Public IPv4 addresses are now valuable loan collateral and can be worth millions

IPv4. Global has launched a new lending program that uses a borrower's IPv4 addresses as collateral. The firm, which describes itself as "the world's largest, most trusted and transparent IPv4 marketplace," says the new loan facility is a first-of-its-kind offer to customers.

We've previously covered news concerning the scarcity of IPv4 addresses, and they certainly seem to be valuable nowadays. The Register reports that network operator Cogent has previously raised $206 million worth of notes solely backed by its IPv4 assets.

One of IPv4.Global's first major loan customer was an unnamed cloud data center operator. IPv4 Global says the customer leveraged its IPv4 assets to secure funding to grow its business successfully. That customer probably had lots of IPv4 addresses under its control, but IPv4.Global insists that "regardless of size," it will work with customers to buy, sell, lease, and borrow against IPv4 blocks.

Its main page makes it relatively easy to see that IPv4.Global has quite a thriving business, with a claimed 66+ million addresses brokered and generating $1.4 billion for clients. It caters to customers of all scales, from buyers and sellers of 'small' IPv4 blocks to those holding millions of IPv4 addresses.

The source news release and official pages don't provide much indication about the number of IPv4 addresses or blocks needed (min/max) to qualify for a loan. According to The Register, one of the considerations behind the loans is how long it would take for the market to absorb the collateral if a borrower defaulted on their commitments: Illinois HQed Hilco Global, the multinational financial services holding company behind IPv4.Global, and we think this lending program will be primarily inspired by that company's areas of operational expertise.

IPv4.Global is making hay during what should be the sunset years for IPv4. One might expect organizations to be happy to migrate from IPv4 (32-bit addressing) to IPv6 (128-bit addressing) to avoid the specter of IPv4 address exhaustion and enjoy the boost from 4.3 billion to approximately 340 undecillion addresses being available. But even though IPv4 costs have ballooned over recent years, those who may wish to change to IPv6 face a mix of management/tech inertia, transition costs, potential business disruption, infrastructure compatibility issues, and more.