During the early days of the internet, one of the central problems computer scientists faced was that domain names and internet protocol addresses had not been matched up, making them unfriendly to an average user.
The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) combats the problem by allowing anyone to create simple website-style addresses that are easier to remember and use.
What is Ethereum Name Service?
Ethereum Name Service is a distributed naming system. Found in 2017 by Nick Johnson, it converts complex identifiers, such as crypto wallet addresses and long hexadecimal strings of numbers and hashes, into more straightforward and accessible wallet names.
ENS facilitates the sharing and remembering of Ethereum addresses on the blockchain.
Therefore, through the ENS, users can buy and manage their domains. As such, secure and decentralized transactions can occur without having to deal with long and complex addresses. It also reduces the likelihood of input errors when typing out the recipient's address to send funds.
How Does Ethereum Name Service Work?
An ENS domain name uses ERC-721 Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to represent a unique address. You can transfer a domain by transferring or selling the NFT to someone else. Wallet addresses and other information are attached to each token.
To purchase an Ethereum domain name, you can check its availability and rent it yearly. Popular names were auctioned off, and the highest bidder could attach addresses, create sub-domains, and loan or sell their domain name.
If you have ever got confused with multiple addresses when sending cryptocurrencies, you'll understand the need for ENS.
Like you would save a friend's phone number under their name, ENS lets users turn long numbers into easy-to-remember words, creating a more direct experience with less chance for errors. The natural suffix for ENS is .eth.
An ENS domain owner can also create subdomains to which they can assign other data. It does not always have to be a wallet address, either, and you could use it to direct to a smart contract, transaction, or metadata.
Ethereum Name Service Use Cases
1. Cryptocurrency Wallets
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. ENS supports the addresses of any cryptocurrency or blockchain.
2. Decentralized Web
It is possible to launch censorship-resistant decentralized websites with ENS. It is as easy as uploading a website to an IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and accessing it with an ENS name.
Brave, Opera, MetaMask, and Status, among others, support ENS-IPFS websites. In browsers without native support for ENS-IPFS websites, users may affix ".link" to their .eth website name via a system called EthDNS.
3. Identity
All personal information, like an email address or an avatar, can be attached to an ENS username. It means that ENS-enabled usernames may become our primary digital identity on the web.
Final Thoughts
The main focus of ENS is to provide a distributed and trustworthy naming domain for Web3 users who interact on the Ethereum blockchain. On the other hand, most naming services, such as Namecoin and Blockstack, are trying to replace the DNS naming service completely. ENS doesn't share the same approach and instead seeks to coexist with the Web2 domain.
ENS domains have given blockchain users a more accessible and efficient way of making payments via crypto wallets.
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