What Is ENS?

02/09/2024

Whether you’re new to crypto or a seasoned expert, I’m here to share insights and updates from this ever-evolving domain. The most common use for ENS is storing cryptocurrencies in wallets and exchanging them. Buying, selling, sending and receiving cryptocurrencies can all be done using an ENS.

A great place to start is at almonit.eth, where you can search a directory of decentralized websites. ENS runs similarly to the Internet’s DNS, in that it has a hierarchical system that allows the domain owner total control of any subdomains. So realsatoshi.eth can create wallet.realsatoshi.eth and email.realsatoshi.eth.

ENS Foundation

You will officially own a domain on Web3, which you can then connect to your wallet or use for whatever purpose you see fit. As technology and society evolve, it is likely that there will be additional use cases for accept cryptocurrency payments ENS names in the future. Below we explore how it works, where it comes from, and how you can secure an emoji domain name. Stephan Roth is a London-based financial journalist who has reported on cryptocurrency since 2018. He has previously worked for KPMG, CNNMoney and ACCOINTING and has a keen interest in economics, financial markets and crypto regulation.

In 2018, ENS branched off from the Ethereum Foundation into its own project with the help of a grant from the EF to continue development and building of the protocol. ENS is available on the most popular centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance U.S, Coinbase, Kraken, Kucoin, and others. Currently, the token is trading at around $14, and what is a white label payment gateway the market cap is $279.6 million.

ENS and the Blockchain​

However, you can secure your ENS domain for many years and only pay the gas fee once, during registration. Another interesting aspect is that anyone can extend the registration of your ENS domain, but this doesn’t give ownership over your domain. Of course, there is another foundation that aims to simplify the way humans interact with blockchain addresses. The main competitor of ENS is Unstoppable Domains, which also offers transferable domains.

  • In a fully decentralized network without censorship, dealing with fraudulent websites or harmful content can be challenging.
  • There are, however, some significant differences in the philosophy behind these projects.
  • ENS can be deployed on both the Ethereum main network as well as several test networks.

What’s the Difference Between ENS and Unstoppable Domains?

ENS provides an innovative platform for users to register domain names, create aliases for wallets, and launch decentralised websites. With the help of ENS, businesses and users can enjoy the benefits of a secure, reliable address system that works with multiple blockchains and digital assets. Cryptography is complex and can discourage beginners from getting involved. ENS eliminates this barrier to adoption by making crypto easier and more accessible. ENS converts the machine-readable public addresses into short, memorable links, which allow transactions and interactions with any cryptocurrency or NFT. It aims to link all wallets, websites, and subdomains under one link, making crypto more accessible and less technical.

A .eth name, which is an ENS name registered on the Ethereum blockchain, can be used as a domain name to host a website. The ENS focuses first and foremost on providing distributed, trustworthy name resolution for Web3 resources such as blockchain addresses and distributed content. By contrast, projects such as Namecoin, Blockstack, and Handshake are making efforts to replace DNS. The introduction of ENS tokens had the added benefit of transitioning the project’s funding model away from grants. ENS tokens are tradable for U.S. dollars and other cryptocurrencies on crypto exchanges, providing a financial lifeline to the project’s developers.

Additionally, top-level domains like .eth are owned by smart contracts referred to as registrars, which control the creation of subdomains. Through the transfer or sale of an NFT, you can easily trade a domain to someone else. ENS is important because it simplifies the use of Ethereum blockchain addresses. If you have a .eth domain, you can utilize smart contracts to create your own subdomains to match with a Dapp (decentralized app) and make it more user-friendly.

Although the concept of decentralized domain names how to become a microsoft network engineer isn’t mainstream yet, the current data is very important. In July 2022, ENS saw significant growth, increasing by 67% compared to the 122,327 domains registered in June, and setting a record with over 365,000 monthly registrations in July. As of the writing of this article, there are over 2 million ENS domains.

Best Practices for ENS Users

This gives users of the Ethereum blockchain the unique opportunity to open a wallet and stand out from the other addresses. It’s a 42-character long string, and it is commonly referred to as a public address of a cryptocurrency wallet. You can recognize Ethereum network addresses because they always start with “0x”. Additionally, all domain names purchased on Unstoppable Domains are owned for life, eliminating the recurring cost of renting domain names and allowing users to have full control and usage.

  • This rapid growth may be due to some well-known institutions registering their own ENS domains.
  • Add “.limo” or “.link” to the end of any .eth domain to resolve the content hash in your browser.
  • ENS enables cross chain naming of long addresses such as crypto wallets, content hashes, metadata and even smart contracts.
  • With this revolutionary technology, you can effortlessly upload your website to the IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and access it using an ENS name.

But the difference between ENS and DNS comes from their underlying architecture. ENS is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain — a decentralized network with no central entity controlling it. Furthermore, ENS replaces manually operated and controlled systems with automated smart contracts based on Ethereum. Aside from this, the decentralized web is being built on the partnership between ENS and the file storage system IPFS.

However, verifying the registration on the Ethereum blockchain may take longer due to network congestion. Yes, although ENS can be used to register domain names, it is currently limited to the .eth top-level domain. This means you cannot use other popular domains such as .com or .org with ENS. ENS allows users to send funds quickly and easily, as opposed to having to copy or type lengthy hexadecimal addresses.

If you fail to input the address correctly and mistype a letter, the funds you send will be irreversibly lost. There’s no central authority to contact to reverse or refund the transaction—that money is lost. Unstoppable Domains need to be registered only once, and there is no expiration date for your domain.