What is Ethereum Name Service (ENS)?

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a protocol that maps a readable ENS domain, such as yourname.eth, to a wallet address and other details. Instead of copying a long 0x string, someone can send funds to the name. ENS is governed by the ENS DAO, a community that votes on proposals, and no single company controls it.

What is an ENS domain used for?

The most common use is receiving crypto. You point your name at your Ethereum address, and you can also add addresses for other chains such as Bitcoin and Solana. A name can also hold a profile, including an avatar, social handles and a website, which apps that read ENS display when you connect.

Other uses include linking the name to a decentralized website on IPFS or Arweave, and creating subnames like pay.yourname.eth, each with its own records. If you want apps to show your name instead of your address, you also set it as your primary name. That works in the reverse direction, from address to name, and needs both the address record and the primary name to be set.

What is a crypto domain?

"Crypto domain" is a loose term for a name recorded on a blockchain rather than only in the traditional domain system. ENS names ending in .eth are one example. They are registered on Ethereum Mainnet and held as NFTs, so they can be transferred like other tokens.

ENS also works with regular web domains. If you already own a domain such as a .com or a country code like .uk, you can import it into ENS by adding a special DNS text record. Imported names have no ENS renewal fee, but they depend on your normal domain registration staying active.

How do you register an ENS domain?

You connect a wallet at the ENS app, search for a name and choose how long to register it, with a minimum of 28 days. Registration takes two transactions. The first commits to the name and costs only gas. After a 60-second wait, the second registers it and charges the fee plus gas, paid in ETH. The pause stops others from copying your transaction and grabbing the name first. Shorter names cost more per year than longer ones, and gas is explained in what are gas fees.

How does ENS domain renewal work?

Anyone can renew any .eth name at any time without changing who owns it. When a name expires, it keeps resolving at first but cannot be transferred. As of October 2026, a 90-day grace period follows, during which only renewal is possible and ownership stays with the current holder. After that comes a 21-day temporary premium, which starts very high and falls to zero. Then the name opens to anyone.

The ENS DAO has passed a proposal for ENSv2, still on a test network, that would cut the grace period to 28 days and change pricing once ENSv2 launches. Treat any address you send to by name with the same care as one you type, as covered in what is a wallet address.