Domains ending in something other than .com sold briskly in 2021.
.Com is king.
It’s a fair statement. .Com is the largest namespace with nearly 160 million registrations. .Com dominates the domain aftermarket, too.
But for domain investors who dis non-.com domains as an investment, 2021 seemed like a wake-up call.
The best example comes from investor Swetha Yenugula. She has steadfastly invested in .xyz domains over the years, and all of that work came to fruition in 2021. Some of her sales this year include:
glow.xyz $78,888
quest.xyz $69,888
alliance.xyz $50,000
stir.xyz $39,888
collective.xyz $37,000
squid.xyz $34,888
Swetha isn’t the only person to sell .xyz domains. Nikul Sanghvi sold nomad.xyz for $49,000. Kellie Peterson revealed several five-figure sales on the DNW Podcast this month.
.Xyz has benefited from increased demand from blockchain-related companies. For example, Jack Dorsey’s company Square renamed its corporate umbrella Block and uses the domain block.xyz.
It’s not the only non-.com top level domain to realize big sales this year. .Io and .co remain popular. Eth is a great second level domain in any extension. Eth.co sold for $300,000. Eth.club sold for $200,000. These sales might be even more surprising:
eth.cm $112,800
eth.paris $50,000
eth.website $50,000
eth.gg $49,995
eth.green $45,000
eth.pink $30,000
eth.black $30,000
With eth domains, investors who paid attention to trends could cash in.
To make it into the top 10 non-.com sales this year, a domain had to sell for at least $100,000. Last year that number was only $76,300, and the year before, it was $52,820.
.Com is still the safest bet. There are no premium renewals. It’s the de facto upgrade choice. And .com domains sold for record prices this year, too (see other post). But 2021 was definitely a breakout year for non-coms.
