The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) lets users select distinctive domain names for their wallet addresses. The key to this technique is using a computer to comprehend this domain.

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has the potential to be the deciding factor in Web3 communication. In this blog, we’ll provide an overview of the Ethereum Name Service.

Before moving ahead, do you know why Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is doing rounds in the crypto market in May 2024? Let’s find out in the following section.

Why is ENS Token’s Price Surging in May 2024?

ENS has been gaining popularity among users due to its price swing and association with the Ethereum ecosystem. ENS has experienced sideways movement for most of 2023, but what’s new in 2024?

• Breakout in 2024

In 2024, ENS surged alongside the general bull market, reaching a 12-month peak above $27 before retreating to $26.41. Expectations remain high for another upward move, with predictions suggesting a potential breakout between $27.30 and $30.40. Extreme predictions for the current rally suggest a potential hike to $80.

• Continued Buying and Perceived Undervaluation

Despite a brief pullback, buying interest in ENS continues, with the project considered undervalued overall. The rally may persist as the entire Ethereum ecosystem of tokens garners additional attention.

• Boost from Web3 Narrative

The return of the Web3 narrative is expected to boost ENS. Owning a unique name is part of this narrative, and the ENS community exemplifies usable ownership, active trading, and account renewal. ENS’s integration with the account abstraction trend allows for more intuitive access to multiple chains.

• Support from the Ethereum Community

ENS has always received strong support from the Ethereum community. The recent rally coincided with Ethereum market prices approaching $4,000. The daily active users on the Ethereum network also surpassed 500,000 in 24 hours, highlighting its dominance in decentralized finance.

Now that you know the reasons behind the recent surge, let’s shift our focus to the basic introduction.

What is Ethereum Name Service (ENS)?

Crypto addresses are long sequences of numbers and characters designed for computer reading. Unfortunately, these lengthy addresses have resulted in confusion and even financial losses.

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a distributed system built on the Ethereum blockchain that offers an easy alternative to lengthy and complicated crypto addresses: one URL similar to a website name or email that serves as a crypto address.

ENS maps the lengthy public address that crypto users know, and it can be replaced with a short and straightforward name that is simple to read and remember. Something complicated like “0xDC25EF3F5B8A186998338A2ADA83795FBA2D695E” becomes as easy as “Alice.eth.”

ENS utilizes the same principle as the Domain Name Service (DNS), which maps short website URLs to their IP addresses to make crypto addresses simpler to read and share.

Quick facts about ENS

• ENS comprises two Ethereum smart contracts: the ENS registry, which stores domain names, and the resolver, which transforms domain names into machine-readable addresses.
• Just as in the early days of DNS names, users scramble to secure their ENS domains before they run out of unavailability.
• ENS supports a variety of top-level domains, like .com, .org, .io, .app and more.
• ENS is presently supported by browsers like Brave, Opera, Status (mobile), MetaMask Mobile (mobile), and Puma. Internet browsers like Chrome and Safari don’t support ENS.

With these quick facts, it’ll be easy to understand how the ENS works. Let’s check the sections below to learn more.

How does ENS work?

Two Ethereum smart contracts form the basis of ENS. The ENS registry keeps a record of all domains registered on ENS. It saves three vital pieces of information about each domain, including the domain owner, the domain resolver, and the caching time for all records under the domain, which is the first smart contract. The second smart contract is the resolver, which changes domain names into machine-readable addresses and vice versa. With the help of the second smart contract, each domain is connected to the appropriate user, website, or location.

Users of the ENS app can start by looking for a domain name that is currently accessible before making their Web3 account. Once you’ve found the domain name, all that’s left to do is complete the registration procedure, which involves approving two transactions from your wallet and paying the annual cost of $5 for names longer than five characters. You can generate various subdomains, such as email.rick.eth or website.rick.eth, all connected under the same ENS domain after you have the domain, link it to your websites, crypto wallets, etc.

Similar to the early days of DNS names, crypto locals are hurrying to obtain their nicknames, as ENS domains are limited. Some people are even experimenting with ENS domain flipping, which can be a successful side business, given that weather.eth was sold in the auction for 300 ETH, or US$27,000, while exchange.eth was sold for 6,660 ETH, or US$609,000.

Along with .eth, ENS also supports the most widely used DNS names, such as.com, .org, .io, .app, and others.

What can you do with the ENS domain?

In short, ENS domains assist users in converting their lengthy, difficult-to-read wallet addresses into identifiable names. Imagine using this to save someone’s phone number with their name. Then, to call the individual, you just need to type their name into the search bar; you don’t need to dial their number repeatedly. Similar to this, ENS greatly simplifies blockchain transactions, reducing the possibility of mistakes.

Once you have your domain, you may connect it to your websites, smart contracts, public wallets, or transactions. In addition, as the owner of an ENS domain, you can make subdomains to connect to additional data. For example, email.lucy.eth or website.lucy.eth are examples.

What makes ENS unique?

The ENS is more secure, private, and resistant to censorship than the internet’s Domain Name Service (DNS) since it is built on Ethereum’s smart contracts. The team behind ENS believes that because internet naming infrastructure is so critical, it should be free, open, decentralized, community-driven, and not-for-profit. Technically speaking, the ENS can utilize the current Ethereum environment, making it highly programmable and able to communicate with other smart contracts in addition to naming.

Contrary to some of its opponents, the ENS does not seek to replace DNS. Instead, its main objective is to provide distributed, reliable name resolution for Web3 resources, such as distributed content and blockchain addresses.

Bottom line

ENS enhances the field of decentralized networks by creating straightforward communication protocols with a blockchain. Just as how we no longer require IP addresses to access the web, we can see an increase in ENS names due to their usefulness and popularity.

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is currently unregulated. Kindly ensure that you undertake sufficient risk assessment when trading cryptocurrencies as they are often subject to high price volatility. The information provided in this section doesn't represent any investment advice or WazirX's official position. WazirX reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend or change this blog post at any time and for any reasons without prior notice.