We know that Bitcoin.com is involved in a five-year deal with Blockchain.info, but what about the highly sought-after bitcoins.com domain name?
There’s now a chance to pick up the domain, with news today that the domain will hit the auction block later this month as part of Heritage Auctions’ Domain Names & Intellectual Property Auction, which will see the sale of a slew high-value of web addresses.
The domain was owned by Mark Karpeles, CEO of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange, which took a devastating tumble into bankruptcy protection following the loss of investor monies earlier this year.
“We are hoping, with the sale of Bitcoins.com, to provide some relief to the people impacted by the Mt. Gox bankruptcy,” said Mr. Karpeles in a press statement, “and [we’ll] be putting at least half of the sale amount toward that purpose.”
The domain is expected to fetch a pretty penny (or should we say bitcoin?), given bitcoin’s explosive growth over the past eighteen months.
“Bitcoins.com is absolutely the best remaining, and available name for this new market,” said Aron Meystedt, who serves as Founder and Director of the Domain Names & Intellectual Property category at Heritage Auctions. “Bitcoin.com, the singular version, is owned and used by Blockchain.info, the world’s most popular bitcoin wallet, and Bitcoinwallet.com itself is also already tied up. For the right investor this is a golden opportunity.”
Bitcoins.com was one of the few valuable intellectual property items Karpeles and Mt. Gox held. Mt. Gox also held a trademark for ‘Bitcoin’ in both the European Union and Japan.
“The current market capitalization of all bitcoins in circulation is between $7 billion and $8 billion,” continued Meystedt. “Daily, there are millions of dollars in transactions in Bitcoins. This auction offers the opportunity to capitalize on one of the most significant developments since the inception of the Internet.”
The auction is slated to begin on the 24th of July and could fetch over $750,000, according to estimates. The opening bid will start at $185,000.