IPv4 Exhaustion: Why Leasing Matters

IPv4 exhaustion means the central pool is gone and most Regional Internet Registries have nothing left to allocate. IANA handed out its last five /8 blocks, one per registry, on 3 February 2011. ARIN, the RIPE NCC and LACNIC now issue IPv4 only through waiting lists, while APNIC rations one /23 per member and AFRINIC still allocates /24 to /22 blocks under Phase 2 of its soft-landing policy. Everyone else buys or leases on the transfer market, where a /22 to /24 block cost about $23.50 per address in August 2026 (IPv4.Global monthly average) against an average lease of $0.35 per IP per month on the IPXO platform (September 2026).

Understanding IPv4 Address Exhaustion

When Did IPv4 Run Out?

IPv4 ran out in stages, from IANA's central pool in 2011 to LACNIC's last block in 2020:

Where things stand in September 2026: IANA's recovered pool has held three /24 blocks since its last update on 1 March 2019, too little to share among five registries (IANA recovered address space). On 25 September 2026, 791 LIRs were in the RIPE NCC queue for their single /24, and the first in line had waited 485 days (RIPE NCC IPv4 waiting list, policy ripe-826). ARIN's waitlist held 514 approved requests, the oldest from June 2025, capped at a /22 (ARIN waiting list).

LACNIC estimates the wait for the last request on its list at least 18 years. APNIC abolished its waiting list on 2 July 2019 and hands each member at most one /23 from 103/8. AFRINIC still allocates /24 to /22 blocks, with 610,304 addresses available in its delegated file of 24 September 2026. New supply for everyone else comes from the transfer market.

Why IPv4 Ran Out

IPv4's 32-bit address space provides approximately 4.3 billion unique addresses. While this seemed enormous when the protocol was designed in the 1980s, several factors accelerated exhaustion:

Exponential Internet Growth: The internet expanded far beyond early projections. From a few hundred connected computers in the 1980s, the internet now connects billions of devices worldwide. Each smartphone, tablet, computer, IoT device, and server requires IP connectivity.

Inefficient Early Allocations: In the early days of the internet, when addresses seemed unlimited, entire /8 blocks (16.7 million addresses each) were allocated to single organizations. MIT, Ford Motor Company, and the U.S. Department of Defense each received /8 blocks.

Gradual IPv6 Adoption: IPv6, designed to solve address scarcity with its 128-bit address space, still serves fewer than half of Google's users on an average day. The share of users reaching Google over IPv6 passed 50% on some days from 28 March 2026, and the weekly average was about 47% for 14 to 20 September 2026 (Google IPv6 statistics). Adoption is uneven by country, and IPv6 is not backwards compatible with IPv4, so content providers and access networks each wait for the other side to invest. That keeps demand for IPv4.

Cloud Computing and Virtualization: Cloud instances, containers and hosted servers each want a public IPv4 address, and the clouds now price that scarcity. AWS has charged $0.005 per public IPv4 address per hour since 1 February 2024, about $43.80 per address per year, whether the address is in use or idle (AWS VPC pricing).

Mobile Internet: Smartphones and mobile devices created billions of new internet users, particularly in developing regions that came online after IPv4 exhaustion. These users and their devices required IP addresses, increasing pressure on already scarce resources.

The Post-Exhaustion IPv4 Market

The Secondary Transfer Market

With the registries down to waiting lists and rationing, a secondary market emerged where IPv4 blocks change holder:

Market Size and Activity: In July 2026 alone, 5,935,616 IPv4 addresses changed holder in the RIPE NCC service region (RIPE NCC member update, August 2026). Across all five registries, aggregator ipregistry counts about 29.7 million addresses transferred in the first half of 2026 (ipregistry's mid-2026 review). Holders with unused space sell to networks that need it.

Price Evolution: Broker IPv4.Global publishes monthly averages by block size, mixing online and private sales priced at agreement date:

Only /16 and larger blocks bottomed in January 2026; the smaller sizes bottomed in April to June 2026, and larger blocks led the rise in August. Small blocks carry the premium per address. For the longer view, ipregistry's aggregation puts late-2023 prices at about $52 for large blocks and $36 for small ones, and mid-2024 at about $33 across sizes.

Market Drivers: Several factors influence IPv4 pricing:

• Regional demand intensity
• Block size (larger blocks often command slightly lower per-IP prices)
• Block reputation and cleanliness
• Geolocation database accuracy
• Historical usage patterns
• Transfer complexity and RIR policies

RIR Transfer Policies

Each RIR sets its own transfer rules. They decide who can buy, how fast the block can be resold and what the registry charges:

RIPE NCC (transfer policy ripe-807):

• No needs test for transfers inside the RIPE NCC service region
• IPv4 received by transfer cannot be transferred again for 24 months (ripe-807 section 2.2.1)
• Inbound inter-RIR transfers from a needs-based region need a plan to use at least 50% of the space within five years, and the network needs an active element in the region
• Transfers are free of charge and, in most cases, completed within one or two business days (RIPE NCC transfers)

ARIN (NRPM sections 8.3 and 8.4, ARIN Number Resource Policy Manual):

• Minimum transfer size /24
• A recipient of more than a /24 must show it will use 50% of the space within 24 months
• The source must not have received IPv4 from ARIN in the previous 12 months and cannot join the waitlist for 36 months after selling
• Transfer request fee $500, plus a recipient processing fee ($187.50 for a /24) on ARIN's 2026 fee schedule

APNIC (policy document APNIC-127, APNIC policies):

• Minimum transfer /24; recipients must show a detailed plan to use the space within 24 months
• Space delegated from 103/8 cannot be transferred for five years after delegation
• Transfer fee 20% of the annual fee for the resources moved, paid by the source on an inter-RIR transfer

LACNIC and AFRINIC:

• LACNIC has moved IPv4 across RIRs in both directions since 2020, with ARIN, APNIC and the RIPE NCC, but never ASNs. Recipients justify need, transferred space is locked for one year and space allocated by LACNIC cannot be transferred for three years
• AFRINIC allows transfers inside its region only; no inter-RIR transfer is possible to or from AFRINIC

Inter-RIR Transfers: Inter-RIR transfers of IPv4 run between ARIN, APNIC, LACNIC and the RIPE NCC; AFRINIC has no inter-RIR policy in force. Each side applies its own rules: the source registry checks the seller, the receiving registry checks the buyer. The steps are in How Inter-RIR Transfers Work and the rules per region in Inter-RIR Transfer Eligibility by Region.

Why Lease IPv4 Instead of Buying?

IPv4 leasing answers problems that a purchase does not:

Lower Capital Requirements

Purchase Cost Barrier: At IPv4.Global's August 2026 monthly averages (about $23.50 per address for /22 to /24 blocks, $17.00 for /20 to /21, $14.30 for /16 and larger), buying a block still takes capital:

• A /24 (256 addresses): about $6,000
• A /22 (1,024 addresses): about $24,000
• A /20 (4,096 addresses): about $70,000
• A /16 (65,536 addresses): about $940,000

Registry fees come on top: ARIN charges $500 per transfer request plus a recipient fee ($187.50 for a /24), APNIC 20% of the annual fee for the resources moved, and the RIPE NCC nothing. For startups, small businesses, and organizations with limited budgets, these sums are hard to justify.

Leasing as Alternative: The average lease deal on the IPXO platform was $0.35 per IP per month over the six months to September 2026. At that rate:

• A /24: about $90 per month (about $1,075 per year)
• A /22: about $360 per month
• A /20: about $1,430 per month

For a /24, the first month of a lease costs about 1.5% of the purchase price. About 67 months of lease payments equal the purchase price of a small block, before transfer fees and before counting what the block could be resold for; the full comparison is in IPv4 Leasing vs Purchasing (2026): Cost Analysis and Break-Even.

Flexibility for Changing Needs

Variable Demand: Many organizations experience fluctuating IP address needs:

• Seasonal businesses (e-commerce during holidays, tax preparation services)
• Project-based work (product launches, event infrastructure)
• Testing and development environments
• Temporary capacity expansions

Scaling Advantages: Leasing allows organizations to:

• Quickly scale up during high-demand periods
• Scale down when needs decrease, avoiding sunk costs
• Test new services without committing to permanent purchases
• Adjust block sizes as actual usage patterns emerge

No Long-Term Commitment: Organizations uncertain about long-term IPv4 needs can lease temporarily while:

• Evaluating business model viability
• Determining actual IP requirements
• Completing IPv6 transition planning
• Assessing market conditions for potential purchase

Short-Term and Temporary Projects

Project Duration: Many legitimate business needs are inherently temporary:

• Development and testing of new products or services
• Temporary branch offices or pop-up locations
• Event-based infrastructure (conferences, temporary venues)
• Mergers and acquisitions during transition periods

Cost Efficiency: For projects lasting months rather than years, leasing costs a fraction of a purchase. At August 2026 prices a /24 leased for a year costs about $1,075 against about $6,000 to buy, before transfer fees.

IPv6 Transition Bridge

Dual-Stack Reality: Most organizations deploying IPv6 maintain dual-stack configurations, operating both IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously:

• Legacy systems and applications require IPv4
• Some regions and ISPs have limited IPv6 adoption
• Customer bases include IPv4-only users
• Third-party integrations may lack IPv6 support

Transition Strategy: Leasing provides a cost-effective bridge during IPv6 transition:

• Maintain necessary IPv4 presence without major capital investment
• Gradually reduce IPv4 footprint as IPv6 adoption increases
• Avoid being locked into large IPv4 purchases that may depreciate
• Preserve capital for IPv6 infrastructure investment

Uncertain Timeline: Google's IPv6 share passed 50% on some days from March 2026, but its weekly average was still about 47% in September 2026, and the date of a full IPv4 phase-out stays open because of legacy systems and long upgrade cycles. Leasing lets you hold IPv4 for as long as you need it without guessing that date; the planning side is in IPv4 vs IPv6.

Market Dynamics and Leasing Growth

Supply and Demand Factors

Limited Supply: The IPv4 address space cannot grow, so supply is fixed:

• No new addresses are being created
• Released addresses (from defunct organizations) trickle back slowly
• Large holders (early allocations) release addresses gradually if at all
• RIR recovered address pools remain minimal

Growing Demand: Despite IPv6 availability, IPv4 demand remains strong:

• Emerging markets bringing new users online
• IoT device proliferation requiring connectivity
• Cloud service expansion (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Content delivery networks expanding geographic coverage

Price Pressure: Prices fell from late 2025 and hit their lows between January and June 2026, depending on block size. Larger blocks have led a rise since (IPv4.Global, August 2026), while lease rates are set deal by deal.

Leasing Market Growth

Lease Prices: Lease rates are quoted per address per month and set by each lessor. The published benchmark is the IPXO platform average, $0.35 per IP per month for the six months to September 2026.

Market Participants: Lessors include LIRs with unused allocations, hosting providers and data centers, telecommunications companies and legacy holders such as universities.

Regulatory and RIR Policy Impacts

RIPE NCC: ripe-807 sets no needs test for transfers inside the region (see the transfer rules above). Many lessors work mainly with RIPE-registered addresses.

ARIN: The ARIN policy manual does not mention leasing. Transfers, by contrast, are policed: a recipient of more than a /24 passes the 50% in 24 months test (NRPM 8.5.5).

APNIC: APNIC-127 section 3.1.3 lets an LIR delegate addresses only to customers using them "in relation to network connectivity services provided by the LIR", and section 4.2 requires an LIR that "ceases to provide Internet connectivity services" to return all of its address space. Leasing addresses without providing connectivity does not fit those rules.

Business Cases for IPv4 Leasing

Startups and Small Businesses

Capital Preservation: Early-stage companies need to preserve capital for core business development. Product development and customer acquisition come first.

Buying even a /24 costs about $6,000 at August 2026 prices, money these priorities need. Leasing the same block costs about $1,075 a year.

Uncertain Scaling: Startups face uncertain growth trajectories:

• Rapid growth requiring quick scaling
• Slower-than-expected growth creating excess capacity
• Business model pivots changing IP needs
• Potential business failure reducing needs to zero

Leasing provides flexibility to match IP resources to actual business growth without betting on specific outcomes.

Fast Deployment: Startups need to move quickly. Purchasing IPv4 addresses involves:

• Finding suitable blocks for sale
• Negotiating purchase terms
• Securing financing
• RIR approval processes

The registry step is the short one: the RIPE NCC completes most transfers within one or two business days once the paperwork is in, but the search and negotiation take longer.

Cloud and Hosting Providers

Elastic Capacity: Cloud providers and hosting companies serve customers with variable needs:

• New customer onboarding requiring immediate IP allocation
• Customer churn returning unused IPs to available pool
• Seasonal demand variations
• Geographic expansion requiring regional IPs

Leasing allows these providers to maintain flexible capacity without massive IP address inventories.

Cost Optimization: Hosting providers operate on thin margins, and purchasing IP addresses ties up capital. That capital is better spent on data center space, network upgrades and customer acquisition.

Leasing converts capital expenditure to operational expenditure, improving cash flow and financial flexibility.

Geographic Diversity: Hosting providers need IP addresses in multiple regions with correct geolocation. Building owned IP portfolios across all regions requires enormous capital. Leasing enables geographic diversity without proportional capital investment.

ISPs and Telecommunications

Subscriber Growth: ISPs in growing markets need IP addresses for new subscribers:

• Rapid subscriber acquisition
• Uncertainty about long-term subscriber retention
• Competitive pricing pressure limiting capital availability

CGNAT Alternatives: While Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) extends IPv4 availability, it creates technical limitations:

• Breaks some applications and protocols
• Complicates troubleshooting
• Reduces service quality for some users

Leasing additional public IPv4 addresses allows ISPs to provide better service quality without full CGNAT deployment.

IPv6 Transition Planning: ISPs deploying IPv6 still need IPv4 for:

• Dual-stack operation
• IPv4-only customers and equipment
• Upstream provider connectivity
• Content delivery and peering

Leasing maintains necessary IPv4 presence during the multi-year IPv6 transition without guessing transition timelines.

Enterprise Networks

Branch Office Expansion: Enterprises opening temporary or trial branch offices need IP infrastructure:

• Pilot locations testing new markets
• Temporary project offices
• Seasonal locations
• Merger/acquisition transition facilities

Leasing provides necessary IP resources without committing to permanent infrastructure investments for locations that may close.

Development and Testing: Enterprise IT departments need realistic test environments:

• Production-like IP addressing
• External connectivity for integration testing
• Security testing requiring public IP addresses
• Temporary lab environments

Leasing test/dev IP blocks costs far less than purchasing addresses for non-production use.

Business Continuity: Some enterprises lease IP addresses for disaster recovery and business continuity:

• Failover sites requiring IP infrastructure
• Cold sites activated only during disasters
• Testing DR procedures requiring IP allocation

Maintaining leased addresses for rarely-used DR infrastructure is more economical than purchasing.

The Future of IPv4 Leasing

Long-Term Market Outlook

Sustained Demand: Google saw about 47% of its users on IPv6 in the week of 14 to 20 September 2026, so most services still need an IPv4 address for the other half. Legacy systems and dual-stack operation keep that need in place for years after any IPv6 rollout.

Leasing and IPv6 Coexistence

Complementary Resources: Most networks run both protocols. They deploy IPv6 and lease IPv4 for compatibility, and dual stack is the standard setup for the length of the transition.

Leased IPv6: IPv6 is not scarce, so leasing it solves a different problem. A network with an ASN but no RIR membership can lease a /48 of provider-aggregatable (PA) space from an LIR and announce it the same week. PA space returns to the lessor's pool when the lease ends. If you need a block that stays registered to your organization when you change provider, that is IPv6 PI.

How Via-Registry Helps

IPv4 leases are quoted case by case after we verify the network, from €0.50 per IP per month (as of September 2026). Every lease we route is announced from your own ASN, so you need one first: ASN registration through our sponsorship costs €130 per year and needs no RIPE NCC membership. IPv6 is available straight away: a leased /48 costs €40 per year and a /44 €80, and the inet6num, route6 object and ROA are created after payment (leased IPv6 blocks). To discuss an IPv4 lease, send us your requirements.

IPv4 Exhaustion FAQ

When did IPv4 run out?

IANA's central pool emptied on 3 February 2011, and the run-out table at the top of this article gives each registry's dates.

Can I still get IPv4 addresses from the RIPE NCC?

Only one /24 per member, ever, through a waiting list (ripe-826). On 25 September 2026, 791 LIRs were waiting and the first in line had waited 485 days. The RIPE NCC no longer assigns provider independent IPv4 space to End Users, except to Internet Exchange Points.

How much does an IPv4 address cost to buy or lease?

In August 2026 the IPv4.Global monthly average was about $23.50 per address for /22 to /24 blocks and about $14.30 for /16 and larger. The average lease deal on IPXO was $0.35 per IP per month over the six months to September 2026. Registry transfer fees and the resale value of the block change the comparison; the worked figures are in the cost section above.

Do I need an ASN to lease IPv4 addresses?

A leased block is announced in BGP from the lessee's own AS number, so every lease we route needs one. An ASN through our sponsorship costs €130 per year and needs no RIPE NCC membership.

Summary

Three registries now hand out IPv4 only from waiting lists, and the other two ration it. A small block cost about $23.50 per address to buy in August 2026 against a $0.35 average monthly lease, so leasing wins for anything shorter than about five and a half years, or wherever capital matters more than resale value. Whichever route you take, the addresses are announced from your own ASN, and dual-stack IPv6 is what lets you need fewer of them.

For how a lease works in practice, from contract to announcement, see How IP Leasing Works: A Practical Guide for Network Operators; for what the contract should say, see Legal Aspects of IP Leasing Agreements.