- 2023 Sep 18
ENS, or Ethereum Name Service, is a decentralized and expandable naming system built on the Ethereum blockchain. It serves as the Web3 equivalent of DNS (Domain Name Service) in traditional internet infrastructure.
In its standard form, a cryptocurrency address comprises a lengthy combination of alphanumeric characters designed primarily for computer interpretation. It often appears like this: “0xDC25EF3F5B8A186998338A2ADA83795FBA2D695E.” This format can be challenging to read and understand, occasionally leading to the loss of assets.
ENS addresses this issue by associating human-readable names with machine-readable identifiers, such as Ethereum addresses, metadata, other cryptocurrency addresses, and content hashes. For example, the lengthy address mentioned above could be transformed into something as straightforward as “Alice.eth.” ENS enables users to receive various types of cryptocurrencies or NFTs through their ENS domain.
ENS relies on two Ethereum smart contracts. The first is the ENS registry, which records essential information, including the domain’s owner, the resolver responsible for the domain, and the caching duration for all records under the domain. The second smart contract is the Resolver, which facilitates the translation of domain names into machine-readable addresses and vice versa.
It’s noteworthy that ENS not only integrates with .eth names but also supports popular DNS domains like .com, .org, .io, .app, and several others. This integration enhances the versatility and usability of ENS across different web domains.