#Ethereum Name Service

Ethereum Name Service is a decentralized naming protocol built on Ethereum that maps human-readable names such as alice.eth to machine-readable identifiers including wallet addresses, content hashes, and metadata records. When a user registers a .eth name, the protocol mints an ERC-721 NFT representing ownership of that name inside the ENS Registry smart contract. Resolver contracts then translate the name into the underlying address whenever a wallet, dApp, or block explorer queries it. The system supports unlimited subdomains, expiration dates, renewal payments in ETH, and DNSSEC-based interoperability with legacy domains such as .com or .xyz, which owners can import on-chain and use exactly like a native .eth name.

Users register a .eth name directly through the official ENS application at app.ens.domains by connecting a self-custody wallet that holds enough ETH to cover the annual registration fee plus network gas costs. The process involves searching for an available name, submitting a commitment transaction, waiting roughly one minute to prevent front-running, and then confirming the registration with the chosen rental duration of one year or longer. Pricing scales by name length: three-character names cost the most, four-character names sit in a middle tier, and five-or-more-character names share a flat annual fee. Names already owned by other users can be acquired on secondary markets such as OpenSea, where each ENS name trades as a standard NFT.

Owning an ENS name is legal in virtually every jurisdiction because it functions as a self-sovereign cryptographic record rather than a regulated financial instrument. Each .eth name is represented by an ERC-721 NFT held in a user-controlled wallet, and registration does not require identity verification, residency proof, or government approval. Regulatory questions can arise in adjacent areas, such as trademark disputes where brand owners have filed claims against names that mirror their commercial marks, or in tax treatment when names are sold on secondary markets for significant profit. Several jurisdictions classify high-value digital collectibles under existing capital gains frameworks at the point of sale, so record-keeping is advisable for active traders.

Standard ENS registration fees, set by the ENS DAO, are denominated in U.S. dollars and paid in ETH at the moment of registration based on a Chainlink price oracle. Under current governance settings, names of five or more characters cost roughly five dollars per year, four-character names cost approximately one hundred sixty dollars per year, and three-character names cost about six hundred forty dollars per year, with the fee converted to ETH at the spot rate. Gas costs add a variable network expense depending on Ethereum congestion. Secondary-market values vary widely: short single-word names, three-digit numerics, and recognizable brand-style handles have transacted for tens or even hundreds of ETH, while long descriptive names typically trade close to the renewal floor.

A .eth name functions as a portable Web3 identity that replaces long wallet addresses across hundreds of integrated applications. Owners can receive payments to their name on Ethereum mainnet and supported Layer 2 networks, set a profile avatar that displays automatically in wallets and NFT marketplaces, host a decentralized website by pointing the name to an IPFS or Arweave content hash, and use the name for end-to-end messaging on protocols that support ENS resolution. Names also serve as login credentials for decentralized applications via wallet sign-in, as on-chain reputation handles for DAO governance and social platforms, and as recoverable, censorship-resistant alternatives to traditional social-media usernames that remain tied to centralized providers.