What Is an ENS?

What is an ENS? Read our comprehensive article to learn this and more.

In the past, when the Internet wasn’t so advanced, users had problems with domain names not being matched up to IP addresses. In fact, they had to type in the numbers of the site’s IP address they wanted to visit.

Crypto addresses are even longer than IP addresses. To make matters worse, blockchain-based technology is very punishing — if you fail to input the address correctly, the funds you send will be irreversibly lost. That’s because you can’t contact any central authority to complain about the problem. That’s where ENS steps in. Let’s find out more.

What Is an ENS?

ENS, or Ethereum Name Service, is a domain naming system that is built on the Ethereum blockchain. It converts the randomly generated Ethereum address into more easily recognizable words, such as a person’s name or a brand.

Let’s proceed. ENS functions similarly to traditional domain name services, in which the numbers making up an IP address are represented by a human-readable website name — one that people can remember more easily.

To further explain what ENS in crypto is, we also have to remember the difference between centralized and decentralized blockchains.

Unlike centralized domain naming services (DNS), this is a decentralized, open, and extendable naming system. It uses blockchain technology to prevent the security risks of having a single point of control.

The network’s goal isn’t to replace DNS but to work alongside it. The ENS is in charge of DAO, the ENS decentralized autonomous organization that oversees the protocol’s shared treasury.

It enables users to make proposals and vote on the protocol’s management and development decisions. This makes ENS a governance token.

How Does ENS Work?

Two Ethereum smart contracts are the basis on which ENS is built.

The first one, the ENS registry, records the ENS-registered domains. It also stores data about the domain’s owner and resolver and the caching time for all records under that domain.

The second one, the resolver, converts domain names to machine-readable addresses and vice versa. It matches the domains to the corresponding website, address, or user. If people want to change their Web3 username, they should visit the ENS app and search for available domain names. Then, they should follow the process.

After owning the domain, they can link it to their websites or wallets or even create many subdomains connected to the same ENS domain. ENS domains are limited, so people rush to secure their nicknames. In addition to supporting .eth, ENS also supports .com, .org, .app, .io, and more.

Now that you know the ENS meaning and functionality, let’s explore some other aspects.

ENS vs. DNS

Let’s dig deeper into the similarities and differences between ENS and DNS.

Both DNS and ENS are protocols dictating how specific operations, Web2 or Web3, are resolved. The DNS converts a web server’s IP address into a human-readable sequence called a URL, and the ENS converts an Ethereum address into a human-readable sequence formatted like a URL.

You can think of them as phonebooks, allowing you to look up a name and get the number connecting you to that person.

DNS is a part of Internet protocols that enable the seamless operation of Web2. At the same time, Web3, which describes the decentralized version of the Internet, is still in development and faces problems that impede adoption, like long addresses.

When learning what Ethereum name service is, you should also know that its current primary purpose is to provide people and apps with easy methods of reading and sharing crypto addresses, making Web3 more digestible.

Over time, Web3 will likely contain more protocols built around ENS. Even now, there are some great Web3 crypto coins.

So, if someone still wonders if Ethereum is dead, the ongoing innovation and adoption of services like ENS show that Ethereum remains a vital part of the blockchain ecosystem and is still a good investment.

How to Get an ENS Domain

What is an ENS domain-gaining process and how does it work? Users should visit the ENS app and look for available domain names. After finding one, they can request to register it by confirming the first of two transactions from their connected Ethereum wallets.

Registration is confirmed with the second transaction, which has to be processed within seven days of the first one.

Then, users define the rental period, which is the period during which they will have access to the domain. They may set up many sub-domains and different addresses linking to their name.

Yet, the greatest ENS benefit is sharing a more easily recognizable Ethereum address instead of a random sequence of letters and numbers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, what is an ENS? Ethereum Name Service is a domain naming system built on the Ethereum blockchain that converts the randomly generated address into more easily recognizable words.

It is similar to DNS, which converts a web server’s IP address into a human-readable sequence called a URL. ENS is built on two Ethereum smart contracts: the ENS registry and the resolver, facilitating users’ process of getting an ENS domain.

This is undoubtedly a critical invention that has quickly gained widespread use among thousands of individuals.

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