About

Ethereum Name Service is a decentralized and open-source naming system that facilitates the translation of human-readable names into machine-readable identifiers such as cryptocurrency addresses, metadata, and content hashes. The project’s operation closely parallels the widely-used Domain Name Service, employing dot-separated names referred to as domains. The ENS domain name itself is an ERC-721 non-fungible token (NFT) containing distinctive machine-readable data, such as wallet addresses.

History

Ethereum Name Service was first conceived in April 2016 by Nick Johnson. Johnson and a small team of developers from the Ethereum Foundation began working and finally launched Ethereum Name Service on May 4, 2017.

In May 2020, a $1.50 million grant was received from the Ethereum Foundation to focus on developing the ENS product. Using this money, Johnson founded True Names Ltd. (now called ENS Labs Ltd.) in Singapore to organize product development.

In November 2021, the project team took its first steps towards decentralization by forming the ENS DAO. At the same time, the project distributed 25.00 million ERC-20 ENS (25.00% of the total token supply) via an airdrop to its users, allowing them to drive governance. With this transition, a delegated onchain governance structure was implemented. Lastly, the ENS Foundation was incorporated in the Cayman Islands to serve as the legal representative of the DAO.