If you want to search for something on the internet, you’ll navigate to a URL. For example, if you want to find something on StockTwits, you type www.stocktwits.com. This is due to the Domain Name Service (DNS), which provides a readable username to the websites.
But this wasn’t the case in the early days of the internet. Initially, instead of typing the name, we were supposed to write the IP address, which is a string of numbers, such as 123.1.876.980.
The story of cryptocurrency is still very much in the IP address era, where users are supposed to remember long and difficult wallet addresses to send a crypto payment.
The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) simplifies crypto by replacing long numbers with usernames — just like DNS did with websites. It is an open, distributed, and expandable naming system that works with the Ethereum blockchain.
So, for example, if Natasha’s wallet address is 0xs7hs4bfq9fmoj3c…, the ENS system can change it into a human-readable name such as “natasha.eth.”
With the ENS, users can buy and manage their own domains, which allows for secure and decentralized transactions to take place without having to deal with long and complex addresses. It reduces the likelihood of typing mistakes when entering the recipient’s address for fund transfers.
ENS looks like DNS, but its unique features make it different.
ENS is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), and its native token is $ENS.X. Domain owners who owned one of the ENS domains on October 31, 2021 were eligible for an airdrop of the $ENS.X governance token.
An ENS name can be obtained by checking on https://app.ens.domains/ and registering it. Simply connect your wallet and type in the domain you want. ENS domains will require a yearly renewal fee payable in Ether. If your name has five characters or more, renewal is $5 per year. However, as the number of characters decreases, the renewal fee goes up.
The ENS domain names use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to represent unique addresses. If you want, you can trade domain names by selling them as NFTs to someone. You may also buy a unique Ethereum domain name and rent it to other users. However, most popular names, such as God, America, were initially auctioned off.
The controversy
Despite its decentralized appearance, the ENS is not free from controversy. In February, ENS director Brantly Millegan was attacked over some controversial tweets he made in 2016. TNL, the nonprofit “that funds and organizes development on [ENS],” terminated his contract in response, and users voted against him to remove him from the ENS foundation.
The bottom line
The ENS is a step forward in the world of decentralized networks, allowing easy access to blockchains. It does more than just provide names, as it has other benefits, like airdrops, NFTs, uniqueness, and others, which makes the project more valuable.