What is Ethereum Name Service (ENS)?
Ethereum Name Service is an open and distributed naming mechanism for wallets, websites and other web3 related services. By opting for an ENS, an individual simply receives a decentralized domain (Similar to a domain that we see in web2.0) on which one can publish content or receive crypto payments for their services. With an ENS an individual can establish a real profile instead of an alphanumeric wallet address that is often difficult to remember. These domains are created in the form of an NFT.
Who are the founders of Ethereum Name Service?
Ethereum Name Service was a part of Ethereum Foundation but was later separated to become a single entity. Nick Johnson was the lead developer of ENS and worked at Google and Ethereum before leading the Ethereum Name Service. ENS has several members in its governance body including Nick. The members of ENS are
- Sergey Nazarov – Chainlink
- Dan Finlay – Metamask
- Taylor Monahan – MyCrypto
- Aron Fischer – Colony
- Jason Carver – Ethereum Foundation
- Martin Swende – Ethereum Foundation
How does Ethereum Name Service work?
Ethereum Name Service works similar to a traditional domain. The paradigm shift in ENS is that these domains are decentralized making it an ideal solution for web3. ENS is not a company but an open source platform that offers Naming solutions for decentralized websites. ENS is similar to what DNS is to the traditional web or web2. ENS aims to replace long and exhaustive code based client side solutions to a more friendly and human-readable content. The ENS is created as an NFT for easy transfer of content or payments on the decentralized web. The suffix of these domains are replaced with .eth.
ENS is built using two smart contracts. It comprises of a ENS registry and the resolver is the second smart contract that translates machine-readable addresses to domain names.
Key Attributes of Ethereum Name Service
Namehash: The process of Namehash allows the ENS to generate a unique hash linked to a unique ENS without having to process through human readable code. This lets the platform have a hierarchical system.
DNSSEC: Domain Name System Security Extensions allows establishing trust from the root key signed by ICANN (.) and down through each key. Given DNSSEC is enabled and an ETH address is put into the subdomain of the domain a user owns (eg: _ens.yourdomain.tld), ENS manager allows anyone to submit the hash of the chain to DNSSEC Oracle smart contract.
Reverse Resolution: Reverse resolution helps in linking metadata like canonical names of the domain to the ethereum address.
What sets Ethereum Name Service apart?
With an ENS a user can host websites through IPFS – Interplanetary File system, making the website truly decentralized. ENS not only supports easy transactions on blockchain but also helps in showcasing one’s bio, Twitter profile and other social identity linked to the domain user. With a user’s eth. domain, anyone can look up for details on the internet.
The difference in the eth domain and traditional web2 domain is that an ENS works on the ethereum network making it a safer option compared to others. The most striking feature about using an ENS is that it will immediately notify if one has entered a wrong eth address or domain, making your transacting process safer.
Latest News on Ethereum Name Service
ENS domains registry has exceeded 2 million in July, 2022. ENS to be widely integrated naming standards with more than 1.67 million names, boasting 505 integrations, with ownership as high as 482k. Nick Johnson the lead developer of ENS tweeted
“It took 5 years to reach 1,000,000 names then only 3.5 months to reach 2,000,000!”
The massive list of ENS domain holders includes Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, and Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke. Celebrities such as Jimmy Fallon, Paris Hilton, and Snoop Dogg.
Source: CoinMarketCap, CryptoPotato and Doc.ens.domains
How to buy Ethereum Name Service (ENS) in India
Use this three-step process to buy Ethereum Name Service using the CoinDCX crypto investment app
- Sign Up for the CoinDCX account: Enter a valid email address and a user name on the sign-up page. Once the Email Id has been verified, set a strong password to secure your account.
- Verify the account: You need to complete your KYC, to buy ENS on the CoinDCX platform. All you need to do is upload the documents and your account will be set up in 15 minutes.
- Buy ENS: After the account has been verified, you can deposit any amount of fiat currency you are comfortable with and start your crypto journey!
Additional Read: Ethereum Merge Update
