Domain sales Made in China.
China has devalued its currency, the RMB, and it’s not just the Dow Jones index that’s plunging.
The USD/RMB pair dropped below the 7/1 ratio, causing financial turmoil to the markets. In essence, the international buying power of Chinese domain investors that bid with USD was devalued as well.
Buying and selling LLL .com and LLLL .com domain names with “Chinese” letters that exclude vowels and the letter “V” is now more expensive to China’s domain investors.
Unless, of course, they have a stash of USD in hand, in which case it’s the exact opposite effect and they get to reap the difference by selling these domains in China.
Chinese domain investor groups, such as First and Two Two that are active on domain auction houses (NameJet, DropCatch) pay for their domain acquisitions in USD, and continue the auctions on Chinese platforms in RMB. These domain sales amount to millions of dollars collectively.
China’s devaluation of the RMB makes Chinese goods more competitive, and goods manufactured in the US become more expensive. The price war is being escalated by Donald Trump’s aggressive handling of the US economy.
The Chinese know better, operating on a strange mix of communist capitalism.
