Ethereum Name Service (ENS), the domain naming system, has proposed a protocol migration to Layer 2 in order to reduce gas fees and improve transaction speeds. The upgrade, known as ENSv2, will involve a comprehensive overhaul of Layer 2 and re-architecting ENS to include a hierarchical registry for better management and customization of .eth domain names.
Under ENSv2, nameholders will have access to a unique name registry where they can manage subdomains and configure resolvers. They will also be able to customize the governance of their names, including choosing the terms for name expiration and transfer rules.
ENS, which was launched in 2017, is a well-known on-chain naming tool that has seen over two million .eth names registered across various applications, wallets, domains, and browsers.
The proposal for the ENSv2 upgrade was driven by the release of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4844, also known as proto-danksharding, which provides a cheaper way for Layer 2 rollups to post transaction data to Ethereum. The affordability and scalability of Layer 2 networks based on Ethereum were key factors in ENS’s decision to propose the upgrade.
If the ENSv2 upgrade is accepted, developers will benefit from the increased flexibility offered by the new registry design and other infrastructure deployed during the migration. Users will enjoy reduced transaction fees and increased throughput by hosting their names on Layer 2, while still having the option to retain the security and availability guarantees of hosting on Layer 1.
ENS Labs, the team behind the Ethereum Name Service, maps human-readable names like ‘alice.eth’ to machine-readable identifiers such as Ethereum addresses, cryptocurrency addresses, content hashes, and metadata. ENS also supports reverse resolution, allowing the association of metadata with Ethereum addresses.
The ETHRegistrarController serves as the main controller for the ETH Registrar and provides a simple registration and renewal mechanism. The ETH Registrar charges a registration fee, which is paid in ETH to prevent spamming the registrar. Any protocol fees are sent to the ENS Treasury.