The most expensive domain ever sold on a blockchain was ‘paradigm.eth’ sold on October 9, 2021, for a massive $1.51 million. This makes it THE MOST EXPENSIVE blockchain domain by a factor of 5. But what makes this domain name so much more elusive than the others? And where do the other crypto domain names hold up? Let’s take a look:

10. opensea.eth

Blockchain domains are text-based NFTs. And OpenSea is the biggest NFT marketplace out there. So it’s not a surprise seeing OpenSea here. This is part of Ethereum Naming Service’s collection and sold for $163,889 in 2022. This is just the start of ENS domination on this list!

9. ensmaxisnft.eth

ENS domains maximizing (slanged as maxis) ENS itself! This domain sold for $166,315 in 2022. It appears to be part of the wider ecosystem of the @ENSMaxisNFT Twitter/X account.

8. sapdeutschland.eth

Crypto is surging back again and in new markets this time. This domain was bought just this year in 2023 for $179,731! ‘sapdeutschland’ means Sap Germany. Don’t know why they are sapping Germany, or if it even has a German connection, but there has got to be some interesting backstory there!

7. artdao.eth

artdao.eth, as the name suggests, belongs to ArtDAO. ArtDAO is a community of artists helping each other out. Brilliant concept. And to acclimatize that, the community pitched in together to buy the domain for $194,560 in 2021. Their website is also incredibly funky!

6. mazars.eth

Mazars Group is a global audit, accounting and consulting group. They have a workforce of over 42,000 professionals worldwide. And to bolster that brand image, the company bought mazars.eth worth $195,067 just this year. They are also the newest entry to the list. Good way to build credibility with the web3 crowd!

5. porno.eth

We don’t think the concept and the placement is anything out of the ordinary. It’s internet! You should’ve expected this here! And thus, the sale of $204,505 breaking us into the 200k’s.

4. deepak.eth

deepak.eth belongs to @dt_chain, the founder of Chain. He bought it at the height of web3 bull market in 2022 for $220,401. Unfortunately, after the collapse of FTX, Chain and Deepak were forced to sell the domain. A sad end…

3. abc.eth

Three-lettered domains sell for massive prices. And what’s a more well-known combo of three letters than ABC? Combine people’s love for ABC and web3 domains, and you’ve got abc.eth. We’re entering the top 3 as this domain sold for a massive $253,100 in 2022. The original holder of the domain sold it for just $1540 back in Oct 2020. That’s gotta hurt…

2. 000.eth

If three-lettered domains are popular, then three-digit letters are ahead in the game. Here you can argue that 123.eth or 420.eth should’ve taken the cake. But reality is often stranger than fiction. As such, 000.eth sold for $317,759 in 2022.

1. paradigm.eth

000.eth had everything set right for it. And yet, truth is stranger still. Paradigm.eth is the most expensive web3 domain ever sold and it beats the second spot by a 5x margin. This domain isn’t related to the Paradigm VC group and is held by an anonymous wallet. Whoever the madlad is, decided to splurge $1,508,884 for a good joke.

Who knows what the next big domain will be? Maybe ENS dominance will be broken by DotShm or DotOmni in the coming months and years?

Only one thing is certain, the world of web3 domains is ever-changing and new strategies are inevitable. So be on the lookout for new domains and your just might strike virtual gold!