An IPv4 address is one of the building blocks of today’s internet. Every website that has come into existence owes part of its stability to IPv4 because it allows user access and interaction. Composed for four sets of numbers from 0-255 separated by a dot, it’s practically the numerical equivalent of a website to ensure fast and stable access.
When it was introduced during the 80s by DARPA or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the 4.29 billions of IPv4 addresses was thought to be more than enough for the internet. But the rise of the internet means more and more websites are created and IPv4 addresses are quickly snatched up. Every IPv4 address today is already in use.
Money From IPv4 Ownership
The law of supply and demand is quite simple: when the demand is higher than supply, the price of the product will naturally go up and this is true with IPv4. According to Ripe.net, there are no longer available IPv4 addresses available as of November 2019. There is literally no supply left which means the demand is skyrocketing.
Businesses and online companies have to take a closer look at their digital assets especially if they have an unused IPv4 address. Because of the increase in demand, unused IPv4 could be used for financial compensation. It’s practically a sitting asset that increases in pricing as long as there is a demand.
There are actually two ways of earning through IPv4 assets: outright sale and leasing. Each option speaks for itself and selling might be a good option if there is no immediate need for the IPv4 address in future. On the other hand, leasing an IPv4 address is a viable option because it offers asset owners a chance to earn from their asset without having to yield its ownership. Leasing an IPv4 address is one of the business services by Amazon Web Services and although they are relatively affordable, it could still mean millions of earnings to AWS because of their sheer number of subscribers. They are still the owners of the IPv4 addresses but they are temporarily in use by their subscribers for a fee.
The IPv6 Option
Selling and leasing of IPv4, because of the increase in demand is slowly becoming a big business. But the development of technology is just right around the corner. The IPv4 market still experiences a robust surge of demand but a technology that has been introduced nearly three decades ago is in position to replace it.
While the use of IPv4 is still the standard for most internet use, the introduction of IPv6 is a welcome option. However, technological requirements not to mention hardware upgrades needed to implement IPv6 has made it a big challenge for now.
So it’s very important to note that IPv4 is still a very important asset for a business to own. Aside from outright sale, owners of IPv4 can opt to lease this asset to ensure ownership in the long term while enjoying monetary compensation for lease. The demand is high and unless IPv6 makes a technological leap for easier implementation, the demand will only increase.