The URLV Domain Aggregate is a reference series for qualifying reported domain transactions. It measures the volume-weighted value of reported domain sales across the period 2009 to present, rebalanced monthly. The underlying data is public. The index is the act of gathering it into one place and keeping it open.
Every major asset class has a historical reference of this kind. Equities have CRSP, going back to 1926. Homes have Case-Shiller, going back to 1987. Bonds, commodities, and fine art all have comprehensive reference series. Domain names have not. The records existed but were scattered across private feeds, rate-limited databases, published reports, and venue-specific channels — rarely in the same place, rarely in the same format, and never under a license that permitted use.
Given the liquidity dynamics of the domain market, the URLV Domain Aggregate is accompanied by a trimmed-outlier companion series, the URLV Domain Aggregate Adjusted*, which removes the three largest recorded transactions of each period to isolate the underlying middle-market level from the effect of individual megadeals.
The index reflects publicly reported transactions only. Confirmed domain sales that take place outside of public reporting channels are not included and are generally understood to occur at prices higher than the average of those that are publicly disclosed.
A market that cannot reference its own past cannot build on its future.
Overview
The URLV Domain Aggregate is designed to track the volume-weighted value of publicly reported domain transactions across the period 2009 to present. It follows a systematic compilation process that aggregates qualifying records from a set of cited public sources, normalizes them, and publishes the resulting level on a monthly rebalancing cadence. The index is a reference series — not a tradable instrument, not an investment vehicle, and not a proprietary dataset.
The headline level reports the volume-weighted average value of qualifying reported transactions for the period. A companion series, the URLV Domain Aggregate Adjusted, removes the three largest recorded transactions of each period to isolate concentration-driven movement from broad market participation. Both series are published side by side so that the divergence between them can be read as a standalone market signal.
Considerations
The URLV Domain Aggregate is compiled from publicly reported transaction data and therefore reflects the editorial selection, coverage scope, and publication cadence of its source publishers. The level of the index may shift in response to changes in source coverage, reporting conventions, or the addition of new cited sources in subsequent methodology updates.
Inclusion in the index requires a minimum transaction value of USD 500. Transactions below this threshold are excluded from the headline series and are tracked separately as a wholesale sub-segment not currently published.
The Adjusted series, which trims the three largest transactions of each period, is a structural correction rather than a forecast. When the spread between the headline index and the Adjusted series widens in a given period, it indicates that the headline movement for that period was concentration-driven. When the spread is narrow, it indicates that movement reflected broad participation across the reported sample.
The index has a limited history, covering the period 2009 to present. Any interpretation relying on the series should account for this limited historical record and the editorial character of its source data.
Risk factors
Use of the URLV Domain Aggregate involves certain limitations and risks. The following is a summary. You should read the full methodology and consult with your own legal, financial, and tax advisers before relying on the index for any purpose.
Source dependency. The index is compiled from publicly reported transaction data published by third-party sources. The underlying data may be incomplete, may reflect editorial selection by its publishers, and may contain errors, omissions, or incomplete venue attributions. url.ventures makes no warranty as to the completeness or accuracy of the source records.
Concentration risk. The domain market is highly dispersed and concentration-prone. A small number of transactions can materially move the index level in any given period. The Adjusted series is designed to make this effect visible, but it does not eliminate it. Users should not interpret the headline level in isolation.
Limited performance history. The index has a limited performance history covering 2009 to present. Any hypothetical performance, back-testing, or scenario analysis relying on the series is subject to inherent limitations and benefits from hindsight. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
No investment product. The index is not an investment vehicle. No fund, product, certificate, or instrument is offered by url.ventures in connection with the index. References to historical performance do not represent returns achievable by any actual portfolio.
Methodology changes. The methodology may be updated over time, including the integration of additional public sources, refinements to inclusion criteria, or adjustments to the outlier-trimming rules. All material changes are logged in the public changelog.
URLV DOMAIN AGGREGATE — ANNUAL INDEX
| Total return (%, cumulative) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Price Level | $ Value | Q | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 7Y | 10Y |
| Year | Price Level | $ Value | Δ vs headline | Top 3 share |
|---|
* The Adjusted series is computed by removing the three largest recorded transactions of each period from both the volume total and the transaction count before averaging. The difference between the headline URLV Domain Aggregate and the Adjusted series isolates the contribution of individual megadeals to the headline. Periods in which this difference exceeds twenty percent typically reflect concentration-driven movement rather than broad market participation.
Q denotes the count of qualifying reported transactions for the period. Inclusion requires a minimum transaction value of USD 500, appearance in a publicly reported source, and a traceable venue. 2026 figures are year-to-date and presently dominated by a single transaction (ai.com, reported USD 70,000,000). 2025 is the most recent closed-year reference value. The series, methodology, and compiled outputs are licensed CC BY 4.0; underlying source records remain attributable to their original public sources.
Notes from the series
The following are drawn directly from the URLV Domain Aggregate series and were not computable before the construction of this index. Presented in the order the series reveals them.
- The modern low is 2012, not 2011. The index troughed at Level 74.9 in 2012, with a trailing three-year return of −25.1%. No prior reference has located the floor of the post-crisis domain market.
- 2019 recorded a +63.0% single-period return. Trailing ten-year performance reached +194.2% — roughly a tripling since inception. The year was not widely characterised as a boom. The data disagrees.
- 2020 and 2021 together represent a 4.9x round-trip. The index declined 49.1% in 2020, then advanced 149.7% in 2021. Dispersion of this magnitude is uncommon outside early-stage venture and digital assets.
- Every ten-year cohort in the series is positive. Minimum +25.1% (2020); maximum +380.8% (2021); no cohort has posted a negative ten-year figure. This is the floor that makes portfolio-collateralised lending underwritable.
- The 2021 peak is the all-time high. Trailing five-year: +146.6%. Trailing ten-year: +380.8%. An investor with a 2011 entry and a 2021 exit nearly quintupled.
- The middle of the market has been flat. With the three largest transactions per year removed, the Adjusted series moved within approximately USD 10,000 to 18,000 from 2015 through 2024. Over the same interval the headline advanced roughly 180%. The divergence is concentration, not breadth.
- Concentration is the story of 2019, 2022, and 2024. In each, removing only the three largest transactions cut the reported index by more than thirty-five percent. These are the years in which the headline most diverged from broad participation.
Top transactions — annual top ten
| # | Domain | Reported price | Period |
|---|
Methodology
The URLV Domain Aggregate is constructed as a volume-weighted arithmetic mean. For each calendar period, the index reports the level — computed as total qualifying volume divided by the count of qualifying transactions — and the corresponding USD value of the average transaction. The index is rebalanced on the first business day of each month. Historical records are append-only; prior periods are not revised silently; a public changelog is maintained.
Inclusion. A transaction qualifies when it meets three criteria: a minimum value of USD 500; appearance in a publicly reported source; and a traceable venue. Duplicate records are de-duplicated by the tuple of domain, price, venue, and month.
Sources. The index draws on publicly reported transaction data. The v1.0 release compiles transactions from publicly available domain-sale reporting, including DNJournal among other public sources. Additional public sources are incorporated on a rolling basis as they are normalized. The underlying data was already public; the index is the act of organizing it.
Outlier treatment. The Adjusted series is computed by removing the three largest transactions of each period from both the volume total and the transaction count before averaging. The three-transaction trim targets the one-off megadeal effect observed in 2019, 2022, and 2024 without over-trimming the legitimate premium layer of the market. Alternative trim levels are available in the full methodology.
Licensing. The URLV Domain Aggregate series, methodology, compilation scripts, and derived outputs are released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Anyone may cite, replicate, or extend them with attribution. Underlying source records — individual transaction reports — remain attributable to their original public sources and are not relicensed by this index. The objective is an open reference the market can rely on, not a proprietary number a maintainer controls.
Full methodology document forthcoming. Source code and data files are available in the Data section below.
Citation
Reference citation
When the URLV Domain Aggregate is referenced in any context — research, editorial, commercial, or regulatory — the index should be cited as follows:
url.ventures. April 2026.
domainaggregate.com
Licensed CC BY 4.0.
About
The URLV Domain Aggregate is maintained by url.ventures. The series, methodology, and compiled outputs are released under CC BY 4.0 for unrestricted citation, replication, and reuse. Underlying source records remain attributable to their original public sources. url.ventures does not hold proprietary rights to the underlying transaction data — the role is to assemble, normalize, compute, and keep the series open.
On sources. The URLV Domain Aggregate draws on publicly reported transaction records, including DNJournal and other open sources. Additional public sources are incorporated on a rolling basis as they are normalized. The data was public. The index is the act of gathering it in one place and keeping it open.
For corrections, additions to the source record, methodology challenges, or new-source contributions, contact 001@domainaggregate.com. Substantive disputes are logged in the public changelog.
Legal disclaimer
The URLV Domain Aggregate (the "Index") and all accompanying data, methodology, commentary, and derived outputs published at domainaggregate.com (together, the "Materials") are provided by url.ventures on an "as is" and "as available" basis, solely for informational and reference purposes. Nothing in the Materials constitutes, or should be construed as constituting, investment advice, financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, accounting advice, a recommendation, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, financial instrument, digital asset, or interest of any kind.
The Index is a historical reference series compiled from publicly reported transaction data. url.ventures makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, fitness for purpose, or non-infringement of any of the Materials, including but not limited to the underlying source records, the compiled series, trailing-return figures, adjusted series, and any commentary. Source records may be incomplete, may contain errors or omissions, and may reflect editorial selection by their original publishers. Users are responsible for independently verifying any figure before relying on it for any purpose.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Any historical return, cumulative return, trailing return, or computed performance figure derived from the Index is based on publicly reported transactions only and does not represent the return of any actual portfolio, fund, or investable instrument. The domain market is illiquid, heterogeneous, and concentration-prone; a small number of transactions may materially affect the headline level of the Index in any given period. No investment product, fund, certificate, note, token, or other instrument is offered by url.ventures in connection with the Index.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, url.ventures, its affiliates, contributors, and maintainers disclaim all liability for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising out of or in connection with the Materials or any reliance placed upon them. Users are solely responsible for their own use of the Materials and for any decision made in reliance on them, and should consult their own qualified legal, financial, tax, and accounting advisers before acting on any figure, observation, or commentary published here.
The Index, its methodology, and the compiled outputs are released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) to promote open citation and independent replication. Individual transaction records referenced within the Index remain attributable to, and may remain subject to rights held by, their original public sources and publishers. No trademark, service mark, or brand right is conveyed by the license.
By accessing, citing, reproducing, or otherwise using any portion of the Materials, the user acknowledges the foregoing and agrees to use the Materials on the terms set out above. url.ventures may amend this disclaimer from time to time; the version in effect is the version published at domainaggregate.com/#legal.