I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2022. Looking back at 2021 there were a few 3 letter combinations, the Metaverse and Swetha that dominated the news in 2021.
NFT
Non fungible tokens, made a huge impact in 2021, some prominent domain investors swifted some or all of their attention to the NFT market. People like Shane Cultra, Jonathan Tenenbaum, Alan Dunn, the Booth brothers really kicked some major ass in 2021. Paradise Trippies is off to a good start with guys like Shane and the Block’s as prominent contributors.
When it comes to domain name sales, we saw several NFT sales.
Some of these sales were recent handregs. NFTDex.com sold for $25,000 at Sedo. Very impressive for a hand reg that was only 15 months old. A two month old hand reg. CenterNFT.com sold for $4,999 at NamePull.com.
Back in June I wrote about NFT3.com selling for $50,000 at Sedo. The domain name was registered in 2017 and dropped after one year. It was then registered in 2019 and dropped after one year.
Third time was the charm after two Chinese registrants allowed the domain name to drop. There is now a site up on NFT3.com.
NFT exact match sales totaled 14:
nft.com2,000,000 USD2021-02-21Private
nft.app50,000 USD2021-03-03DAN.com
nft.rentals8,150 USD2021-11-02Sav.com
nft.ca6,500 USD2021-10-24UnicDomains
nft.business5,050 USD2021-12-04Sav.com
nft.holdings4,400 USD2021-12-04Sav.com
nft.page4,161 USD2021-12-26Docky.ly
nft.win3,100 USD2021-11-07Sedo
nft.info3,023 USD2021-01-28Sedo
nft.bio2,275 USD2021-11-03Dynadot
nft.baby2,000 USD2021-12-25Catched.com
nft.green1,075 USD2021-11-19Dynadot
nft.boutique1,010 USD2021-10-20Sav.com
nft.bar116 USD2021-04-08Sav.com
ETH
The ticker symbol for cryptocurrency Ethereum was on fire in 2021.Some prominent domain investors have made sales with this keyword including, Mark Levine and Logan Flatt. Not many sites up and running on these yet and I really want to see ETH.hockey.
In total 22 exact match sales:
eth.co300,000 USD2021-05-23MagnumDomains
eth.club200,000 USD2021-09-14Domaincracy
eth.cm112,800 USD2021-12-25Nam.es
eth.paris50,000 USD2021-11-09Domain Smoke
eth.website50,000 USD2021-09-30Sedo
eth.gg49,995 USD2021-04-11Media Code LLC
eth.green45,000 USD2021-11-21Dynadot
eth.black30,000 USD2021-12-19Dynadot
eth.pink30,000 USD2021-12-19Dynadot
eth.id14,286 USD2021-09-13Sedo
eth.digital14,199 USD2021-11-21Dynadot
eth.cards10,451 USD2021-10-25Sedo
eth.photography4,999 USD2021-09-13DomainTheory
eth.boats3,999 USD2021-09-13DomainTheory
eth.hockey3,999 USD2021-09-13DomainTheory
eth.help3,500 USD2021-02-04Sedo
eth.photo2,999 USD2021-09-13DomainTheory
eth.baby2,200 USD2021-10-18Sedo
eth.pictures2,010 USD2021-11-20Sav.com
eth.gift1,597 USD2021-11-29Dynadot
eth.reviews958 USD2021-11-08Dynadot
eth.so134 USD2021-01-11Dynadot
XYZ
.Com is the undisputed king of domain name extensions, but one upstart came back from the depths of only 14 reported sales in 2019. Namebio reported 563 .xyz sales in 2021. Web3 companies have embraced the extension, TechCrunch just wrote an article a couple of days ago delving into this development.
Square becoming Block.xyz was a boost for the extension in the minds of some. It spurred more buying action.
.Com only investors like Elliot have dipped their toe in the .xyz pool. It remains to be seen if this pace keeps up. If investors raise the price of .xyz names, will these new startups move to another extension like .site or .link for example.
I am no way suggesting they will but you need to keep an open mind that with so much choice, if the prices get so high to acquire, then you could see another not so new gtld gain traction.
If in 2019 I told you aperture.xyz will sell for $19,888 with the plural in .com only going for $1,600, I bet I would have gotten a lot of betting action on that. I probably could have gotten 100:1 odds as well.
It’s not all champagne and roses either, some might find challenges to using a .xyz.
Gordon Hempton is the CEO of Spot Virtual did a blog post that is important for domain investors and businesses alike. Gordon detailed some of the problems he ran into with using the name Spot.xyz.
Swetha
No discussion of .xyz can take place without mention of the Queen of .xyz. Swetha from DNGear.com/Swetha.xyz had a year for the ages. At the end of November I interviewed her and got the details on what she owns and what her plans are moving forward. She shares more than most and many have been appreciative of her sharing.
Swetha dominated the top 20 in 2021 for .xyz domain name sales:
glow.xyz79,888 USD2021-12-25Swetha.xyz
quest.xyz69,888 USD2021-09-16Swetha.xyz
alliance.xyz50,000 USD2021-11-18Swetha.xyz
nomad.xyz49,000 USD2021-12-03hypernames.co
stir.xyz39,888 USD2021-10-27Swetha.xyz
collective.xyz37,000 USD2021-12-03Swetha.xyz
squid.xyz34,888 USD2021-10-12Swetha.xyz
drop.xyz30,000 USD2021-07-16DAN.com
agora.xyz27,888 USD2021-09-22Swetha.xyz
flip.xyz27,888 USD2021-09-09Swetha.xyz
Meta
Meta crazy in 2021, people have been registering meta related names in droves. Facebook rebranding to Meta helped take things to another level. People hand regged names like MetaFb.net and sold them for $30,000. MyMetaFarm.com sold for $6,200 at Dynadot and was created on 2021-08-26.
Exact match meta sales totaled 16:
meta.so149,000 USD2021-10-05hypernames.co
meta.io100,000 USD2021-03-30Park.io
meta.lc20,000 USD2021-09-30ShowMeDomains
meta.monster19,000 USD2021-12-13Catched.com
meta.equipment14,600 USD2021-10-26Sav.com
meta.stream10,001 USD2021-12-19NameCheap
meta.best10,000 USD2021-09-13MrPremium.com
meta.mba7,200 USD2021-11-15Sav.com
meta.bargains7,050 USD2021-10-26Sav.com
meta.cloud5,000 USD2021-07-26Sedo
meta.cd3,708 USD2021-11-09Sedo
meta.cheap3,550 USD2021-11-28Sav.com
meta.fm1,500 USD2021-08-07Catched.com
meta.cash820 USD2021-09-20Dynadot
meta.finance467 USD2021-05-02Dynadot
meta.global155 USD2021-08-23Dynadot
Metaverse registered 7:
metaverse.io175,000 USD2021-03-05Park.io
metaverse.one20,000 USD2021-07-27DomainNameCloud.com
metaverse.xyz9,888 USD2021-02-28Swetha.xyz
metaverse.holdings5,850 USD2021-12-10Sav.com
metaverse.team906 USD2021-09-07Sav.com
metaverse.vegas888 USD2021-10-07Boldnames.co
metaverse.page155 USD2021-08-09Docky.ly
Sedo published their most searched keywords for November. NFT and Meta made the list. Variations and other similar names have fared well too, to end the year Petaverse.com went for $39,999 at GoDaddy auctions. A metaverse for pets?
Looking back and forward
I think 2021 was a year to really make a lot of money, but a lot of that money was in niches new for many or where people were skeptical, every day people tell me NFT’s are a ponzi, a bubble, a joke. But I also know plenty of people who made real money and cashed out, that money is real in their bank accounts. I owned no NFT’s in 2021, I missed that boat, at first I felt like what? Ok, I need to understand this stuff and as I was getting educated the prices just kept running away. I am interested in that market and will assess it more in 2022.
It’s going to be interesting in 2022 if people chase the NFT, ETH, Meta, Xyz trends, or if they look for new niches. Will the stars of 2021 perform in 2022? There is a lot of FOMO out there, in December checking in on people there were a couple who told me they had abandoned hope. One told me that they could not understand solid .coms they own not selling and someone handregging MetaFb.net and getting $30,000. He told me he contemplated suicide because he could just not understand business anymore, how a jpeg sells for $69m and he knows people who can’t sell what he perceives valuable for a fair price.
It’s complicated, I think there are many that don’t understand Web3 others want it to be or hope it is a bubble. A long time acquiantance told me at least a dozen times he prays, actually gets down on his knees and prays that crypto collapses. I tell him every time that is not a healthy outlook but it does not seem to matter.
You either decide the game is changing and you want to participate and learn the new game, or you do not participate, stick to what you know, there are plenty of ways to make money, none of them are easy. The digital space is crowded in every niche. You need to decide what works for you at what level of investment and risk.
Don’t take anyone’s success in 2021 as a guarantee of success for you in 2022 or beyond, do your homework and don’t get discouraged. Reach out to people, there are many in this business that will help you, they are not going to hand you cash, which I have found some consider that the only form of help they want. It’s been a long year, I hope all our readers have a healthy and prosperous 2022. Stay safe and always be learning something new.