as busts are being reported daily. Those Global central bankers who hold the real power in the new world order sense will find a way to shut it down as it threatens their con games like solar and wind do to oil. Here’s one of ten daily articles I read that are diluting the value of the word “bit”
    http://valleywag.gawker.com/winklevoss-backed-bitcoin-startup-busted-by-fbi-1509849706

  7. “Due to Escrow.com’s policies, the company does not release any transaction information unless approved by all parties”

    Kudos to Escrow.com for doing the right thing and respecting the privacy of both buyer and seller, something our industry seems to care less about, In the world of domaining, it’s more about making a name for yourself coupled with big egos.

  8. Makes sense to own the dot com sine Apple is purging all bitcoin wallet apps, from most popular down, in fact maybe none left?

    So if the idea of the purchaser is an app, good luck with that, if their own venture and non reliant on an app, they bought smart.

  9. Niko,
    Couldn’t have happened to a better guy. This guy has provided countless hours of his life to promote awareness of the power of domain names. I still remember all the efforts for .tv. Never asked for a penny of his time. You are right. It all comes back. Congrats on an awesome sale. Hope we can chat soon.

    A

  10. LOL, I mentioned “spitcoin” here a while ago when the .com was still available, and I see someone picked it up on Jan 17. I even checked its availability a bit after first mentioning it here.

  11. Now John, you could at least have mentioned that you are a different John from me, me being the John from 8:51 to 8:57. I would never take such liberties with Elliot’s name or deviate from rhyming with “bit” in some portion. 😀

  12. “That being said, the buyer is well aware of my abilities, assets, contacts, and experience”

    Is the buyer also aware that you’ve been plastering this sale all over the internet? disclosing his domain, what he paid for it, along with his full name? Leading to Coindesk publishing his Wife’s name, his profession and his bankruptcy filing.. I think we’d all be interested if he approved the disclosure.

    • The publishing of the sale on Twitter is what drove the buyers private information to be published, And the likely reason you cant confirm the sale from the buyer is because buyer wants it PRIVATE. Yeah it’s a great sale, but sadly the seller has no respect for the buyers privacy after receiving 250,000 of his money.

      As for the non-disclosure agreement, most buyers are not aware of what sellers publish after a domain sale, I’m sure if he knew, he would of had one.

    • Raider,
      “Yeah it’s a great sale, but sadly the seller has no respect for the buyers privacy after receiving 250,000 of his money.”……….I couldn’t agree more!….It reminds me of the first time I purchased a five figure domain and forgot about the NDA. The domain and price was splattered everywhere, thanks to the seller pounding his chest and looking for two minutes of fame. This has since hurt my negotiating power on this domain as it is now public. I learned the hard way and so will the buyer of BitcoinWallet.com…..There are many lesson’s to be learned by this story.

    • Sometimes a seller isn’t looking for fame with a particular sale. Sometimes it helps increase the value of other holdings. Take Mike Berkens for example. He’s had some great VisitCity.com sales that were publicized, and I think that helped drive up the aftermarket value for other names that he owns. I would argue he wasn’t doing it to pound his chest but to make more money on subsequent sales.

    • Well said. Buyers in a competitive industry should always draft a NDA. It protects their identity and ideas from being projected on the net, especially to their competitors. If the seller knew he was in the right, then he wouldn’t spend time writing long comments to explain his past good deeds.

      Good karma comes from doing good things without requesting a future award in return. Even mentioning all the good one has done and they deserve this good karma thus violate the law of attraction. We do good because we know it is the right thing to do. Any rewards coming from this good are a bonus we don’t expect. We know the good luck is as a result of past human kindness.

      There is no need to explain oneself unless there is a lack on confidence about how one is viewed to others. Why worry about making this sale and buying BitcoinWallets.com? To tell people you sold this domain across Twitter is unprofessional. A real domain investor would keep the sale quiet until after it’s reported. If the buyer drafts an NDA, then you can’t mention this buyer and must conceal the price.

      The seller did get good karma for his past good deeds. However, his explanations are cheapening the true intentions of karma and the law of attraction. The moment you think you’re doing good deeds to get good results, you discredit the act.

  13. i don’t know. the whole thing sounds fishy. the guy buys it for 11k then just happens to find someone willing to pay 250k within a month?

  14. What if I made a deal to sell a domain for a crazy price, and gave the seller, concessions, to buy back, and non use refunds, and bought up all the other domains in the same niches, similar to the one I sold, causing the price of similar assets to go up, and cash in, what do you call that?

  15. Elliott is really the voice of reason here and I genuinely agree with his posts regarding the criticisms or “accusations.” I’ll be among the first to cry foul when people do wrong and engage in bad shenanigans, and the things mentioned here are “not it.” (7:21 pm John here again 🙂 )

  16. The buyer can be viewed as both ethical and unethical in securing the plural domain while finalizing this Bitcoin domain sale. It really depends on whether the two parties drafted a contract with terms and conditions concerning no present and/or future purchases in the space for an x amount of time.

    There are many domain investors who acquire similar domains to sell at a later time. How do we know what prices and what domains are fair. We can view the entire domain name industry as unethical? Is LoveYourJob.com really worth $22,500 sale? Probably not. But the end-user who has a TM on the phrase feels this name is worth price.

    It may not be ethical to purchase similar names while a sale is pending. However, the domain name industry is about who gets to the domain name first before others. This buyer can be viewed as a genius or as a greedy snake.

  17. The guy is smart. No different than selling insurancequote and then insurancequotes plural in any extension.

    If he does not get it someone else will. It is not anyone’s business anyway.
    I think the bigger issue is that people can’t handle someone making that much money in a month.

  18. Even though there was some differences in the comments, I learned a whole bunch here. Was almost like a SharkTank episode. Good reading!

  19. Hi I own bitcoinmywallet.com can any one see any value in this domain ,now or in the future … I would appreciate any feedback .. whatsoever ..Thanks

  20. Litecoin is trending very hot too, next big thing and some people think it will outperform Bitcoin. I’m selling LitecoinBoard.com for a low price, email me or visit the domain. Excellent premium generic with development opportunity!

  21. Niko you’ve been phenomenal throughout the sale, but I take issue with your prediction that bitcoinwallet.com will sell for only seven figures. I’ll join you on your barefoot pilgrimage to Dallas walking backwards if it gets us court side seats with Mark.

  22. I say well done to Niko – I wish I had his knowledge and abilities. I can’t understand what those people who are moaning are moaning about. Domain names are big business – people buy and sell them just like anything else.

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