IPXO. How It All Started

Why We Started IPXO

The Internet Protocol Exchange Organization, or IPXO for short, is a unique IPv4 lease and monetization platform. Our mission is to facilitate IPv4 monetization and help alleviate the IPv4 shortage the world finds itself in today. The IPXO Marketplace matches IP holders with organizations looking to lease IPv4 resources for the mutual benefit of both.

IPXO’s development began in early 2019 when a team of forward-thinking Internet developers realized how they could alleviate the IPv4 address shortage the world is facing today and has been since 2011, when the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) allocated the last /8 address blocks, rendering the pool of available IPv4 addresses formally exhausted.

The IPXO team recognized that they could fill the market void created by the shortage and bridge the gap between supply and demand. The IPXO Marketplace offers organizations that own IPv4 addresses the means to monetize them. The Marketplace allows IP holders to set custom subnet prices and control their earnings.

The current shortage has led IP address prices to increase dramatically and put pressure on companies wanting to grow their businesses. Therefore, in some cases, leasing IP addresses has become a more attractive, cost-effective solution than purchasing them.

And that’s where IPXO comes in. The IPXO Marketplace is the go-to place for any size businesses looking to acquire IP addresses. IPXO offers a flexible, cost-efficient solution that doesn’t require long-term commitment as leasing IP addresses more affordable than purchasing them from a RIR.

Key Features and Benefits

On the surface, the concept was pretty simple — create a platform that pairs IP address owners with potential lessees. However, as with most things in the tech world — it wasn’t easy. IPXO’s team faced many challenges they strived and succeeded in overcoming. The result was the world’s first IP address marketplace.

We offer millions of IP address blocks across the five RIRs (Regional Internet Registries). IPXO hosts IPv4 subnet blocks from /8 to /24 in all RIRs, ensuring flexible automation and management.

The IPXO Marketplace is a unique yet robust IPv4 monetization and lease platform with bespoke built-in technologies, ensuring a streamlined user experience. And, we’re not done yet. Our goal is to automate our processes as much as possible.

We have set out to implement automated RIR management, RPKI, route-objects, and other RIR functionalities and features in the near future.

The IPXO Marketplace provides transparency every step of the way with an easy-to-use dashboard full suite of reports and automatic payment cycles.

IPXO puts a huge emphasis on IP address abuse management – it is one of the core company values. IPXO has implemented measures ensuring that IP addresses remain clean. These measures include a Know Your Customer (KYC) policy and an Abuse Desk Management Policy.

Our intelligent, custom-built software provides global routing security. IPXO’s integrated intelligent BGP management solution scales dynamic routing policies. IPXO has also implemented RPKI verification standards, thus providing even better route security.

Future Development

We have additional features currently in the works and will release them in the near future. We are developing and implementing delegated RPKI, which will make life easier for IP address holders. They won’t have to create route-objects manually as we will do that for them automatically. Therefore, our platform will enable them to manage their IP resources in one place.

Furthermore, we would manage only the IPs listed on our Marketplace and won’t touch the IPs, not on the platform. For example, if an IP address owner has a /17 block and added a /19 block out of the /17, we will only manage the /19 block.

The IPXO platform already has an implemented ASN database that aids in verifying whether ASN already exists to avoid any mistypes. Furthermore, we’ve implemented a Reservation ID, which the IP holders can share with potential lessees and allow them to access the IP subnets added to IPAM by the IP holder.

We are also focusing on improving our Abuse Desk Policies and management. We will introduce some tweaks that will allow IP holders to see their IP space reputation more conveniently.

Another big step for us is introducing automated geolocation updates from IPInfo and MaxMind, which will allow lessees to update the IP geolocation directly over IPXO’s Terminal. We are planning to add the remaining databases down the line.

Furthermore, another feature we are going to introduce soon is IP billing cycles. It will allow lessees to select the billing cycle that is most convenient for them. Lessees will be able to choose between quarterly, bi-annual, and annual billing cycles.

The last feature that we are going to roll out soon is custom payout cycles. IP holders will have the ability to choose when they want their payouts to be processed. As with billing cycles, IP holders will be able to choose between quarterly, bi-annual, and annual payout cycles.

In closing, the catalyst for the creation of IPXO was the increasing shortage of IPv4 addresses and the vast market demand for IPv4 addresses. IPXO’s purpose is to fill the market void by providing a platform where businesses can come and lease IP addresses for a defined period.

Likewise, IPXO is the go-to place for IP holders looking to monetize IP addresses. Our unique platform provides transparency and security at every step, and its automated features will make monetizing and leasing IP addresses a breeze.