Thoughts

Andrew Miller

December 29, 2024

Reflecting on 2024

Decided to do a year end RST. Reflecting on what has been an exciting 2024 at Hilco Digital Assets, following up an awesome 2023, where we oversaw the largest reported sale of ’23, the $15.5m sale of Chat*com. In 2024, we oversaw the #1 and #2 largest reported sales, Rocket*com ($15m) and Gold*com ($8.6m), https://lnkd.in/eQgvYhNY.  These also make up 3 of the top 10 reported sales of all time, https://lnkd.in/eAP97FeK.  I have been acquiring, developing businesses on, investing in, and advising on the most valuable category defining and exact match domain names since 1998, and over that time, most of my transactions as well as the many that are not ours, are under strict confidentiality on price and not reported. There are clearly many more domain transactions that would be on these “charts”, including others of ours and our peers, as the vast majority are never going to have the price come out publicly. It was circumstantial that the Chat, Rocket, and Gold deals pricing all came out publicly. When the most successful companies and CEO’s in the world acquire the most valuable domain assets for their businesses, and that pricing is disclosed, it generates valuable press and helps the business community at large understand the value and strategic importance of domains.

Excited for 2025!

In 2024, we started to see a resurgence of venture investing, which is so important to domain names and the startup ecosystem. I expect this momentum, along with a strong M&A and IPO climate, to continue in 2025. The establishment of Bitcoin’s long term security and importance will also be a massive factor in the increasing activity  for the most premium domain names and digital assets. We are so bullish on where venture capital is headed that we invested in the category defining domain names VentureCapital.com and PrivateEquity.com.

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