IPv4 transfer records from the five Regional Internet Registries show of 1,607,810,400 IPv4 addresses across 104,920 transactions. Intra-ARIN transfers account for 1,098,978,816 addresses (68.35% of transferred volume). The secondary market lets telecom operators, cloud platforms, and enterprise networks acquire IPv4 space after the global pool was exhausted.
IP address transfer market corridors between regional registries
When analyzing the IP address transfer market, registry records separate transactions into intra-RIR transfers (within the same region) and inter-RIR transfers (between different regional registries). The table ranks the major registry transfer paths recorded across ARIN, RIPE NCC, APNIC, LACNIC, and AFRINIC.
| # | Source Registry | Destination Registry | IPv4 Addresses Transferred | Total Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ARIN | ARIN | 1,098,978,816 | 34,110 |
| 2 | RIPE NCC | RIPE NCC | 232,234,336 | 52,685 |
| 3 | ARIN | RIPE NCC | 96,865,280 | 4,516 |
| 4 | APNIC | APNIC | 61,204,736 | 5,286 |
| 5 | ARIN | APNIC | 47,107,072 | 1,415 |
| 6 | RIPE NCC | ARIN | 23,435,520 | 1,309 |
| 7 | LACNIC | ARIN | 14,994,432 | 956 |
| 8 | APNIC | RIPE NCC | 8,375,808 | 1,627 |
| 9 | RIPE NCC | APNIC | 7,552,512 | 521 |
| 10 | AFRINIC | AFRINIC | 6,502,144 | 123 |
| Total | All Registry Paths | All Destination RIRs | 1,607,810,400 | 104,920 |
Intra-RIR versus inter-RIR IPv4 transfer market dynamics
Most recorded transfer volume is domestic or intra-regional. Intra-ARIN transfers total 1,098,978,816 addresses across 34,110 transfers, across North America. Intra-RIPE transfers lead in transaction count with 52,685 transfers moving 232,234,336 addresses across European and Middle Eastern operators.
Inter-regional transfers enable organizations to move address blocks between continents under reciprocal RIR policy agreements. The largest inter-RIR transfer corridor flows from ARIN to RIPE NCC, moving 96,865,280 addresses across 4,516 transfers, followed by ARIN to APNIC moving 47,107,072 addresses across 1,415 transfers.
Registry records show how transfer activity changed after IANA pool depletion. In 2009, registry transfers totaled just 17,408 addresses across 20 transactions. By 2018, annual transfer volume peaked at 299,873,792 addresses across 9,090 transactions as major cloud platforms built initial IPv4 inventory. In 2025, the market recorded 173,037,856 transferred addresses across 11,025 transfers, while 2026 data shows 87,174,656 addresses moved across 8,435 transactions through October.
By recipient country, the United States leads global acquisition figures with 1,094,765,056 transferred IPv4 addresses across 33,488 transactions. Other top recipient nations include Canada (35,654,656 addresses), Singapore (25,008,896 addresses), China (21,351,936 addresses), Japan (13,202,688 addresses), and Italy (7,286,016 addresses).
Historical market trends and pricing dynamics
The IPv4 address market has evolved through three distinct phases since IANA allocated its final /8 blocks in 2011. During the early market phase (2011 to 2015), transactions were primarily intra-RIR transfers between telecommunications providers, with annual volumes rising from 3,738,624 addresses in 2011 to 67,900,672 addresses in 2015 across 3,615 transactions.
The market expansion phase (2016 to 2021) saw rapid price increases per IPv4 address, driving legacy block holders to monetize unused address space. In 2016, 139,944,960 addresses moved across 4,912 transfers. Peak annual transfer volume occurred in 2018, when 299,873,792 IPv4 addresses were transferred across 9,090 transactions.
In recent years, transfer volume has stabilized at high transaction counts. In 2024, 181,001,804 addresses moved across 11,726 transfers. In 2025, 173,037,856 addresses moved across 11,025 transfers. Over the last 12 months, 121,903,872 addresses were transferred across 11,210 transactions.
Reciprocal transfer agreements and RIR policy frameworks
Inter-RIR transfers require compatible policies at the source and destination Regional Internet Registries. ARIN, RIPE NCC, and APNIC established bilateral policies for transfers between North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
To execute an inter-RIR transfer, both the selling entity and the acquiring entity must complete policy compliance checks. The source registry verifies that the seller holds clean title to the IP block without unresolved WHOIS disputes, while the destination registry verifies that the buyer satisfies operational need criteria for the requested address volume.
Future outlook for the IPv4 transfer market and IPv6 migration
As IPv4 prices stabilize and secondary market availability tightens, network operators are adopting IPv6 dual-stack infrastructure to support customer growth. Transfer market brokers report steady enterprise demand for small /24 and /22 blocks, while large hyperscale acquisitions of /16 blocks have slowed.
Long-term network plans use IPv6-only internal subnets with NAT64/DNS64 translation gateways at network borders. Legacy IPv4-only services remain widespread on the public internet, so inter-registry IPv4 transfers continue to help operators balance address inventories.
How we measured registry transfer records
Our transfer market metrics are compiled directly from public transfer log JSON files published by all five Regional Internet Registries: ARIN, RIPE NCC, APNIC, LACNIC, and AFRINIC. The measured timestamp for this report is October 10, 2026.
The processing engine normalizes registry names and parses IPv4 ranges. Records with the same source registry, recipient registry, transfer date, and normalized range set count as one transfer, including duplicates within and across source files. The published totals on this page predate that deduplication change and may include duplicate records; they have not been regenerated because the source transfer files are not available locally. These public logs do not include private or unpublished agreements.
Reasons for transferring IP blocks and registry rules
With IPv4 addresses exhausted at the free-pool level, expanding network operators must acquire existing address blocks from entities with surplus legacy space. RIR transfer policies require buyers to demonstrate documented need for the requested address volume before approving an inter-RIR or intra-RIR transfer.
Transfers are commonly triggered by corporate mergers and acquisitions, cloud provider inventory expansion, legacy block monetization by universities and defense organizations, and ISP network restructuring. Upon transfer approval, RIR WHOIS records are updated to reflect the new holding organization and administrative country.
Regional registry statistics show that intra-RIR transfers account for most address volume. Cross-border transfers between ARIN, RIPE NCC, and APNIC let international cloud hosters rebalance inventories across continents based on regional customer demand.
Verifying transferred IP addresses and next steps
Tracking address transfers helps network engineers confirm whether an IP range has recently changed administrative ownership or regional registry oversight. To look up current WHOIS registration, ASN details, and registry origin for any IPv4 address, use our free IP lookup tool.
To evaluate whether an IP range exhibits proxy, VPN, or datacenter hosting characteristics, run a test with our proxy and VPN check tool. For more on address blocks and carrier routing, read our guides on public vs private IP addresses and carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT).