ENS seeks approval for main .eth area improve

Ethereum Identify Service (ENS) has moved nearer to launching its ENSv2 improve after founder Nick Johnson submitted a governance proposal looking for approval to activate the brand new naming system on Ethereum mainnet.

Johnson submitted the executable draft proposal on October 11, outlining plans to cease new registrations by means of the unique .eth registrar and switch future registrations to ENSv2. Present area holders would retain their names with out necessary migration, whereas ENS Labs would give up its remaining administrative management over the upgraded system to the ENS DAO after activation. The proposal stays in draft kind, with no confirmed voting date.

ENSv2 improve would briefly pause new .eth registrations

Below the proposed activation course of, ENS would cease permitting new .eth registrations by means of its unique registrar earlier than opening the upgraded system. Johnson defined that the transition requires a remaining synchronization of current area data to protect possession when ENSv2 turns into operational.

The activation would happen by means of 5 phases, starting with the deployment of recent good contracts and the reservation of current domains. ENS Labs mentioned it had already deployed the ENSv2 contracts to Ethereum mainnet, though the brand new registrar had not been licensed to course of registrations.

As soon as the DAO approves and executes the proposal, the present registrar would cease accepting new names. ENS Labs would then synchronize registrations made or renewed since its earlier snapshot, making certain these data are included earlier than the upgraded registrar turns into lively.

Johnson expects the method between the preliminary freeze and ENSv2 activation to take a number of hours. Throughout that interval, customers can be unable to register new .eth names by means of both system. Different naming operations would proceed by means of the present protocol, though the proposal notes that renewals could face momentary restrictions throughout the transition.

In line with the proposal, ENS Labs would allow the brand new registrar after finishing the ultimate synchronization. The staff would then replace the Common Resolver to direct area lookups by means of ENSv2, permitting functions and wallets to make use of the upgraded naming system.

Present ENS area holders will maintain their names

For customers who already personal .eth domains, Johnson mentioned the improve wouldn’t require speedy motion. Present names would proceed resolving by means of the present data, and holders might preserve possession by means of the common renewal course of.

“If you own a .eth name and do nothing, it keeps working,” Johnson acknowledged within the proposal.

ENS Labs has reserved current eligible .eth names within the upgraded registry for his or her present house owners. The association permits holders to maneuver their domains into ENSv2 by means of the official ENS software after they select, and not using a fastened migration deadline.

The improve introduces adjustments to area expiration guidelines. Below ENSv1, expired .eth names obtain a 90-day grace interval, whereas ENSv2 reduces that interval to twenty-eight days. To take care of the identical efficient expiration timeline throughout migration, the protocol would prolong migrated area expiration dates by 62 days.

Names that expired past their grace intervals earlier than the migration wouldn’t obtain reservations. In line with Johnson, such domains would develop into out there for registration by means of the upgraded system.

The deliberate adjustments comply with earlier ENSv2 development plans for Ethereum domain management, which launched a redesigned naming construction meant to make area possession and permissions simpler to handle.

ENSv2 introduces new area controls and permissions

ENSv2 replaces the unique registry’s flat construction with a system of linked registries, giving area house owners extra management over names and subdomains.

Below the present design, ENS shops possession data, resolver particulars and different data in a shared registry. Further contracts have been launched over time to handle permissions and extra superior naming options.

Johnson defined that the brand new structure would let particular person domains preserve their very own registries for subdomains. Homeowners might select customized registry and resolver implementations, whereas permissions can be assigned by means of particular roles.

For instance, a consumer might grant one other individual permission to replace a subdomain’s resolver with out permitting that individual to switch possession. The system is designed to help extra exact entry controls with out requiring the present NameWrapper construction for each operation.

The proposal notes that builders might want to replace functions and integrations to work with ENSv2 by means of the Common Resolver. ENS Labs mentioned most integrations have been already ready, though the transition would nonetheless require coordination throughout collaborating companies.

Administrative management is one other a part of the activation plan. As soon as ENSv2 is absolutely operational, ENS Labs intends to switch its remaining privileged roles over the upgraded contracts to the DAO and resign these permissions.

Following the handover, the DAO would management ENSv2 by means of its governance contracts. Registration charges would proceed flowing to the DAO-controlled system, with the related contracts already configured to acknowledge the DAO timelock as their proprietor.

The improve follows the ENS DAO foundation restructuring permitted in August 2026, which established a five-member governing board and expanded the muse’s operational tasks.

ENS DAO should approve the improve earlier than activation

Earlier than ENSv2 can launch by means of the proposed course of, Johnson’s draft should advance to a proper onchain governance vote. The ENS DAO requires executable proposals to fulfill a participation threshold and obtain enough help from voting tokenholders.

In line with the official governance documentation, executable proposals require a quorum of 1% of ENS voting provide, equal to at least one million affirmative votes, and majority approval. As soon as voting begins, tokenholders have seven days to take part.

If the proposal passes, execution would stay topic to a two-day timelock. The governance system makes use of this ready interval earlier than permitted contract adjustments can take impact.

The executable draft contains 15 good contract calls that might be carried out as one transaction. These operations cowl registrar permissions, contract possession, resolver configuration and elimination of current registration controllers.

Johnson famous that the preliminary registrar freeze might be reversed by means of one other DAO proposal if issues arose earlier than ENSv2 activation. As soon as customers start migrating their names, nevertheless, the proposal says these particular person migrations can’t be reversed by means of the identical course of.

The October governance bulletin continues to record ENSv2 activation as pending, with dialogue open and no accomplished vote recorded.

ENS Labs has not introduced a precise Mainnet activation date. The staff expects to publish transaction data and a verification script after finishing the executive handover, permitting group members to test that ENS Labs now not holds privileged permissions over the upgraded contracts.