ARIN IPv4 Transfer Volatility July 2021

As reported in the previous 2 blog posts, the month of May 2021 was a milestone in terms of ARIN IPv4 transfer requests.  It was the first time that transfer requests dropped below 100 per month since the market was born in 2015.  The volatility continues to have a decreasing trend line with a significantly lower average than the entire 2021 year, and the past 4 years combined.

Total transfer requests have decreased by around -7.5% from June to July.  While this doesn’t seem too alarming in a vacuum, the macro affect might have significant impact on the market in the near to long term.  The overall decrease in July as compared to the rest of 2021 is -20%.  This shows a decreasing trend now for 3 months in a row.

The average IPv4 prices today range between $38 – $45 per IP address.  There may be some market psychology at play causing resistance from buyer’s as we surpass the $40 price per IP, which is similar to the end of 2018 when the prices were just starting to breach $20 per IP address.  While there was a stabilization on the IPv4 sales prices during 2019, the price increase continued into 2020.  Even if we see some resistance, there is a good chance prices will still increase over time due to the laws of supply and demand.

Let’s also keep in mind one major dynamic today that didn’t previously exist is COVID and more recently the introduction of delta variant.  These events actively cause companies that might have wanted to sell IPv4 addresses  to redirect their efforts from re-addressing IPs to more pressing issues.  This in turn causes a shortage in supply, which keeps prices increasing.

Any company that needs IPv4 for critical business applications, should consider taking this opportunity to  buy IP addresses to support their needs for the foreseeable future.  We always have to keep in mind that IPv4, regardless of market dynamics, is a rare and limited commodity.  It will run out at some point.