When reading the news in the U.S., there are often stories that make you think, "Is this really possible?" especially when the amounts involved seem excessively large.

A few days ago, it was reported that a simple two-letter English domain, AI.com, was sold for a whopping $70 million.

As someone who uses a computer and the internet all day as an office worker, it felt like a symbol of where the world is heading.

The buyer of AI.com is Chris Mazalek, the CEO of Crypto.com.

The transaction was made through a domain brokerage, and the amount translates to about 100 billion won in Korean currency.

What's even more surprising is that the entire payment was made in cryptocurrency.

It really felt like a symbolic moment in the internet economy, buying a digital address with digital assets.

This transaction marks the highest price ever recorded in public domain sales history. The previous record was set in 2010 with the sale of CarInsurance.com for about $49.7 million. Following that, VacationRentals.com sold for $35 million, and Voice.com and PrivateJet.com each sold for around $30 million. Even the once-legendary internet domain Sex.com sold for $13 million, highlighting just how extraordinary the price of AI.com is.

The concept of domain investment has actually existed for a long time.

Just like securing prime real estate, it involves acquiring short and memorable internet addresses in advance.

Especially, two-word English domains tend to increase in value over time. Since there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, there are only 26x26=676 combinations. Currently, all combinations are already registered, so they can only be purchased through auctions or direct transactions, and many investors who bought such addresses for a few thousand dollars in the early days of the internet have seen returns of dozens or even hundreds of times their investment.

However, this AI.com transaction signifies more than just a simple investment.

CEO Mazalek has stated that he views AI as the biggest technological trend for the next 10 to 20 years. He already owns the iconic domain Crypto.com, and by adding AI.com, he has effectively captured both pillars of the digital economy. It's also interesting that one person holds two such powerful category domains.

The service he envisions is futuristic. He plans to create an AI agent platform based on AI.com that sends messages or executes stock trades on behalf of humans. In simple terms, he aims to operate an AI that serves as both a personal assistant and a financial manager from the central address of the internet.

As I read this news, I suddenly thought about how in the past, buying a good domain was a marketing strategy, but now it has become more about seizing the symbols of an industry. The era of directly entering addresses instead of searching has passed, but in terms of brand trust and symbolism, it remains a powerful asset.

Now that I'm in my 40s, I view technology news from an investment perspective. Words like Bitcoin, AI, and cloud computing feel like they are becoming new infrastructures rather than just trends. Twenty years ago, dot-coms were the future, and now AI has taken that place.

In a few years, people may debate whether this transaction was expensive or if it was a bargain.

But one thing is clear: we are standing at the beginning of another massive wave of technology.