Governance
Why IPv4 could be worth $60 trillion: Evaluating the debate over digital asset value
IPv4 addresses are scarce and active in secondary markets, prompting debate over claims they could be worth as much as $60 trillion
Headline
IPv4 addresses are scarce and active in secondary markets, prompting debate over claims they could be worth as much as $60 trillion
Context
“The claim that IPv4 could reach a total value of $60 trillion is not rhetorical. It follows from basic asset economics once IPv4 is treated for what it actually is: a scarce, irreplaceable service-enabling asset.” ——Lu Heng, CEO at Cloud Innovation, CEO at LARUS Ltd, Founder of LARUS Foundation. IPv4, the Internet Protocol version 4 system that underpins most current internet addressing, allocates a finite set of approximately 4.3 billion unique addresses. Since the pools managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) were exhausted in the early 2010s, IPv4 addresses have become scarce digital resources with an active secondary market.
Evidence
Pending intelligence enrichment.
Analysis
In recent industry commentary, Lu Heng — CEO of LARUS Ltd — argued that IPv4 addresses are “massively undervalued” and that their collective market value could reach as much as $60 trillion if treated as fully liquid and tradeable economic assets. Heng’s contention is that current valuation, at roughly $200 billion for the global market, reflects arbitrary constraints rather than intrinsic worth. He pointed to structural issues such as the lack of recognised ownership rights and restricted transferability imposed by RIR policies as major factors suppressing prices. Proponents of this view have urged telecom and cloud executives to involve themselves more directly in policy and governance decisions around IPv4 address management, suggesting that greater strategic oversight could unlock hidden wealth in these digital assets. One argument is that IPv4 addresses act as “service enablers” for networks and servers, yet their pricing remains far below the economic value they enable, similar to how valuable physical infrastructure might be treated in other markets. However, IPv4 address markets today are modest in size by comparison, with documented total sales around $1 billion at leading marketplaces. Additionally, average prices per address in 2025 range from roughly $30 to $60 depending on block size and regional demand. Also Read: IPv4 as an investment asset: upper potential Also Read: How much do regional internet registries really cost and who pays?
Key Points
- Industry figures argue that IPv4 addresses are a vastly undervalued digital asset with potential market value far above current levels
- Critics point out structural constraints such as scarcity, limited liquidity and registry policies that complicate valuation and speculative claims
Actions
Pending intelligence enrichment.
