Someone always has to make this argument.

A) we all know, we're not 6 years old.

B) it doesn't really matter, the value is still $2B. It's not the total dump sale value we care for but the actual value of these addresses in the hands of Amazon.

Edit: apply this same exact comment also to any discussion about Bezos' net worth

Right, and if you try to buy them all, it will cost a lot more than $2B.

I would expect it would cost more from AWS. They're not just holding them unused like a lot of organizations, they're necessary for them to continue making their $35b+ per year from AWS.

It works the same both ways.

If you go into a market and try to buy lots of something, it drives the price up because you're increasing demand and removing supply.

If you go into a market and try to sell lots of something, it drives the price down because you're increasing supply and removing demand.

AWS don't obviously have an incentive to sell IP addresses for substantially below market value, so I don't see why buying them from AWS versus someone else would make much difference.

I think the point you were trying to make is that just because the IPv4 addresses are valued at $2B doesn't mean you'd be able to get $2B for them if you tried to sell them. This is correct, but it does not imply that they are worth less than $2B.

The point I was trying to make is that just because the IPv4 addresses are valued at $2B doesn't mean you'd be able to buy them for $2B.

What makes you think the market for IPv4 doesn’t have the demand for another 2.5% given it’s a scarce resource?

There is surely demand for it, just not at the prices they bought it