IPv4 Address Price in 2026: Lease Yields & Investment Logic

The short answer to what an IPv4 address costs today: $18–$45 per IP to buy, $0.30–$0.50 per IP per month to lease — with the spread driven almost entirely by block size and RIR region. The cost of an IPv4 address has risen more than 300% since 2015. The market peaked above $60/IP in 2021–2022 and has since bifurcated: large blocks correcting hard, small blocks holding. The lease market, meanwhile, has barely moved.

That divergence is the story of IPv4 in 2026. And for LIRs, hosting providers, ISPs, and anyone sitting on unused blocks, the numbers in this article determine whether your idle address space is dead capital or a functioning asset.

How much does an IPv4 address cost, exactly? That depends on three variables: block size, RIR region, and whether you are buying outright or leasing. The IPv4 price per IP runs lower for larger blocks — not because they are less valuable in absolute terms, but because the buyer pool is narrower. A /24 (256 addresses) can be absorbed by hundreds of operators. A /16 (65,536 addresses) needs a single buyer with both the capital and the operational footprint to justify it. Smaller demand pool means lower per-IP cost of IPv4 address at scale, even when the total transaction runs into seven figures.

The table below gives current market ranges across block sizes, based on aggregated broker and marketplace data as of Q1 2026.

Current IPv4 Address Price by Block Size (2026)

Sources: IPv4.Global auction data, IPv4 Market Group transfer logs, IPXO Market Stats, alphainfolab.com RIR transfer statistics. Ranges reflect market averages; individual transactions vary based on block reputation, routing history, and negotiation.

For a live view of current ask and bid pricing across block sizes, use the pricing calculator — updated in real time from active IPbnb listings.

The IPv4 lease price also varies by region. APNIC-registered blocks command lease rates above $0.60/IP/month in some markets due to supply constraints, while RIPE and ARIN blocks generally trade within the ranges above. If you are new to the leasing model, see our guide on how IPv4 leasing works for a full walkthrough. If you are looking to acquire address space outright, browse available blocks on our buy IPv4 blocks page.

IPv4 Price History: 2011–2026

Understanding current IPv4 address prices requires understanding the IPv4 price history that shaped this market. For most of the internet's early history, addresses were allocated at no cost from central registries. That changed permanently in 2011.

On 3 February 2011, IANA exhausted its global free pool of IPv4 addresses, distributing its final five /8 blocks equally to the five RIRs. APNIC became the first RIR to exhaust its own free pool, on 15 April 2011. That same month, a US bankruptcy court approved the first major publicly-disclosed IPv4 sale: Microsoft acquired 666,624 addresses from bankrupt Canadian telco Nortel for $7.5 million ($11.25/IP). The secondary market had begun.

IPv4 Price History by Key Inflection Point

Sources: IANA/NRO exhaustion announcements; RIPE NCC official announcements; APNIC Blog; IPXO Price History Report (2025); IPv4 Market Group transfer data; IPv4.Global auction records; alphainfolab.com 2025 transfer statistics; AWS blog (IPv4 charge announcement, July 2023, effective 1 Feb 2024).

The 2021–2022 peak — where some transactions cleared above $60/IP — reflected a confluence of post-pandemic network expansion, speculative accumulation, and genuine demand from cloud infrastructure build-outs. The correction that followed was not driven by reduced demand, but by supply entering the IPv4 market: legacy telecoms, universities, and operationally restructured organizations monetizing underutilized holdings.

A notable 2025 milestone: /16 block prices dropped below $20/IP for the first time since 2019. For smaller blocks, the correction has been far more modest. This bifurcation — large blocks correcting, small blocks holding — is now a structural feature of the market, not a temporary anomaly.

The AWS decision to charge $0.005/IP/hour for all public IPv4 addresses (effective 1 February 2024) served as an additional market signal. Large cloud platforms are treating IPv4 as a cost center to be managed, not an unlimited resource to be assigned freely. That policy has accelerated demand for leased space among smaller operators who can no longer rely on cloud-provider assignments at no additional cost.

The IPv4 Market in 2026: Supply, Demand & Structure

The IPv4 market remains active. According to published RIR transfer statistics, 2025 recorded approximately 8,062 IPv4 transfer transactions globally — one of the highest annual volumes on record, behind only 2024 (8,393) and 2021 (8,333). Total address volume transferred in 2025 reached approximately 81.93 million IPs. Transaction frequency has stayed elevated even as per-IP pricing declined, reflecting a mature market with structural demand, not a distressed one.

Who Is Buying

• Cloud and hosting operators seeking dedicated IP space outside large-provider ecosystems

• ISPs and telecoms in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where IPv6 transition timelines remain long and customer demand for IPv4 reachability persists

• VPN and privacy service operators requiring clean, geographically distributed IP inventory

• AI and IoT infrastructure operators needing routable addresses for edge deployments
  
  

Who Is Selling

• Legacy telecoms and utilities sitting on allocations from the 1990s that exceed operational requirements

• Universities with large historical allocations relative to current network footprints

• Bankrupt ISPs and operationally restructured organisations with addresses on the balance sheet

• Block holders splitting /16s into smaller saleable units to capture better per-IP pricing
  
  

Transfer Volume by RIR (2025)

RIPE NCC leads in transfer count, consistently processing the highest monthly volumes — typically 350–480 transfers per month in 2025. ARIN follows, with monthly figures ranging from 140 to 640 depending on market conditions. APNIC processes a smaller but steady volume, with elevated pricing in that region due to supply constraints. LACNIC and AFRINIC remain lower-volume markets, partly reflecting policy environments that limit transfer activity.

At the start of 2026, the global allocated IPv4 pool stands at approximately 3.7 billion addresses distributed across five RIRs: ARIN (45%), APNIC (24%), RIPE NCC (23%), LACNIC (5%), and AFRINIC (3%). The available unallocated pool sits at roughly 3.9 million addresses, concentrated in APNIC and AFRINIC. For practical purposes, the free pool is exhausted: no meaningful allocation of new addresses is available to most operators.

IPv6: Coexistence, Not Displacement

IPv6 adoption continues to grow incrementally, but it is not reducing near-term IPv4 demand in any measurable operational sense. Most production environments run dual-stack configurations — IPv6 for forward compatibility, IPv4 for backward compatibility with legacy infrastructure, third-party integrations, and email deliverability. Organizations do not abandon IPv4 when they deploy IPv6; they add IPv6 alongside it.

The consensus among infrastructure operators is that IPv4 will remain operationally necessary for at least the next 5–10 years across most enterprise and carrier environments. The transition is a decade-scale process, not a near-term event.

IPv4 as an Investment: Yield, Risk & Returns

IPv4 has attracted growing attention as an investment class because it generates real, recurring yield. For a dedicated overview of the asset case, see our IPv4 investment page. For block owners, the lease market creates a revenue stream from an asset that was previously idle. Understanding IPv4 investment returns requires moving beyond headline prices to actual net yields — and clearly distinguishing between the economics for recent acquirers versus long-term holders.

Yield for Recent Acquirers vs. Long-Term Holders

A /24 block (256 addresses) acquired at a current IPv4 address price of $40/IP represents a total acquisition cost of $10,240. At a lease rate of $0.42/IP/month, gross monthly revenue is approximately $107.52, or $1,290/year. That represents a gross annual IPv4 investment yield of approximately 12.6% on acquisition cost — before deducting platform fees, RIR maintenance costs, and compliance management.

For existing block owners who acquired their space before 2020 — at costs well below current market — the IPv4 investment picture is considerably stronger. A block acquired at $12/IP and leased at current rates generates a cash-on-cash return well above 25% annually. To model the yield on your specific block, use the calculate your lease earnings tool — it projects monthly and annual returns based on your block size and acquisition cost.

IPv4 Investment Yield vs. Other Asset Classes

* IPv4 investment yields are gross figures before operational costs (platform fees, RIR maintenance, compliance management). Net yield is typically 25–40% lower than gross. 'Current acquisition price' row assumes $35–45/IP buy cost and $0.38–0.50/IP/mo lease rate. 'Pre-2020 acquirer' row assumes acquisition cost below $15/IP. Yield comparison is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. T-bill yield reflects 2024–25 rate environment; subject to change with Fed policy.

The yield differential versus traditional asset classes is significant — but it comes with a different risk profile. IPv4 is not a regulated financial instrument. It has no central exchange, no margin lending infrastructure, and no standardised credit rating. Liquidity is meaningful but not instantaneous. Block quality degrades if addresses are associated with spam or abuse history. And the long-term risk of IPv6 displacement, while a decade-scale dynamic rather than an immediate one, is real.

The RIPE 24-Month Transfer Restriction

For IPv4 blocks registered in the RIPE NCC service region, a 24-month restriction on re-transfer applies from the date the current holder received the block — whether via direct RIPE NCC allocation or via transfer from another organisation. In practice: if you acquire a RIPE-registered block today, you cannot transfer it to a third party for 24 months from your acquisition date. Leasing is not affected by this restriction; only the transfer of title is locked. For buyers modelling exit options, this holding period must be factored into strategy. See our full guide on RIPE 24-month hold strategy for policy detail, edge cases, and how to structure entry around the restriction.

Risk Factors to Model

• IPv6 adoption acceleration: a faster-than-expected transition would reduce IPv4 lease demand, compressing yields

• Block reputation degradation: addresses associated with spam, abuse, or poor routing history trade at a significant discount and attract lower lease rates

• RIR policy changes: regulatory shifts — particularly around leasing permissions in APNIC-region markets — can affect supply dynamics and pricing

• Market liquidity: exit timing matters; large blocks require more time to find appropriately capitalized buyers

• Operational costs: platform fees, RIR maintenance, abuse management, and compliance overhead reduce net yield from the gross figures above

Sell or Lease? A Decision Framework for Block Owners

For owners of idle IPv4 blocks, the primary decision is structural: realize capital now through a sale, or generate a recurring income stream through leasing. The cost of an IPv4 address relative to achievable lease rates is the key variable in that decision.

The Financial Comparison

The breakeven point — where cumulative lease revenue equals the one-time sale price — depends directly on the relationship between your block's market value and the current IPv4 lease price you can achieve. As a reference illustration: a /24 block valued at $20/IP ($5,120 total) and leased at $0.70/IP/month (gross revenue: $179.20/month) reaches breakeven in approximately 28–29 months. Beyond that point, every additional month of leasing is value that a one-time sale cannot recapture.

At current market rates — IPv4 address cost: ~$40/IP; IPv4 lease price: ~$0.42/IP/mo — the breakeven horizon extends to approximately 7–8 years. This longer horizon reflects the significant rise in IPv4 price relative to lease rates over the past few years. Owners who acquired at lower historical prices face a much shorter breakeven and a stronger long-term case for leasing.

When to Sell

• You need immediate capital and cannot sustain a multi-year payback horizon

• Your block has reputation issues (abuse history, blocklist entries) that would impair lease rates

• You are exiting the business and lack operational capacity to manage a leased block

• Current IPv4 prices represent an acceptable return relative to your acquisition cost
  
  

When to Lease

• Your block is clean, routed, and compliant — the operational prerequisites for leasing are already met

• You want to retain ownership while generating recurring income

• Your acquisition cost is low enough that breakeven falls within an acceptable horizon

• You have or can access a platform that handles compliance, abuse management, and tenant matching — monetize your IPv4 blocks through IPbnb to get started
  
  

For a full analysis of how the sell vs. lease decision plays out across different block sizes, acquisition costs, and time horizons, see our detailed sell vs lease comparison.

What Drives IPv4 Block Value?

Not all IPv4 blocks of the same size command the same price. Block value is a function of several attributes — some structural, some operational, some reputational.

Block Size and Routing Efficiency

Larger contiguous blocks are more operationally flexible: a single BGP prefix announcement covers the entire block, simplifying routing. However, smaller blocks currently command a higher per-IP price in the transfer market because of their superior liquidity. The two effects partially offset each other depending on buyer type.

Reputation and Blocklist Status

A clean block — with no history of spam, phishing, or abuse associations — trades at a meaningful premium over a block with a degraded reputation. Blocklist entries require remediation time before the block can be deployed in production. In a lease context, reputation quality directly affects which tenants will accept the space and at what rate. For a practical guide to monitoring and maintaining address reputation, see our post on IP reputation tools and best practices.

RIR Region

ARIN-registered blocks have historically commanded a modest premium in North American and global markets due to the depth of the buyer pool and routing trust conventions. RIPE blocks are the most actively traded, with the highest transfer volumes globally. APNIC blocks face supply constraints that create strong lease demand but a somewhat smaller buyer universe for outright sales.

Documentation and Compliance Quality

Blocks with clean RPKI ROA records, valid LOA documentation, and accurate WHOIS data transact faster and at better prices than blocks with compliance gaps. Documentation quality is a proxy for operational risk. See our IP reputation and compliance standards for the full checklist IPbnb applies to all listed blocks.

Announcement Status

A block that is currently announced and actively routed demonstrates operational functionality. A block that has been dark for an extended period may have accumulated reputation issues or routing complications — a factor buyers price in.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an IPv4 address cost?

The cost of an IPv4 address depends on block size and whether you are buying or leasing. On the buy side, current IPv4 address prices range from $18–$28/IP for /16 blocks to $35–$45/IP for /24 blocks. On the lease side, the IPv4 lease price runs from $0.30–$0.40/IP/month for larger blocks to $0.38–$0.50/IP/month for /24s. See the full table in Section 1 for a breakdown by block size.

How much is a single IPv4 address worth?

A single /32 (one address) has no practical secondary market — IPv4 addresses are transacted in blocks with a minimum routing-viable size of /24 (256 addresses). For pricing purposes, apply the per-IP figures from the table in Section 1 to your block size.

Do IPv4 addresses depreciate?

The historical trajectory of the IPv4 price has been appreciation, not depreciation — from roughly $7–$12/IP at the first major secondary market transaction in 2011, to a peak above $60/IP in 2021–2022, with current values in the $18–$45 range. Large blocks have corrected significantly from peak; small blocks less so. Long-term depreciation remains a possibility as IPv6 adoption accelerates, but it is a multi-decade dynamic rather than a near-term event.

Is IPv4 a good investment in 2026?

IPv4 as an investment generates real, recurring lease yield — meaningfully above traditional fixed-income assets for pre-2020 acquirers, and still in the 12–17% gross range for recent buyers. Whether it represents a suitable IPv4 investment depends on acquisition cost, time horizon, operational resources, and risk tolerance. This article presents market data to inform that assessment. It is not financial advice.

What is the IPv4 lease price?

Current IPv4 lease prices range from $0.30–$0.40/IP/month for larger blocks (/16–/20) to $0.38–$0.50/IP/month for smaller blocks (/24–/22) in the RIPE and ARIN regions. APNIC-region IPv4 lease prices run higher — above $0.60/IP/month — due to supply constraints. Annual gross lease yield on a recent acquisition ranges from approximately 10–17%. For owners who acquired blocks at pre-2020 prices, gross yields are substantially higher.

How many IPv4 addresses are left?

The unallocated IPv4 pool sits at approximately 3.9 million addresses across all RIRs as of early 2026, concentrated in APNIC and AFRINIC. For practical purposes, the free pool is exhausted: no meaningful allocation of new addresses is available to most operators. The IPv4 market is now entirely secondary, operating on transfers between existing holders.

What was the first IPv4 secondary market transaction?

The first major publicly-disclosed commercial IPv4 sale was Microsoft's acquisition of 666,624 addresses from bankrupt Canadian telco Nortel, approved by a US bankruptcy court in April 2011. Microsoft paid $7.5 million, or $11.25 per address — a transaction widely regarded as the founding event of the modern IPv4 secondary market.