News

X To Sell Rare Usernames For Up To Seven Figures

The platform’s new handle marketplace lets paid users claim dormant usernames, with some priced in the millions.

Published

11 months ago

October 21, 2025

x to sell rare usernames for up to seven figures

X has opened a marketplace for inactive usernames, turning what was once a common but very “grey” trade into an official channel. Paying subscribers can now buy or request dormant handles — and the most coveted may cost more than a million dollars.

Two categories are on offer. “Priority” handles cover full names or phrases such as @PizzaEater or @GabrielJones. These are tied to Premium+ and Business subscriptions, which must stay active or the handle can be revoked. “Rare” handles — short or generic names like @one or @fly — will be sold through invitation-only sales or public drops. Some may be given away “based on merit,” a term X links to user engagement and past contributions.

Prices for rare handles start around $2,500 and can rise into seven figures, depending on demand and cultural value. Buyers must hold a paid tier to apply but can keep the handle without renewing once it’s assigned.

X calls the project “an evolving initiative” and says it wants to set “a new standard for social media handles,” comparing it to how Community Notes reshaped transparency on the platform.

Andrew Allemann, publisher of Domain Name Wire, said the plan mirrors the expired domain market. “People have been buying and selling handles off X for a long time, and X hasn’t been getting a cut of that,” he said. “This will get some of the better handles back into use”.

Also Read: Inside The Dark Rise Of SpyLoan Apps

Allemann was, however, keen to point out that even if someone purchases a username on a social media platform, they don’t own any of the content they publish. “If you create your website, you control it, and people can always come to it. On social media, the single billionaire owner of it could decide they don’t like you, and it’s pretty much within their rights to kick you off”.

This latest move by X follows a string of contested reassignments — including the @X, @Music and @America handles — and shows how the company is treating usernames less as personal identifiers and more as tradable assets within its paid ecosystem.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.