⌨️ The Ethereum Naming Service
Today's Highlights
- Creating human-readable names for ETH addresses
- Today's Infographic
- In Other News - a few interesting developments we're tracking.
Creating human-readable names for ETH addresses
When cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum became initially popular, there was a fatal flaw with how people send or receive the coins. It wasn’t as easy as putting in a Venmo username, since blockchain addresses are a long string of characters that are virtually impossible to remember. But the Ethereum Naming Service, founded by Nick Johnson and Vitalik Buterin in May 2016, all but virtually eliminated this problem.
ENS is a system that makes it easy for people to use human-readable names, like "myname.eth", instead of long and complex addresses for their Ethereum accounts. This makes it easier for people to send and receive payments on the Ethereum network, just like how people use domain names like "google.com" instead of IP addresses to access websites on the internet. ENS is kind of like a phonebook for the Ethereum network, helping people to find and connect with each other.
In order to create an ENS domain, you have to head over to app.en.domain in a browser. You’ll need a Web3 compatible browser and a browser extension wallet such as Metamask. Once you find a domain name option that you are satisfied with, you request to register the name. You have to send enough Ethereum to cover the fees depending on how many years you want the name for.
After the first transaction, there is another one and this requires the payment of an expensive gas fee due to its high computational power. Once that’s done, you officially own that domain name, and all that’s left is resolving the name to an Ethereum address of your choosing.
The ENS has removed many headaches for those active in the Web3 world. As the Ethereum ecosystem continues to grow and evolve, the ENS is likely to become an increasingly important part of the network.