Ethereum Name Service

ENS launched its initial registrar on Ethereum mainnet on 2017-05-04, but the durable idea is smaller than a web directory. The Registry maps a namehash to three fields: owner, resolver and TTL. Resolution first finds the resolver, then asks that contract for an address, text, content hash or another supported record.

That split determines the everyday security boundary. The effective manager can replace the resolver, while resolver permissions decide who edits records. An unwrapped name exposes its manager in Registry.owner(); a wrapped name points the Registry at Name Wrapper and exposes effective ownership through the wrapper. Transferring an ENS token changes none of these fields.

The permanent ENSv1 registrar divided the .eth machine. BaseRegistrar holds ERC721 registrations and expiry; authorized controllers perform registration, renewal and price calculations. The current controller uses commit-reveal: wait at least 60 seconds after committing and complete registration before 24 hours. Anyone may renew a name.

The clock matters more than the NFT metaphor. Current base rent is $5 a year for 5+ characters, $160 for four and $640 for three, paid in ETH but denominated in USD. After expiry comes 90 days of grace, then a 21-day premium period beginning near $100 million and decaying. Controller upgrades can change the purchase path without rewriting an intact BaseRegistrar ownership record.

The 2021 token distribution created a different object: ERC20 ENS at token.ensdao.eth. The contract gives delegated voting checkpoints and allows the owner—the DAO governance system—to mint no more than 2% of current supply once per 365 days. Holding a name did not make the name a governance ballot forever, and buying ENS does not create a name.

A holder must delegate to self or another address. An executable proposal needs 100,000 delegated ENS, then seven days of onchain voting, 1% quorum, majority approval and a two-day timelock. Successful calls may transfer treasury assets or alter DAO-controlled contracts. They do not create dividends, redemption, company shares or ownership of individual resolver records.

The ENS Foundation was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on 2021-10-26 so the DAO could contract, hold assets and meet legal obligations. It is a nonprofit company limited by guarantee with no shareholders. Under its articles, the DAO can appoint or remove directors and instruct major actions. The 2026 evolved structure says ENS Foundation and ENS Labs are separate entities; Labs develops core software but does not own the Foundation, Endowment, DAO tokens or protocol.

Governance also accepts a narrow human veto. On 2026-07-20 ENS announced activation of a new eight-member Security Council. Five signatures can cancel a malicious proposal queued in the timelock; the contract cannot propose, edit, execute or redirect funds. Its term ends 2028-07-16 unless governance extends it. This is visible, bounded control, not proof that every ENS decision is trustless.

On 2026-08-12 the new ENS App, Explorer, registry and v1-to-v2 upgrade flow entered public beta on Ethereum Sepolia. ENSv2 proposes a permissioned hierarchical registry, ERC1155 singleton ownership, granular roles, ERC20 payment choices, a 28-day grace period and multi-year discounts. Its registrar documentation explicitly says contracts and interfaces may change before mainnet.

That status prevents an easy but material error: quoting ENSv2 prices or expiry rules as today's .eth terms. Mainnet users still rely on ENSv1 contracts and the 90-day grace period at this review date. The migration may redistribute operational roles, but it does not turn ENS tokens into names or names into claims on the Foundation.