In 2021, NameBio recorded 2,241 .io domain sales, totaling $4.2 million. The popular extension produced 5 sales of $100,000 or more in 2021, too. Here, we’re looking at the top 10 .io sales from 2021 to see how they’re being used now.
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Mint.io – $230,000
The only .io domain to break the $200,000 barrier so far is Mint.io, which was sold for $230,000 with NameBio listing Mike Carson’s Park.io platform as the seller. The domain was acquired by Sweetspot N.v, an online casino and gambling operator that also owns Casino.me.
Metaverse.io – $175,000
The second-largest publicly-disclosed .io sale of all time also happened in 2021 when Metaverse.io sold for $175,000. The sale was announced by Media Options CEO Andrew Rosener on DomainSherpa in March 2021. As of publishing, the domain is under WHOIS privacy protection at GoDaddy and doesn’t resolve.
Ledger.io – $120,000
Ledger, the cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer acquired Ledger.io for $120,000, with Afternic handling the deal. The domain was likely purchased as a brand protection move and simply resolves to a default landing page for domain registrar Gandi.net.
Auction.io – $100,000
One of many .io domains sold by Park.io’s founder Mike Carson is Auction.io, which sold for $100,000. The buyer was the Texas-based YourStore LLC, which put Auction.io to work as the shop window for YourStore LLC to sell its auction platform software.
Meta.io – $100,000
The final publicly-disclosed six-figure .io sale from 2021 is Meta.io, which sold months before Facebook’s announcement that it was to rebrand to Meta. The name was acquired by a social token platform called Meta Network, but now the domain doesn’t seem to resolve. Meta (Facebook) forked out hundreds of thousands of dollars on other Meta-related domains such as Meta.so for $149,000 but it’s unclear whether the company ultimately secured Meta.io after it sold for this six-figure fee.
Avatar.io – $89,999
Another sale from Park.io’s Mike Carson was Avatar.io, selling for $89,999 in May 2021. The name was acquired by Avatar Labs, a company that is using Avatar.io to host its metaverse avatar project.
Factory.io – $88,888
Mike Carson’s Park.io was also responsible for the sale of Factory.io for $88,888 in November 2011. The domain hosts a landing page for Factory. Few details are immediately available about the company behind the domain.
Ruby.io – $88,000
Sold by UltraDomains’ Josh Schoen, Ruby.io was acquired by Ruby Protocol, a data monetization framework based on functional encryption powered by the Polkadot network. The domain hosts Ruby Protocol’s main website and was an upgrade from RubyProtocol.com.
Trade.io – $88,000
Financial and technology-related .io domain names tend to do well in the aftermarket, and this is a prime example. Trade.io sold for $88,000, with Trade.io Ltd. listed as the current owner. I believe that the trading platform Tiomarkets may be behind the purchase. The domain currently hosts a simple landing page.
Boxing.io – $65,000
Domain brokerage MrPremium.com facilitated the sale of Boxing.io for $65,000 in 2021. The .com equivalent, Boxing.com, also likely sold in 2021 for $1.15 million. Unfortunately, no details of the buyer are available as the WHOIS data isn’t publicly disclosed and the domain still redirects to the MrPremium.com website.