Our First Year as the World’s Largest Fully Automated IP Lease & Monetization Marketplace 

At the very end of August, we celebrated the one-year mark of the IPXO Marketplace – the world’s first fully automated IP lease & monetization marketplace. During our first year, we continuously developed the platform and introduced new features. We also added a whopping 3 million IPv4 addresses to ensure efficient lease services for our rapidly growing customer base. Altogether, we enabled IP holders to secure more than $6 million in revenue.  

Right around the first-year mark, we also received the ISO 27001 certification. It proved the company’s determination to ensure the highest level of information security for all customers and partners. With full ISO 27001 compliance, we are now stepping into our second year. Exciting things are ahead, and we cannot wait to share them with you.  

First, let’s reflect on the amazing year since the launch of the Marketplace on August 31, 2021. 

Numbers speak louder than words 

From the size of the Marketplace to the size of our customer base – we’ve grown in many ways. Let’s look at the numbers that reveal it all.

Size of the Marketplace 

As soon the IPXO Marketplace launched, we knew we had one big task ahead of us: IP address migration from the IP Address Market – the predecessor to the Marketplace.

The migration began in January 2022 and was completed in early July. Although an astounding 1.7 million IPs were migrated, today, the Marketplace has over 3 million IPv4s, indicating a rapid growth of the platform. 

The increasing number of IPs also signifies the growing global trust in IPv4 lease services overall. Instead of selling increasingly scarce assets, companies now prefer to monetize IPs and enjoy recurring income while maintaining ownership. 

IPXO clients 

IPXO also actively expanded its network of partners and clients. Partnerships with companies like IPv4.Global, IPTrading, Equinix, phoenixNAP, Full Span Solutions and Hivelocity helped and will continue to help scale IP monetization and lease services worldwide while supporting the sustainable use of IPv4 resources.   

The overall client base of the IPXO Marketplace grew significantly as well. Within just the last six months, the number of IP lessees on the IPXO platform grew by 213%. The number of IP holders – by 130%. The significant growth shows the increasing interest in IP leasing as a solution that can unlock new business possibilities for both IP holders and IP lessees. 

Today, companies in the hosting industry represent the fastest growing segment in the IPXO Marketplace. During the first year, telecommunication companies and internet service providers (ISPs) were the top lessors. They brought 24.17% of all IPs available on the Marketplace. On the flip side, proxy companies were our top lessees by leasing 39.52% of the monetized IPs. 

Between August 2021 and August 2022, most IP lessors and IP lessees using the IPXO Marketplace came from the United States of America. According to the World Population Review data, the US has the most IPv4 addresses in the world – 1,541,605,760. Considering this is nearly 36% of the entire IPv4 address pool, it is no wonder companies from the US are most active on the Marketplace.

IPXO platform functionalities 

In just a year, we equipped our IP lease and monetization platform with numerous vital capabilities that enhance the overall customer experience. All new releases and fixes are accessible via the public Changelog. That allows our customers to keep up to date with the evolution of the platform.  

Platform 

• RIR availability: The IPXO Marketplace ensures subnet availability from all five Regional Internet Registries – AFRINIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and RIPE NCC – to enable companies to choose the most suitable resources 
• IPXO Statistics: The statistics page offers a transparent view of the IPXO Marketplace, the IP market overall and IP price trends, which also enables companies to make informed decisions about growth possibilities 

Management 

• My Waiting List: This feature empowers IPXO clients to request IPv4 subnets not yet available on the platform; a demand that is quickly fulfilled due to the fast-growing number of IP holders 
• Reservation ID: IP holders can hide their assets from the Marketplace and use a unique Reservation ID to enable specified IP lessees to find and lease those assets  
• rDNS Delegation Automation: This feature was introduced to give clients more control over the leased resources by making it easy to handle IP addresses and assign them to any infrastructure 

Security 

• BGP Parking: BGP – the Border Gateway Protocol – ensures a higher level of security against subnet hijacking, and BGP parking enables us to announce IPs under our ASN (autonomous system number) and make them less vulnerable to hijacking 
• RPKI Management: The newly introduced self-service for RPKI Management enables IP holders to check their subnets’ RPKI status and initiate RPKI delegation to IPXO 

Continuous development ensures a more efficient IP lease experience 

From day one, we have been on a path of innovating and perfecting the Marketplace. From fixing bugs to introducing new functionalities, IPXO teams have been on a mission to make the IPv4 leasing and monetization experience more flexible. Hard work pays off, and numerous IP holders now trust us and are confident about leasing more than three million IPv4 addresses. 

By bringing unused resources back into the market, we helped build a more sustainable Internet Protocol ecosystem, alleviate the global IPv4 exhaustion and empower businesses to acquire IPs quickly and cost-efficiently. The accessibility to IP resources secured by IP leasing is particularly important for SMBs that, otherwise, may be unable to allocate funds to purchase IPv4 addresses at current prices. 

While a single IP address may cost around $50, the IPv4 lease price is around $0.47. Also, companies can lease IPs within several days. A great benefit those buying IPs or waiting for an allocation from RIRs cannot enjoy. 

The future with IPXO: Full steam ahead 

Over the first year, we confidently spread awareness about IPv4 exhaustion and IP leasing as a solution to the problem. We launched a podcast and successfully hosted six free webinars to delve deep into the topics of the Internet Protocol and internet sustainability.  

The lessons we learned are driving us forward. In the future, we plan to support the latest Internet Protocol version – IPv6. In fact, we have already started testing IPv6 lease possibilities with a few clients. We have even signed contracts. We are also on the verge of officially introducing Commitments – a vital functionality that will allow signing long-term contracts at custom prices.  

To enhance IP geolocation and abuse observability – the services that our customers already use and love – we have roadmaps set in place to extend their functionalities.  

Ultimately, we work hard to elevate the Marketplace with comprehensive business solutions for both IP holders and lessees. Simultaneously, we are looking beyond the Marketplace, as we are gearing to introduce new innovative solutions for our clients. 

Undeniably, the first year of the Marketplace offered many learning opportunities and showed us our strengths and our weaknesses. In the long run, this will only make us stronger, and we could not be more excited for the future. 

With ownership, trust and growth mindset as IPXO’s core values, we are moving full steam ahead to continue expanding an Internet Protocol platform that is innovative, accessible and sustainable. If you are interested in joining us on our mission, check out the available open positions on our Career page.