What happens when the person who onboarded 150 million people into crypto decides the next frontier is autonomous AI? What happens when the person who onboarded 150 million people into crypto decides the next frontier is autonomous AI? 150 million people into crypto That is the question the tech and AI industry now faces as Kris Marszalek, the co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, formally announced the launch of ai.com as a consumer-facing autonomous AI agent platform, set to go live on February 8, 2026 with a Super Bowl LX commercial on NBC. announced the launch of ai.com This is not another chatbot. This is not another wrapper on GPT. And this is not a product aimed at developers or enterprises. ai.com is positioning itself as the first platform to give everyday consumers access to AI agents that do not just respond, but act. ai.com From Domain Purchase to Product Launch Marszalek acquired the ai.com domain in April 2025 in what the Financial Times reported as a $70 million transaction, believed to be the single largest domain purchase in recorded history. The deal, brokered by Larry Fischer of GetYourDomain.com, was paid entirely in digital assets to an undisclosed seller. For context, the previous publicly known domain sale record was nearly $50 million for CarInsurance.com, and the ai.com domain itself had last changed hands in 2023 for $11 million. Financial Times reported GetYourDomain.com paid entirely in digital assets changed hands in 2023 for $11 million Since the purchase, Marszalek has been assembling a dedicated AI team and building out the platform's infrastructure. The timing of the launch, paired with a Super Bowl commercial slot that typically costs upwards of $7 million for 30 seconds of airtime, suggests this is not a soft launch. This is a consumer acquisition play designed for mass scale, mirroring the strategy Marszalek used when Crypto.com secured naming rights to the Los Angeles arena in a 20-year deal valued at $700 million and ran Super Bowl ads in previous years. secured naming rights to the Los Angeles arena What ai.com Actually Does The platform allows users to generate a personal AI agent in roughly 60 seconds. The agent operates autonomously on behalf of the user, performing tasks like trading stocks, managing calendars, sending messages, automating workflows, and even updating online dating profiles. All of this runs within a secure environment where data is encrypted with user-specific keys and agents are restricted to user-defined permission limits. The differentiator, according to the company, is self-improvement at network scale. When one agent builds a missing feature or capability to complete a task, that improvement gets shared across millions of agents on the platform. Kris Marszalek, Founder and CEO of ai.com, explains, ai.com "We are at a fundamental shift in AI's evolution as we rapidly move beyond basic chats to AI agents actually getting things done for humans. Our vision is a decentralized network of billions of agents who self-improve and share these improvements with each other, vastly and rapidly expanding agentic capabilities and accelerating the advent of AGI." "We are at a fundamental shift in AI's evolution as we rapidly move beyond basic chats to AI agents actually getting things done for humans. Our vision is a decentralized network of billions of agents who self-improve and share these improvements with each other, vastly and rapidly expanding agentic capabilities and accelerating the advent of AGI." "We are at a fundamental shift in AI's evolution as we rapidly move beyond basic chats to AI agents actually getting things done for humans. Our vision is a decentralized network of billions of agents who self-improve and share these improvements with each other, vastly and rapidly expanding agentic capabilities and accelerating the advent of AGI." The free tier gives users basic access, with paid subscriptions unlocking enhanced capabilities and increased input tokens. The company is also exploring financial services integrations, agent marketplaces, and what it describes as "human and agency co-social networks." exploring financial services integrations Why This Matters for the Agentic AI Race The agentic AI space has been heating up throughout 2025 and into 2026. OpenAI has been pushing its own agent capabilities. Google DeepMind has expanded Gemini's autonomous functions. Anthropic, Microsoft, and a growing number of startups are all racing to define what consumer-facing AI agents look like. But most of these efforts remain tethered to technical users, API integrations, or enterprise deployments. ai.com is making a bet that the gap in the market is not capability, but accessibility. The pitch is zero technical knowledge required. No hardware. No complex setup. Just a handle, an agent name, and you are live. ai.com Whether this simplicity holds up under real-world usage remains to be seen. The promise of agents that autonomously trade stocks or manage financial workflows carries regulatory weight. The platform will need to navigate securities regulations, data privacy frameworks across jurisdictions, and the fundamental trust problem that comes with giving an AI agent permission to act on your behalf. The Crypto Playbook Applied to AI Marszalek is running a familiar playbook. Crypto.com grew through aggressive consumer marketing, stadium naming rights, celebrity endorsements, and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions. The company holds licenses and registrations in markets globally and processes transactions for over 150 million users. Crypto.com 150 million users Applying that same infrastructure and strategy to AI agents is a calculated move. The Super Bowl ad is not just marketing. It is a statement that ai.com intends to compete for mainstream consumer attention against the largest AI companies in the world, from a standing start. ai.com My Final Thoughts The ambition here is clear and the execution timeline is aggressive. Launching a consumer AI agent platform with a Super Bowl commercial is the kind of move that either defines a new category or becomes a cautionary tale. Given Marszalek's track record of scaling Crypto.com to 150 million users and securing regulatory approvals across dozens of markets, the operational credibility is there. Crypto.com The real test will be whether ai.com can deliver on the promise of genuinely autonomous agents that work reliably across financial services, productivity tools, and daily life, while maintaining the security and privacy standards consumers will demand. If it works, this could be the platform that makes AI agents as commonplace as mobile apps. The race just got significantly more interesting. ai.com Don’t forget to like and share the story! This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYO This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYO This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYO business blogging program business blogging program

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