Originally published June 29th 2022 @ cloudname.com
Last month saw Ethereum Name Service surpass the one million registered domain mark and new registrations clocked in at 365k in May alone. The registration frenzy was propelled by the “999club” and “10kclub”, a new group of 3-digit and 4-digit .eth domain holders, created after all .eth domains between 000–9999 being sold out. The current number mania has resulted in ENS domain sales hitting their highest levels on record.
Alex Van de Sande and Nick Johnson from the Ethereum Foundation launched Ethereum Name Service on May 4, 2017. A naming protocol that allows humans to use easy-to-remember names for their cryptocurrency addresses.
As DNS enabled a domain name to be linked to an IP address, becoming the phonebook of the Internet. Similarly, the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is the phonebook of the Blockchain.
However, utility does not end there; ENS are in themselves NFTs, whose ownership is recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. This means you can also trade them on any marketplace — and as soon as Q4 of 2022, when the next upgrade protocol is scheduled to occur — holders will be able to lease, trade, or earn royalties on any subdomain created under their parent domain.
Furthermore, ENS names are already the standard across most crypto wallets, besides working with a decentralized architecture which can reference to decentralized, uncensorable websites and a potential universal login for all things Web3.
The hype is not going unnoticed. Earlier this month, GoDaddy (the Internet Domain giant), has come out with guidance to their clients and offered to broker deals in strategic defensive registrations. On that blog post they went on to caution, blockchain domains are unregulated, and being decentralized in nature, lack the “traditional website resolution manner”.
The hype is not going unnoticed. Earlier this month, GoDaddy (the Internet Domain giant), has come out with guidance to their clients and offered to broker deals in strategic defensive registrations. On that blog post they went on to caution, blockchain domains are unregulated, and being decentralized in nature, lack the “traditional website resolution manner”.
The future of ENS looks bright as proponents predict in the upcoming years every individual and company will rush to setup their Web3 identity — especially with more traditional companies integrating crypto payments and diving into the metaverse.
1289.eth
“(…) Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is the phonebook of the Blockchain.” | by Cloudname | Medium
