Macauley Peterson

Searching for an Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain in Google now yields on-chain information about its holdings.



The new functionality in Google Search appears to have been introduced without a formal announcement, and without the knowledge or input from ENS developers, who expressed surprise on X Thursday.



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">google integrated ENS before some crypto dapps 💀💀💀💀💀💀&mdash; brantly.eth (@BrantlyMillegan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrantlyMillegan/status/1770961051430850845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The search giant has displayed information about Ethereum addresses using their 40 character hexadecimal string <a href="https://x.com/nalin/status/1656753830862942208?s=20">since</a> May 2023, but the addition of easily readable ENS addresses appears to be new.



The update has developers <a href="https://x.com/financeguy74/status/1771000947134611744?s=20">wondering</a> about the future utility of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ens">ENS</a> domains.



“So if <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/google">Google</a> is resolving ENS names now, then we are a single field away from them also displaying an affiliated URL as part of the result,” said Sean Murray of Debanked. “And if they do that, then you really could tell someone your .eth name and they could get to your website just through Google, easy.”



ENS has been steadily expanding integrations since <a href="https://support.ens.domains/en/articles/7900404-what-is-ens">launching</a> way back in May 2017 as a project of the Ethereum Foundation.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-name-service-godaddy-partnership">ENS partners with GoDaddy to enable users to link wallets to domains</a>



Currently, domains can only be registered on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> mainnet, however, the system is <a href="https://docs.ens.domains/learn/deployments#multichain">designed</a> to work with layer-2 networks as well, and can be <a href="https://docs.ens.domains/learn/ccip-read">implemented</a> by dapp developers.



Registration and maintenance of domains incurs costly transaction fees, but managing ENS on a layer-2 will require protocol changes, according to ENS team member serenae.eth.



“It&#8217;ll take some significant changes at the core ENS protocol level to allow .eth registrations completely off-chain (on some layer-2), basically the ENS DAO would have to choose a [layer-2] to ‘enshrine’ and tightly couple the [layer-1] registry with,” they <a href="https://discord.com/channels/742384562646286509/742384564273676351/1185342976977801347">wrote</a> on the ENS Discord.



Projects like <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/uniswap">Uniswap</a> offer free <a href="https://blog.uniswap.org/introducing-uni-eth-your-unique-web3-username">subdomains</a> — e.g. foo.uni.eth however these are not yet resolvable by Google.



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Google quietly added ENS to Search

Jack Kubinec

After nearly a year and a half of back-and-forth and an apparent $750,000 in legal expenses, Ethereum domain name service ENS Labs got the go-ahead from its DAO to pay Manifold Finance a $300,000 settlement and end the two sides’ dispute over the eth.link domain.



ENS, or Ethereum Name Service, is a service for giving Ethereum wallet addresses names other than long strings of letters and numbers. The dispute over eth.link started when the GoDaddy domain registration couldn’t be transferred away from imprisoned former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith.



ENS domains are not recognized by the traditional Domain Name System (DNS) that underpins the internet. Simply put, typing an ENS domain into the search bar of your favorite browser won&#8217;t lead you anywhere in the traditional web space.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/brands-entering-web3-domain-names">Global brands entering Web3? Look to their domain names</a>



To get around this limitation, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ens">ENS</a> utilizes its eth.link domain as a sort of bridge. It operates through two key functionalities: EthDNS and EthLink. EthDNS allows DNS queries to access domain forwarding information stored within the Ethereum Name Service, enabling standard internet protocols to retrieve blockchain-based data. Meanwhile, EthLink specifically targets .eth domains to facilitate their resolution via traditional web browsers.&nbsp;



Essentially, by appending .link to an ENS domain (for instance, vitalik.eth.link), it enables traditional web browsers to access content associated with ENS addresses through conventional <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/dns">DNS</a> pathways. This lets ENS domains function more like standard internet addresses.



In the summer of 2022, the eth.link domain was set to expire while the domain’s owner, Virgil Griffith, was serving the first of a five year prison sentence for attempting to help North Korea use crypto to evade US sanctions.&nbsp;



GoDaddy, the platform on which eth.link was registered, <a href="https://aboutus.godaddy.net/newsroom/company-news/news-details/2022/GoDaddy-Statement-on-eth.link-Domain-Registration/default.aspx">allowed</a> the domain to expire rather than let it be renewed on Griffith’s behalf.&nbsp;



Crypto platform Manifold Finance “<a href="https://twitter.com/foldfinance/status/1566200320375476225">sniped</a>” eth.link on the auction site Dynadot on Sept. 3, 2022, meaning ENS no longer owned the domain.&nbsp;



ENS filed an injunction in Arizona district court to keep the domain from being transferred — and succeeded after GoDaddy, Manifold and Dynadot all <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/arizona/azdce/2:2022cv01494/1309358/77/">failed</a> to appear at the hearing. In July 2023, a district judge ordered Dynadot to unlock the domain so ENS could transfer its ownership to someone other than Griffith. ENS Labs also brought charges against GoDaddy for refusing to renew the domain, and the judge dismissed two of the five.



The parties in the lawsuit entered settlement discussions, ENS founder Nick Johnson said in a forum <a href="https://discuss.ens.domains/t/ep5-2-social-determine-ens-labs-next-steps-in-eth-link-litigation/18756">post</a>.



ENS’ relationship with GoDaddy doesn’t seem to have completely soured, as the two <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-name-service-godaddy-partnership">partnered to let users link wallets to domains</a> earlier this month.



Manifold asked for $300,000 plus confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in order for the case to be dismissed and ENS Labs to retain ownership of eth.link, according to Johnson.



The DAO <a href="https://snapshot.org/#/ens.eth/proposal/0x456ccb438eed5d189cbe51e5e36a88d2bb4dc0c61f12f6d9e310a7ba4798d5fc">vote</a> concluded Sunday night to pay Manifold $300,000 and reimburse ENS Labs the $750,000 in legal expenses — with roughly 88% and 84% in favor of the two moves.



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ENS DAO approves $300k settlement to end eth.link domain lawsuit

Cameron B. Pick

ENS’ <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ens-unstoppable-domains-paten">feud</a> last year with Unstoppable Domains has brought to light the prevailing skepticism many open source developers harbor toward the patent system.&nbsp;



While concerns over the potential misuse of patents are valid, the decision by organizations in the crypto space to abstain from the patent system altogether might inadvertently limit the advantages available for safeguarding their innovations.



Unstoppable Domains (UD) was awarded a patent on “<a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US11558344B1/en?oq=11558344">Resolving Blockchain Domains</a>” at the end of 2023. This <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ens-unstoppable-domains-paten">irritated</a> the lead developer of its largest competitor, ENS. In an open letter, ENS’s Nick Johnson argued that UD’s patent is “based entirely on innovations that ENS developed and contains no novel innovations of its own.” He criticized UD for pursuing patents,  even after they stated support for open innovation. While Johnson recognized that UD then did pledge its patent to the Web3 Domain Alliance, he expressed skepticism about the pledge being legally binding.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-name-service-godaddy-partnership">ENS partners with GoDaddy to enable users to link wallets to domains</a>



However, companies do pursue patents for many reasons other than to initiate lawsuits against potential infringers or to stifle innovation. Patents serve as powerful signals to investors, which recognize a company&#8217;s development of groundbreaking products or processes.&nbsp; They can also be used to recognize inventors for their efforts.&nbsp;



Patents can also be used defensively.&nbsp; If a company is sued by a competitor for patent infringement, the company may use their existing patents that the competitor appears to infringe in a countersuit. This can be an effective negotiating strategy to reach a favorable settlement.&nbsp;&nbsp;



It is important to note that a company can make its software open-source under an open source license while still patenting the software. Typically, anyone who complies with the terms of the open source license is protected from a patent lawsuit. This gives patent holders another avenue to go after those who do not abide by the terms of the open source license. Therefore, crypto companies can still remain open source while filing for patents without using them to inhibit innovation.&nbsp;



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/we-need-to-stop-forcing-use-cases-on-blockchains">We need to stop forcing use cases on blockchains</a>



For example, a company may want to protect themselves against a competitor who modifies open source code and seeks to protect it themselves. In this scenario, the competitor may try to sue the company who initially developed the code. If the company does not have a patent or other avenues of protection, it may be vulnerable to these unfair tactics.



Additionally, organizations that develop open source code may encourage others to freely use and improve the code. However, with a patent, these organizations can protect themselves against competitors who make similar products but do not use their code.&nbsp;&nbsp;



For example, Litecoin was a fork of the Bitcoin code. If Satoshi Nakamoto had patented a decentralized network for recording transactions using a blockchain, they likely would not have been able to go after Litecoin due to the open source license included in the <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/COPYING">Bitcoin code base</a>. However, if another entity developed a similar system without using the Bitcoin code, Nakamoto may have been able to prevent them from competing in this space.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Allowing others to use and modify the original code while preventing competitors from profiting off their own version of the same concept does not go against the ethos of the crypto community. Instead, a combination of open source licenses and patent protection encourages open innovation and allows developers to build off each other’s software. This approach discourages the proliferation of numerous versions of similar products, promoting a more cohesive and collaborative community.



In light of these considerations, companies in the crypto space should feel empowered to explore patent protection without fear of alienation. If a company decides to patent its open source software, it should make it very clear that anyone who properly uses the software also has a license to the patent —&nbsp;it may be pursuing patent protection simply to raise funds and formally recognize inventors’ creations. And, if someone runs afoul of the license terms or independently creates a similar product without using the company’s code, it now has a way to protect its business.



In conclusion, the coexistence of open source and patents in the crypto space encourages a healthy ecosystem of innovation. Companies can strategically leverage both, fostering a community where developers can build upon each other&#8217;s work without compromising on protection and recognition.&nbsp;



The ENS and Unstoppable Domains argument likely won’t be the last time that someone in crypto is critical of a competitor’s patents. Nonetheless, the crypto community would benefit by being open to multiple strategies for encouraging, pursuing and protecting innovation.



DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney. Views expressed are those of the author and are not to be attributed to Marshall, Gerstein &amp; Borun LLP or any of its former, present, or future clients.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>


<div class="wp-block-post-author-biography">Cameron B. Pick is a partner and patent attorney at the Chicago-based intellectual property boutique law firm Marshall, Gerstein &amp; Borun. He prosecutes patents for emerging technologies, including blockchain and crypto, among other innovative areas. He may be reached at cpick@marshallip.com. </div>


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Crypto can benefit from patents without losing its open source ethos 

Bessie Liu

Ethereum Name Service (ENS), a domain naming system on the Ethereum blockchain, has partnered with GoDaddy, a domain registrar, to enable users to easily link their wallets to web pages.



ENS can be considered the blockchain-based counterpart to the Domain Name System (DNS) that is widely utilized in Web2.



DNS services assign unique IP addresses to devices, facilitating the translation of these addresses into user-friendly domain names for accessing internet web pages. Similarly, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ens">ENS</a> services convert intricate <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/wallets">wallet</a> addresses into easily readable names.



This latest integration with GoDaddy, one of the world&#8217;s largest web hosting providers, will allow users to connect their simplified ENS wallet addresses with their DNS.



Bridging the gap between <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/web2">Web2</a> and Web3 comes with its own set of problems, however, like concerns around censorship.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-developers-consider-evm-upgrade">Ethereum devs consider ‘existential’ upgrade to the EVM</a>



Most recently, Kubi Mensah, the co-founder of Gattaca, <a href="https://twitter.com/kubimensah/status/1752015441067749754?s=20">noted</a> in a post on X that its domain was suspended indefinitely without any prior notice.



Although the issue was resolved after escalating concerns to the senior management of the domain provider, the reason for the suspension was never made apparent.



“We see this incident as a reminder that the fight against censorship is hard but worth every bit of our effort,” Mensah <a href="https://twitter.com/kubimensah/status/1752015441067749754?s=20">wrote</a>.



Generally speaking, due to the decentralized nature of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/web3">Web3</a> domains, entities themselves can not suspend, take or control an ENS .eth domain, Nick Johnson, the founder and lead developer of ENS, told Blockworks.



“ENS .eth domains are censorship-resistant and tamper-proof by design; even the ENS DAO has no power to revoke or restrict a .eth domain,” Johnson said.



However, this latest collaboration is a gateway for Web2 domain users to access blockchain technologies via their domains, and ownership of a DNS domain ultimately remains with the registrar.



“Names that are imported from DNS — using our new integration with GoDaddy or our legacy integration — remain subject to the registrar they are held with, and the rules imposed by the registrar and ICANN,” Johnson said.



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ENS partners with GoDaddy to enable users to link wallets to domains

Darren Kleine

It was only a year after the launch of the Ethereum mainnet that Nick Johnson began building the Ethereum Name Service, or ENS — a tool for assigning human-readable names to otherwise-complicated sequences of letters and numbers that describe Ethereum addresses.&nbsp;



“It was one of the first projects I started working on at the Ethereum Foundation and then spun out to its own organization,” he says, “and we&#8217;ve been building it ever since.”



“I&#8217;m incredibly impressed with what we&#8217;ve achieved,” he says, “but, you know, it&#8217;s only the beginning of what we&#8217;re working on.”



On the 0xResearch podcast (<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lpKK9idoD1T45FKeuBGYF?si=e89d054e65534682">Spotify</a>/<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ens-funding-public-goods-dao-governance-l2-scaling/id1651683074?i=1000629542109">Apple</a>), Johnson details his vision for the future of the service, with plans to make the service “even more useful” with <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/layer-2-2">layer-2</a> support, an improved user interface and greater functionality.



One priority, Johnson says, is that a user should expect to be able to enter an <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ens">ENS</a> name anywhere that an ether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/eth">ETH</a>) address can be entered. A user should “be surprised when it isn’t supported rather than having to check that it is,” he says. “I think we&#8217;re close, but not there yet for that.”



Another crucial element of the vision involves increasing transparency and lowering costs. “That’s our big focus at the moment.”



This work involves rolling out layer-2s for low-cost registrations, Johnson explains, as well as adding enhancements that make it easier for users to issue subnames. These improvements would enable organizations like <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/coinbase">Coinbase</a> to use either a layer-2 or “host names entirely off-chain.”



With these improvements, name owners would have greater control over the “trust model” of how their names and subdomains are managed, Johnson says. “We&#8217;re focusing on that mostly at the moment by building tooling that makes it easier for people to work on [layer-2],” he says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Do you know Google’s IP address?</h2>



Johnson adds that while it’s been possible to host names on layer-2 for more than a year, it needs to be easier to set up. “What&#8217;s been missing is the easy plug and play tooling that makes it trivial for someone to do that,” he says.



“At the moment, the integration overhead is a bit higher,” he admits. “So that&#8217;s our main focus on the back end. And then on the front end, it&#8217;s all corresponding work to make the usability meet the feature set on the back end.”



Johnson says the company has been speaking to wallet providers to enable the naming of wallets, “which has always been a long term vision of mine.”&nbsp;



“The wallet sign-up flow should include naming the wallet,” he says. “You shouldn&#8217;t have to even know or care what your Ethereum address is any more than you do what your IP address is.”



<iframe loading="lazy" frameborder="0" height="200" scrolling="no" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=BWG6556519778" width="100%"></iframe>







“If I asked you what Google&#8217;s IP address was, you couldn&#8217;t tell me because there&#8217;s no reason you would know that — and there&#8217;s no reason you would want to know that,” he says. “And IP addresses are a lot shorter than Ethereum addresses. They&#8217;re a lot easier to memorize.”



“The same degree of usability ought to apply to <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a>, to crypto in general.”



Setting up a wallet should involve picking a name, Johnson says, that can be pseudonymous and disconnected from other wallets to ensure privacy. “Ultimately, we create accounts because we want to transact with them,” he says.&nbsp;



“At some point, that involves giving that address to someone else or some third party or site or whatever, and this just makes that an order of magnitude easier.”



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Ethereum Name Service is getting easier and cheaper to use, says founder

James Cirrone

Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, will allow users to buy .eth domain names with fiat currency using MoonPay. The company indicated that this removes one of the technical roadblocks that come with setting up a crypto wallet and paying with ether.



MoonPay, a crypto payment services provider, allows users to pay with debit or credit, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Additionally, it “accepts 43 local currencies and is in over 160 countries,” according to the press release.



The option to purchase a domain with <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/moonpay">MoonPay</a> will be available right on the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ens">ENS</a> website, according to Nick Johnson, ENS lead developer and founder.



“We want to make onboarding people into the Web3 ecosystem easier,” Johnson told Blockworks. “You&#8217;ve got a bit of a Catch-22 because you need an ENS name in order to send funds to your wallet, and you need funds in order to register an ENS name.”



MoonPay approached Johnson in the second quarter of 2022, according to the company. Johnson said before MoonPay proposed a partnership, the workarounds available weren’t up to snuff. They often involved embedding a plugin within an app that allowed users to purchase crypto that would then be sent to their wallet. 



He felt there were two problems with that.



“One is that [you’re] expected to already have a wallet. And the other is that, effectively, it&#8217;s indirect. What users are trying to do is get a name and get started. They don&#8217;t want funds. They want the name,” Johnson said.



MoonPay appears to have a similar philosophy: The company told Blockworks that it expects the partnership with ENS “to result in millions of net new users benefiting from true digital ownership over the next few years.&#8221;



The .eth name, Johnson explained, is a form of digital ID that improves “human readability.” Instead of showing up as a long public address with random digits and letters, a user’s wallet shows up as one simple name.&nbsp;



In Blockworks’ breakdown of ENS as a service, we reported that confusion with crypto addresses has on occasion led to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-is-the-ethereum-name-service-ens">loss of user funds</a>.



Decentralized naming services have taken off in recent years. At time of publication, there are over <a href="https://www.nft-stats.com/collection/ens">667,000 owners</a> who in total have acquired more than 2.7 million Ethereum Name Service digital tokens. ENS’ main competitor, Unstoppable Domains, had <a href="https://unstoppabledomains.com/blog/the-unstoppable-origin-story">registered</a> “over 3 million Web3 domains” as of Jan. 12, 2023.



Blockworks previously reported that <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/web3-service-providers-focus-on-improving-the-user-experience">Unstoppable Domains had established a similar partnership with MoonPay</a> in July 2022 that allowed the same ease of payment now available on ENS.



Updated April 20, 2023 at 11:57 pm ET: Added context and comment from MoonPay.



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Web3 Onboarding Just Got Easier: ENS Users Can Buy .ETH Name With Fiat

Shalini Nagarajan

Web2 to Web3 transitions often begin with a domain name purchase.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Web3 domains are, essentially and typically, akin to blockchain identities that are stored in a crypto wallet as an NFT. They’re important for interactions with blockchain apps and can be used for tasks like website hosting and building — or to receive crypto payments.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Unstoppable Domains and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) have <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/web3-service-providers-focus-on-improving-the-user-experience">quickly become top blockchain domain name providers</a> for Web3 users. 



Given surging interest in the sector, companies have been lining up to drive Web3 utility initiatives. And domain name services have seen a jump in interest and adoption in the last year. Unstoppable Domains alone has over 3.3 million names registered, while ENS has over 2 million.



Unstoppable Domains’ chief operating officer Sandy Carter broke down which companies are in the process of entering Web3, or are likely to enter.&nbsp;



“There’s no shortage of big global brands exploring Web3 and the metaverse right now and it&#8217;s easy to see why,” Carter told Blockworks, pointing to big-name brands that have jumped into the space over the last few months.



Nike <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/web3-watch-yuga-labs-adds-to-portfolio-nike-creates-nft-marketplace">in November launched an NFT marketplace</a> under the domain “.Swoosh,” hosting NFTs and virtual apparel up for sale on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/polygon">Polygon</a> blockchain. Starbucks, <a href="https://nftnow.com/podcasts/what-porsches-web3-debut-means-for-the-future-of-luxury/">Porsche</a> and <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/build-a-bear-to-unveil-nft-collection-and-one-of-a-kind-collectible-bear-encrusted-with-swarovski-crystals-and-a-red-crystal-heart-301635630.html">Build-a-Bear</a> have also <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/polygon-to-power-starbucks-nft-loyalty-program">launched their individual Web3 strategies</a>.



“This only promises that other similar companies will follow suit,” Carter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Gucci, Prada among fashion icons setting up metaverse shop</h2>



Fashion in the metaverse is also becoming a hot trend, where brands are showcasing their digital collections by enabling users to dress up as avatars.&nbsp;



Gucci, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Dolce &amp; Gabbana, Burberry, Christian Dior and Zara have all experimented with Web3 technologies, creating unique digital assets that customers can purchase and collect.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">How some of the world&#39;s most valuable clothing brands are betting on the metaverse 🧵&mdash; Blockworks (@Blockworks_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockworks_/status/1598316516184887297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Carter expects an influx of not only more fashion brands in the space, but also industries including food services and transportation.&nbsp;



“I also think that other industries are bursting into the space too like automotive, sports, technology, hospitality and retail,” she said. “Think about BMW — they are in the metaverse co-creating with their customers and were one of the first to join the Metaverse Standards Association. And Lowe’s is using NFTs to track theft with their power tools.”



Thinking of getting one yourself? There are no formal industry-wide prerequisites to secure a Web3 domain. Once you have decided which service to use, simply look up the instructions and check if your desired address is available.



And proceed to pay.



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Global Brands Entering Web3? Look to Their Domain Names

Ornella Hernandez

<div id="highlights-block_632b7fa4230ad" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Vulcan Forged game studio closes $8 million Series A round led by Skybridge Capital</li>
 <li>Bored Ape Yacht Club and Azuki NFTs have had the top NFT sales within the last seven days</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">NFTs for healthcare</h3>



NFTs are tackling the UN’s sustainable development goals.&nbsp;



The Women in Innovation Fund (WiN Fund), co-founded by Reckitt, is using the proceeds from NFTs sales to invest in women-led healthcare startups in Africa, addressing the UN’s third such goal — good health and well-being.



NFTs for good causes is a growing concept, and the benefits of blockchain for healthcare and democracy are being explored in countries with unstable leadership.&nbsp;



Women are more attuned to the healthcare needs of their community, according to Corinne Momal-Vanian, the executive director of the Kofi Annan Foundation. “Women entrepreneurs – from what we&#8217;ve seen in Africa — can drive innovation, can drive efficiency and can really have a place in the healthcare ecosystem that governments cannot fill,” she said at a UN-adjacent roundtable discussion in New York this week.



Representatives from the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum also participated.



WiN Fund co-founder Pradeep Kakkattil, reminded the audience of an “unacceptable” statistic: Only 2% of venture capital investments globally go to women-led enterprises, despite the fact that women-led businesses deliver 35% higher returns and create 6 times more jobs. 



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">&#39;It takes an entire ecosystem to build an entrepreneur.&#39; &#8211; Pradeep Kakkatill, Co-Founder WIN Fund <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNGA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNGA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UnitedNations?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UnitedNations</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WiNFUND?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WiNFUND</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WiNFUNDAFRICA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WiNFUNDAFRICA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFTsforhealth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFTsforhealth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GlobalGoals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GlobalGoals</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UnitingBusiness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UnitingBusiness</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNGA2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNGA2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/JPQQH8wc2c">pic.twitter.com/JPQQH8wc2c</a>&mdash; winfund (@winfundNFT) <a href="https://twitter.com/winfundNFT/status/1572242503159382020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Coinbase partners with ENS&nbsp;</h3>



Coinbase has teamed up with the Ethereum Naming Service (ENS) to create its own Web3 usernames.



Built on top of ENS infrastructure, Coinbase usernames are ENS subdomains that contain a ‘.cb.id’ at the end, rather than ‘.eth.’



Users can then replace their 42-character address with a personalized wallet address.



Users who already own an .eth domain now have the option to transfer the ownership of the ENS name to a Coinbase Wallet and choose between a Coinbase username or an existing ENS username as the primary username for that wallet.



A .cb.id username is not tied to Ethereum and can be used on multiple networks to send and receive crypto.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">🤝 Yes to ENS &amp; yes to cb․id We’re making web3 more accessible for everyone, so we’ve partnered with <a href="https://twitter.com/ensdomains?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ensdomains</a> to create cb․id usernames, a free-to-claim web3 username! Now available on Coinbase Wallet extension <a href="https://t.co/E6X81Owq20">pic.twitter.com/E6X81Owq20</a>&mdash; Coinbase Wallet (@CoinbaseWallet) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoinbaseWallet/status/1571948476639887361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Simplified wallet addresses have recently surged in popularity during the last few months of the bear market. Since July, ENS registrations have increased by 200%, and the total volume of NFT sales has increased by 80% in the past three months, as per <a href="https://nftgo.io/collection/ens-ethereum-name-service/overview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFTGo data</a>.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Latest NFT loyalty program: Scotch &amp; Soda</h3>



Amsterdam-based lifestyle brand Scotch &amp; Soda is upping its consumer loyalty program by launching NFT-based membership for <a href="https://web3.scotch-soda.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Club Soda 3.0</a>.



Holders are granted exclusive access to merchandise and events, as well as the ability to co-create clothing with Scotch &amp; Soda partners.&nbsp;



Each NFT acts as a membership card to what is called the “Free Spirit” community of Scotch &amp; Soda lovers.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">The wait is over! Find out which Founders Pass NFT you got now. Look out for our 10 unique 1-of-1 and our 100 rare tokens.🔮 Reveal your NFT now: <a href="https://t.co/zcffIcKGsA">https://t.co/zcffIcKGsA</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ScotchandSoda?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ScotchandSoda</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFTs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFTs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/web3?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#web3</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFTCommunity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFTCommunity</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFT</a> <a href="https://t.co/8HLqMkBuHZ">pic.twitter.com/8HLqMkBuHZ</a>&mdash; Scotch &amp; Soda (@scotch_soda) <a href="https://twitter.com/scotch_soda/status/1572606073655021568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Cloud software company Salesforce chose Scotch &amp; Soda to debut its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/salesforce-pilots-cloud-based-nft-service/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pilot NFT Cloud service</a> to help companies make and manage NFTs.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">NFTs back in Minecraft?</h3>



Minecraft developer Mojang recently <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-yuga-labs-takes-voyagers-to-the-otherside-while-minecraft-bans-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">banned NFT support inside Minecraft client and server applications</a>, but MyMetaverse has found a way around the new restriction.



The metaverse company re-implemented playable NFTs not only on Minecraft game servers, but also on modified versions of Grand Theft Auto (GTA).



Using NFTs running on Efinity, a Polkadot parachain developed by gaming platform Enjin, MyMetaverse works with developers who build third-party servers atop of Minecraft and GTA 5 core games.



Simon Kertonegoro, CEO of MyMetaverse, told Blockworks it works similar to how WordPress allows people to use their technology to create custom websites. “These servers are self-hosted, modified instances of the game, running independently of Mojang or Rockstar,” Kertonegoro said.



Thus, Mojang and GTA parent-company Rockstar have no official affiliation with the NFTs.



“The modified versions allow the game to connect with crypto wallets and recognize NFTs in the game, which the user can then use as in-game items,” he added.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">GameFi by the numbers</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Blockchain gaming studio Vulcan Forged <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skybridge-capital-leads-series-a-funding-round-for-leading-metaverse-company-vulcan-forged-301629588.html?tc=eml_cleartime" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">secured</a> $8 million in a Series A funding round led by the investment firm SkyBridge Capital, founded by former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. The round includes the option to invest an additional $33 million. Funding will go toward accelerating the growth of “Metascapes,” a play-to-earn feature that allows Vulcan users to build their own land in the metaverse. Vulcan Forged has about active 200,000 users across 15 games and decentralized applications (dapps).</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Blockchain game Splinterlands sold out its newest card pack edition, Riftwatchers, in less than 2 minutes, pocketing $5.2 million on the sale of 500,000 packs. Within hours, members of the community had also purchased 30,000 previous card packs, according to the company. 25 million SPS — Splinterlands’ native token — was either immediately burned or sent to the SPS Foundation DAO.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Immortal Game, the company taking the game of chess into Web3, has <a href="https://venturebeat.com/games/immortal-game-raises-12m-to-build-out-web3-chess-platform/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">closed</a> $15.5 million across two rounds, including a $12 million investment in July. TCG Crypto led the Series A round — backers Cassius, Greenfield One, Sparkle Ventures, Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s 35V, Blockwall, Kraken Ventures and Spice Capital also participated. It plans to use the funding to build out its platform, which is currently in beta form for users who wish to opt in to the game’s play-and-earn system.</li></ul>



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Web3 Watch: NFTs Return to Minecraft, Coinbase Provides ENS Usernames

<div id="highlights-block_6319d73558517" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Metaverse trademark registrations through 8 months of 2022 have eclipsed all of 2021</li>
 <li>ENS is the top ETH collection with the most volume on OpenSea within the past seven days</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



This week Blockworks looked at <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/venture-capital-bullish-on-building-gamefi-in-a-bear-market/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the state of the nascent GameFi market</a> and how venture capital is keen on pouring money into it during a bear market.



Additionally, a new Solana NFT collection, y00ts, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/latest-solana-nft-collection-gives-ethereum-nfts-a-run-for-their-money/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has already generated</a> over $7 million worth of secondary sales since Monday despite minting delays.



Blockworks recaps other notable stories that caught the eyes of the Web3 Watch.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Metaverse trademarks are booming</h3>



4,150 trademarks relating to Web3 and the metaverse have been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) so far in 2022. This is slightly more than twice as many as the total metaverse trademark registrations in all of last year — 1866.



Three major brands have put in their own filings in the past week alone, including carmaker Ford, <a href="https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&amp;state=4804:24nzyj.5.1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">with 19 trademark applications</a> for virtual cars, trucks, vans and clothing, as well as an NFT marketplace.



Sony Music filed trademarks for its Columbia Records logo to be used in association with NFT-backed media including art &amp; music NFTs, music and podcast production as well as artist management and music distribution services.&nbsp;



Luxury goods retailer Hermes also <a href="https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&amp;state=4804:24nzyj.6.7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filed trademarks</a> for its name to be linked to NFTs, an NFT marketplace, virtual clothing and footwear, fashion shows and cryptocurrencies. It also mentions plans to create game software featuring avatars, alongside plans for user authentication services for e-commerce transactions.



Metaverse and NFT-focused applications are growing all over the world. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) claims to have registered 205 applications using the term “metaverse” in 2022.



The number of NFT-specific applications was 1,277 in 2021, but as of September 2022 there have been 1,157 applications.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">For hoops fans who fancy NFTs</h3>



The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/nba-nbpa-sorare-fantasy-game-release" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">teamed up</a> with French startup Sorare to launch a free-to-play fantasy basketball game this Fall.



Sorare is mostly popular in Europe for its NFT-based fantasy soccer game. After partnering with the Major League Baseball (MLB) association in July, it has now turned to basketball fans as it expands within the US.



This partnership makes Sorare the official NFT fantasy partner of the NBA and gives it the rights to use official NBA league and team logos across its products.



The fantasy game will be released in time for the 2022-23 season and plans to enable fans to buy and sell digital NFT cards representing their favorite players and teams, while putting together a line-up that can earn them points based on the real-life performance of NBA players.



The NBA is no stranger to NFTs and already counts on the Dapper Labs-run NBA Top Shot&nbsp; NFT marketplace where sports fans can buy, sell and trade video clips from basketball games.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">GameStop links up with FTX</h3>



GameStop partnered with FTX, making the video game retailer FTX’s preferred retail partner in the US.



The partnership intends to “introduce more GameStop customers to the crypto exchange’s community and its marketplaces for digital assets,” a press release stated.&nbsp;



While additional details including the financial terms have not been disclosed, one known perk is that GameStop stores will begin selling FTX gift cards.



GameStop recently launched its own NFT marketplace and its own crypto wallet. When the company submitted its Q2 2022 earnings report on Wednesday, however, it noted that any recent financial success may not stem from these new products.



“Revenues earned from our digital asset wallet and NFT marketplace were not material to the condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended July 30, 2022,” its quarterly SEC filing <a href="https://gamestop.gcs-web.com/static-files/3a9d968d-b9f5-415a-877f-895d5ac83ed3">stated</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Additionally, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-bringing-crypto-swaps-to-reddit/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FTX also recently partnered with Reddit and Arbitrum</a> to allow users to pay gas fees on Reddit’s “Community Points” tokens using fiat currency.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">New blockchain game alert&nbsp;</h3>



The top Solana marketplace Magic Eden <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/solana-marketplace-magic-eden-to-offer-ethereum-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently expanded to the Ethereum blockchain</a>. One of its first ETH NFT mints on the Magic Eden Launchpad includes a collaboration with Web3 game studio Azra Games.



Azra, which recently closed a $15 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), announced plans to launch a collection of profile picture (PFP) NFTs called “The Hopeful,” as part of its upcoming “Legions &amp; Legends” game.&nbsp;



This game is an ETH-powered collectible and combat role-playing game (RPG) set in a sci-fi fantasy universe. The company is led by Mark Otero, former General Manager of EA Capital Games, whose credits include Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.



Magic Eden recently shifted its focus to gaming by <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-gamestop-opens-nft-marketplace-magic-eden-fund-focuses-on-web3-gaming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launching a new venture capital fund</a>, dubbed Magic Ventures, that focuses on investments in Web3 games from third parties as well as its own. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Vitalik polls crypto Twitter </h3>



Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been <a href="https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1566763265291681793?s=20&amp;t=tUl1e0BorDII4mHyLfgsCg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeting</a> out a slew of polls lately — from personal random questions, like which crypto personality he respects the most, to what a fair price for a 5-letter .eth domain name is. 



In response to the latter, 91,130 participants chimed in and around 50% of the crypto community thinks that the fair price for a 5-letter .eth domain name for 100 years is less than $100. The same goes for .eth domain for 10 years.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">What is a fair price that someone should have to pay to register and unconditionally guarantee ownership of a 5-letter .eth domain for 100 years?&mdash; vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) <a href="https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1566421042872164355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



At the same time, Buterin has called for Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain taxation, suggesting a 3% yearly fee on ENS domain names for the highest bidder.



For example, an investor with $500,000 as the highest bid on their domain should pay a $15,000 taxation annually to maintain ownership. According to him, this would demotivate people from hoarding domains they aren’t using.



ENS has been trading at the top of the secondary sales charts on OpenSea, as the ETH collection with the most volume within the past seven days.



It <a href="https://twitter.com/ensdomains/status/1565374366791057409?s=20&amp;t=QtnSDYyIgx2haUUm3qqE1Q" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">registered</a> 301,000 new .eth domains in August and touts a total of 2.17 million names so far.



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Web3 Watch: GameStop Partners with FTX and Sorare Creates NBA Fantasy Game

<div id="highlights-block_62ced49ece387" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Web3 identity providers such as ENS and Unstoppable Domains use NFTs as a gateway to alphanumeric wallet addresses</li>
 <li>MoonPay is one of 265+ applications that supports Unstoppable Domains</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Unstoppable Domains and ENS (<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=ethereum+name+service" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ethereum Name Service</a>) have become the top two blockchain domain name providers for Web3 users. Web3 domains are NFTs that can be traded, but they can also be used as a shorthand for cryptocurrency wallet addresses to send or receive crypto.



On <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/opensea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea</a>, ENS <a href="https://opensea.io/rankings?category=domain-names&amp;sortBy=one_day_volume" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ranks</a> first within the domain names category in terms of cumulative trading volume and for having the largest collection of items, while Unstoppable Domains ranks second. 



During the first weekend of July, the number of ENS registrations peaked from 11,042 to 34,357, <a href="https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/8785928a-71d5-4b17-9fea-fe1c937b064f/page/RoKgC" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to a data tracker created by ENS developer Nick Johnson, possibly due to the falling price of ether (ETH) and lower than average gas fees. Even social media activity surrounding ENS reached new highs that week, the social tracking platform Lunar Crush <a href="https://twitter.com/LunarCrush/status/1544591008230281216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1544591008230281216%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fethereum-name-service-registrations-surge-by-200-amid-lower-gas-fees" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>.



Unstoppable is the fifth collection under collectibles NFTs with the most users in the past 24 hours, <a href="https://dappradar.com/rankings/category/collectibles/1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to DappRadar, ahead of Art Blocks and Yuga Labs’ Otherdeed for Otherside.



Sandy Carter, senior vice president and channel chief at Unstoppable Domains, explained to Blockworks that Web3 may feel “complex and confusing for people getting started.” NFT domains serve to expand access and “bring more people into the world of Web3.”&nbsp;



Part of its mission is to make the user experience “easy to navigate,” which includes accepting credit card, PayPal and cryptocurrency to buy Unstoppable domains. In contrast to ENS domains, which can carry an annual renewal fee anywhere between $5 to $640 paid in ether, Unstoppable Domains charges a one-time fee that generally starts at $5 but can cost more.



On Wednesday, Unstoppable announced a partnership with crypto payment services provider MoonPay to enable users to buy cryptocurrency and send it to their wallet using their Unstoppable Domains name.&nbsp;



The two companies aim to make all .crypto or .nft decentralized URLs more useful.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Welcome to a simpler web3 🌙 We’re stoked to announce our partnership with <a href="https://twitter.com/moonpay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@moonpay</a> to make buying crypto even easier 🤝 Try it out ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/nT3xr7s6zB">https://t.co/nT3xr7s6zB</a> <a href="https://t.co/bfgz4yL3BB">pic.twitter.com/bfgz4yL3BB</a>&mdash; unstoppable.nft (@unstoppableweb) <a href="https://twitter.com/unstoppableweb/status/1547174139131305988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



MoonPay enables users to buy and sell 90 cryptocurrencies using credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay to include over 30 fiat currencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;



That “reduces a major barrier to entry,” said Carter, who believes that NFT domains “will be as ubiquitous as email” in the future. As opposed to Web2, where “your identity and data are owned by corporations,” users can own, control and choose to share an identity built across Web3, she added.



MoonPay shared with Blockworks that it wants to “make sure that the infrastructure of Web3 is attuned to the evolving needs of consumers” in order to “support greater use and familiarity with Web3.”



The company also confirmed that there are no additional fees associated with the Unstoppable integration. Currently, a flat fee of $4.99 plus a 3.5% transaction fee is applied to purchases below $141, and a fee of 7% is deducted from purchases over $142.&nbsp;



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/moonpay-primes-nft-minting-service-hypermint/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moonpay recently launched HyperMint</a>, a self-service platform that enables large companies and brands to create, manage and mint utility NFTs at scale.&nbsp;



Since its 2019 inception, MoonPay has processed more than $3 billion in transactions and counts on a customer base of more than 12 million global users.



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Web3 Service Providers Focus on Improving the User Experience

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_6226d5f13a010" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The vote follows a month of debate and consideration by the community over whether to boot Brantley Millegan for comments made in 2015</li>
 <li>ENS founder Nick Johnson abstained from the vote</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ethereum Name Service (ENS) director of operations Brantly Millegan has been reinstated at the DAO following a month of debating by the community over controversial comments he made in 2015.



According to a snapshot vote by delegate members ended Sunday, Millegan has won the right to retain his seat as head of operations by a margin of 5.88%. The vote to remove Millegan saw 1.4 million votes cast to retain the director versus 1.2 million in favor of his departure.



The DAO vote was based on one vote per token and not one vote per individual. Millegan, who holds the majority of the DAO&#8217;s native token ENS, was able to vote against his ousting while ENS founder Nick Johnson abstained from the vote.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;Through this Social Proposal, the DAO shall decide whether Brantly Millegan is deemed capable, or otherwise, of continuing his role as the Director of the Foundation Company, and to appoint a suitable replacement if he is deemed incapable,&#8221; a section of the Snapshot vote reads.</blockquote>



Johnson initially took to Twitter to <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1490196337463533569?s=20&amp;t=ftQVnZYj_BUjPMV85-L6LQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defend</a> Millegan and assisted the director in <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1490398146077540352?s=20&amp;t=lLVew3GWY8JJITPJWaW09Q" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">getting his message across</a> to his audience following a ban against him by the social media platform.



The ENS founder eventually conceded to public outcry and moved to <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1490581937375027202?s=20&amp;t=cD-9pxrMqI3DXI-jrZ87Og" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">terminate the contract</a> of Millegan at True Names Limited — the nonprofit that funds and organizes development on ENS.



Last month, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ens-community-reconsiders-directors-role/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">controversy erupted</a> within ENS&#8217; community after a more than 5-year-old tweet by Millegan resurfaced. Millegan was removed from his role as community steward shortly after, though the vote over his directorship had hung over his head for more than a month.



Blockworks attempted to contact Millegan but did not receive a response by press time.



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ENS Foundation Retains Director Following DAO Vote Over Controversial Tweet

Luke Conway

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is the Ethereum Name Service?</h2>



Crypto addresses are long strings of numbers and letters designed to be read by computers. These long addresses have led to confusion and even loss of funds.&nbsp;



The Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, is a distributed technology based on the Ethereum blockchain that provides an elegant solution to long and confusing crypto addresses: one URL, just like a website name or email, that represents a crypto address.





ENS maps the long public address crypto users are familiar with and replaces it with a simple name that is easy to read and easy to remember. Something cumbersome like, “0xDC25EF3F5B8A186998338A2ADA83795FBA2D695E” becomes as simple as “Alice.eth.”



ENS takes the same concept of the Domain Name Service (DNS), which mapped simple website names to their IP addresses, to make crypto addresses easy to read and share.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Quick facts</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>ENS is composed of two Ethereum smart contracts: the ENS registry, which records domain names, and the Resolver, which translates domain names to machine-readable addresses and vice-versa.</li><li>Like in the early days of DNS names, users are rushing to secure their ENS domains before they become unavailable.</li><li>ENS supports .com, .org, .io, .app and more.</li><li>Browsers currently supporting ENS include Brave, Opera, Status (mobile), MetaMask Mobile (mobile) and Puma. ENS will not work on a browser such as Chrome or Safari.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">ENS vs. DNS</h2>



The Domain Name System and the Ethereum Name Service are both protocols that dictate how certain operations, either on Web2 or Web3, are resolved. The DNS converts the IP address of the web server into a human-readable string called a URL.



The Ethereum Name Service converts an Ethereum address into a human-readable string formatted like a URL. In this way, they both function similarly to a phonebook. You can look up a name in a phone book and get the number that will allow you to reach that person.



The DNS is part of a system of internet protocols that allow Web2 to work seamlessly. Web3, a concept describing the new decentralized version of the internet, is still a developing field and has issues that hinder adoption, such as long addresses.



Right now, the primary purpose of ENS is to give people and applications an easy way to read and share crypto addresses and make Web3 more digestible. As Web3 matures, it is likely more protocols will be built around ENS.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to get an ENS domain</h2>



Those who want to create a new ENS domain will need a crypto wallet, such as MetaMask, Torus or MEW, and some ether (ETH). From there, users can search for the domain of their choosing on <a href="https://app.ens.domains/">https://app.ens.domains/</a>.



The cost of a new ENS domain is at least $5, but users should expect to pay fees for the Ethereum transaction.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">ENS DAO&nbsp; </h2>



The ENS is operated by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), essentially an organization with no centralized leadership. The DAO governs itself through the ENS token — holders of the token submit proposals and cast votes for future development.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is the ENS governance token?&nbsp;</h2>



The ENS governance token is a token created on the Ethereum blockchain. They are traded by speculators, as are most crypto tokens, but the token also serves a specific role in the ENS community. ENS community members — as members of the DAO — use their tokens to communicate changes they wish to see in the organization.



For instance, later this year, the ENS community will <a href="https://docs.ens.domains/v/governance/ens-dao-constitution">vote</a> on the ENS Constitution — a set of rules and guidelines for how ENS should be governed. Each token can cast one vote. If 67% of votes cast on a particular article of the constitution are “yes” votes, then the article passes.



If a user wants to submit a proposal to the ENS community, they will need the support of 100,000 tokens for it to go to a vote.



Users can vote on many things in the DAO, including:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Executable proposals for a series of smart contract operations, such as allocating a portion of the liquid token pool to fund a grant for Web3 development.</li><li>Social proposals, carried out off-chain, such as appointing or removing a director, member or supervisor.</li><li>Constitutional amendments, which alter how ENS conducts its mission.</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">ENS token distribution&nbsp;</h2>



To <a href="https://ens.mirror.xyz/-eaqMv7XPikvXhvjbjzzPNLS4wzcQ8vdOgi9eNXeUuY">distribute</a> ENS tokens to the community, the developers allocated 25% of the ENS Token supply to users who had already signed up for an ENS domain by Oct. 31, 2021.



Token distribution:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Community treasury: 50%</li><li>Airdrop to .eth holders: 25%&nbsp;</li><li>ENS contributors: 25%</li></ul>



The developers then airdropped these tokens to wallets connected to the ENS domains. Fractions of the ENS token pool were distributed based on how long a given user owned an ENS domain.



In practice, this means that many casual users received tens of thousands of dollars of tokens in the airdrop — while people who have held domains for many years received even more generous allocations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">ENS foundation</h2>



The ENS Foundation is a legal entity that represents the DAO. This way the foundation can provide legal support to DAO participants.



The foundation has three directors — Nick Johnson, Brantly Millegan and Kevin Gaspar — who are also ENS core team members.



The ENS Foundation is a foundation company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. It is a nonprofit and cannot pay out dividends to its directors or members. The Foundation itself has one supervisor, filled by a Cayman Islands firm, DS Limited.



For more transparency, a list of documents related to the ENS Foundation can be found <a href="https://docs.ens.domains/v/governance/the-ens-foundation">here.</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ethereum Name Service vs. Unstoppable Domains</h2>



ENS is not the only domain name service provider competing for supremacy on Web3. There are several competitors, including Unstoppable Domains. Both Unstoppable and ENS are built on top of Ethereum and both allow users to create and register a human-readable address for crypto addresses.



However, there are some big differences in the philosophy underlying these projects. ENS is an open and public protocol developed by a nonprofit that is heavily focused on decentralization and community decision making.



Unstoppable Domains operates as a for-profit company, and many of its domains have been “brand protected” to prevent individuals from owning certain names, words or phrases. This practice has led to complaints where people have been unable to buy a domain with their name, despite the fact it is not in use, such as JohnSmith.domain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to buy ENS</h2>



ENS tokens can be purchased at the following exchanges:



Centralized



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Binance</li><li>Okex</li><li>FTX</li><li>ByBit</li></ul>



Decentralized



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Uniswap</li><li>SushiSwap</li><li>1Inch</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently asked questions</h2>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What is the ethereum name service (ENS)?</h4>



Ethereum name service is a protocol that maps long crypto addresses to simple URLs. Instead of copying long crypto addresses, users can simply send crypto to domains such as “Alice.eth.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How much does an ENS domain cost?</h4>



ENS domains cost as little as $5 before ethereum transactions fees.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Where can you buy ENS tokens?</h4>



ENS tokens can be bought at a number of different exchanges such as Binance, FTX and more.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How much are ENS tokens?</h4>


[stock_market_widget type=&#8221;accordion&#8221; template=&#8221;chart&#8221; color=&#8221;#5B35D5&#8243; assets=&#8221;ENS-USD&#8221; start_expanded=&#8221;true&#8221; display_currency_symbol=&#8221;true&#8221; api=&#8221;yf&#8221; chart_range=&#8221;1mo&#8221; chart_interval=&#8221;1d&#8221;]

What Is the Ethereum Name Service (ENS)?

<div id="highlights-block_62006d613415f" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Delegates and members of the Ethereum Name Service foundation are weighing a draft proposal to terminate Millegan</li>
 <li>The development is dividing ENS&#8217; community, with some defending the director&#8217;s right to religious views, while others decry discrimination</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Controversy has erupted within the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) community after a more than 5-year-old tweet by the foundation&#8217;s director of operations, Brantly Millegan, resurfaced on Friday.



Delegate members from the Decentralized Autonomous Organization protocol are weighing up whether to terminate Millegan&#8217;s directorship for comments made in 2016 about his views regarding homosexuality, transgender people and abortions, among other topics.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="358" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-16819" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tweet-1024x358.jpg?w=1184 1184w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Brantly Millegan&#8217;s tweet from 2016</figcaption></figure>



A <a href="https://discuss.ens.domains/t/draft-proposal-dao-wide-proposal-to-terminate-directorship-of-brantly-millegan-at-the-ens-foundation/10277?u=viaeth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">draft proposal</a> has been put forth to DAO delegates — those with voting rights making decisions affecting the protocol — to weigh in. The draft is not an active proposal, but a consideration for delegates to bring forward a vote on whether he should remain in a director role.



ENS is a domain name service designed to turn Ethereum machine-readable addresses into human-readable ones.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">not really anything to address? i adhere to the world&#39;s largest religion and apparently that&#39;s not allowed in web3?&mdash; brantly.eth (@BrantlyMillegan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrantlyMillegan/status/1490181411004952576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The controversy has called into question the nature of DAOs and the relationships they possess with voting delegates. Millegan is ENS&#8217; largest and most powerful delegate with <a href="https://www.withtally.com/governance/eip155:1:0x323A76393544d5ecca80cd6ef2A560C6a395b7E3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">377.68K votes</a>. Coinbase comes in at number two, only slightly behind Millegan with 333K of the DAO&#8217;s total voting share, after the director&#8217;s power gap narrowed following the resurfaced tweet.



Millegan has since been removed from his role as community steward following a &#8220;simple indicative majority vote&#8221; on Sunday, after the director defended his views in a Twitter Space discussion on Friday.



&#8220;After listening carefully to the concerns of the stewards, delegates, and many other community members, I believe it is in the best interest of ENS and the communality to remove Brantly from his role as a Community Steward,&#8221; said community steward member <a href="https://discuss.ens.domains/t/removing-brantly-eth-as-a-community-steward/10408/11" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kevin</a> &#8220;validator.eth&#8221; on Sunday.



While the 2016 <a href="https://twitter.com/brantlymillegan/status/731075016691994624?s=21" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a> has since been removed for violating Twitter&#8217;s rules, a debate has opened up within social circles as to how the director&#8217;s views should be dealt with, if at all.



&#8220;You are accusing Brantly of misconduct but failed to produce evidence of such actions in this proposal. Right now, I see that the DAO has power to remov[e] him, but that’s all,&#8221; said one delegate going by the name &#8220;irreverent.&#8221;



&#8220;I would suggest clearly stating the relevant information (ie, the tweets, spaces, etc.) as well as any guidelines or specific clauses that he has violated. If the current proposal is submitted, I will vote NO because I see no clear misconduct being displayed&nbsp;given the current information within the draft&nbsp;and it feels like an angry mob vote.&#8221;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;This vibe is definitely something I do not want the DAO to give off.&#8221;</blockquote>



Those within the community defending Millegan&#8217;s right to free speech point to examples that the director has not acted upon his beliefs to de-platform minorities within the protocol. Others still call into question his public views and their effect on the protocol&#8217;s market health.



&#8220;He is bad for ENS because he creates segregation of users by his words and actions, said &#8220;Healing Visions,&#8221; another ENS delegate weighing in on the draft proposal. &#8220;Many have removed their .eth name, the price is down and will abandon the platform. If you can’t get behind it from a human perspective, which would be very sad, then from a business perspective it doesn’t make sense to keep him.&#8221;



The lead developer of ENS, Nick Johnson, announced Monday morning that Millegan would no longer be working with True Names Limited, the nonprofit company that funds ENS development.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">True Names Limited (TNL), the nonprofit that funds and organises development on <a href="https://twitter.com/ensdomains?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ensdomains</a>, has terminated the contract of Brantly Millegan effective today.&mdash; nick.eth (@nicksdjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1490581937375027202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Blockworks attempted to contact Millegan to discuss the draft proposal but did not receive a reply by press time.



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ENS Community Reconsiders Director’s Role

<div id="highlights-block_618b14439d2aa" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>137,000 Ethereum wallets are eligible to claim the airdrop</li>
 <li>Initial DAO members are asked to vote on an ‘ENS Constitution’ and select delegates</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, calls itself “an open public utility that belongs to the community.” Today, that vision started coming into focus as the project is in the process of empowering a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), starting with the widespread distribution of its ENS governance token.



Unlike many crypto/Web3 projects, ENS has received no venture capital <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=funding" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">funding</a>, and fully 25% of the new tokens are earmarked for its users. Anyone who registered an .eth domain name prior to October 31 qualified to claim a variable number of ENS tokens — the precise figure depends on when and for how many years the domain was registered.



Some 137,000 individual wallet addresses are able to claim a median average of 180 tokens, ENS’ Director of Operations Brantly Millegan told Blockworks via <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/discord-ceo-hints-at-crypto-wallet-integration-some-users-boycott/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Discord</a>. The price of this newly-trading asset is naturally volatile, but at time of publication that average amount is valued at around $11,000.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/w2L1tdxpP-dLf-ZgVfTHvqVbi6hsfO9cM0o3DAAfSQdpfnhuJS5RGuBFNOS8B2eBhXZzPU5lQyV8lDlNjSrAYXk6cD-UF_rzmgJnX0AN2KKbghXZgkWx9aDLcVNQ-aoHOJm0LZqR" alt=""/><figcaption>Source: <a href="https://ens.mirror.xyz/-eaqMv7XPikvXhvjbjzzPNLS4wzcQ8vdOgi9eNXeUuY" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ENS</a></figcaption></figure></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">What is an Ethereum name?</h3>



When you register a .com domain, you use a domain registrar, which updates the database of ICANN, the international organization that coordinates internet resources, such as top-level domains (TLDs). When you go to some address in your web browser, the domain name service (DNS) translates the name into an IP address that points to a server storing the website data.



ENS is partly the same: decentralized websites can be served from blockchain-based decentralized storage service <a href="https://ipfs.io/">IPFS</a> and accessed via an ENS name, with a browser that supports it. (As an aside, ICANN gives .eth TLD rights to the Ethiopian government, so we may see <a href="https://twitter.com/mikedemarais/status/1458317170677518339?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">some negotiations</a> there in the future!) But that’s not actually the main point, according to Millegan.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“The primary use case for an ENS name is that it&#8217;s your portable cross-platform web3 username and profile&#8230;set it up right, and you&#8217;ll see it in dApps across web3,&#8221; he said.</blockquote>



You’ve likely seen them on Twitter profiles — especially those of Ethereum’s proponents, like <a href="https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vitalik Buterin</a> (Vitalik.eth) — adopting an ENS name is en vogue.



As the owner of an .eth domain, you have an NFT on the Ethereum mainnet that is recognized by dApps, much as your Google or Facebook account is across Web2 apps today. With ENS, a name can stand in for a clunky wallet address, allowing owners to receive a variety of digital assets, such as BTC and ETH, directly via the domain name.



You can also opt to register existing domains — say, example.com — using <a href="https://medium.com/the-ethereum-name-service/step-by-step-guide-to-importing-a-dns-domain-name-to-ens-d2d15feb03e8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DNS within ENS</a>, to enable much of the same functionality.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Kick-starting governance</h3>



The point of a DAO governance token is to enable a community of people to own the underlying project that they themselves use. The first order of business for the ENS DAO is to vote on a <a href="https://discuss.ens.domains/t/proposed-ens-constitution/814" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Constitution</a>. This simple set of five Articles, which was drafted by ENS founder and lead developer Nick Johnson, outlines the basic principles that the founders hope the community will hew to. A supermajority vote of token holders over the coming days is required for passage.



“This is just the initial ENS Constitution,” explained Millegan. “There is an amendment provision, and we expect it to be changed and improved by the DAO going forward.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">you were not airdropped free money, you were airdropped responsibility&mdash; brantly.eth (@BrantlyMillegan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrantlyMillegan/status/1458167522340052992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The project is also accepting applications from potential delegates who will be empowered by the community to take on the responsibility of managing the ENS treasury and representing the interests of DAO members. Token holders can delegate their ENS stake to individual delegates whose judgment they value.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Coinbase wants a seat at the table</h3>



An interesting early development is that Coinbase Inc., as an organization, <a href="https://discuss.ens.domains/t/ens-dao-delegate-applications/815/722" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wants to be a delegate</a>. That has raised some eyebrows, as the idea of a large public company being a delegate of an important piece of Web3 infrastructure cuts against the grain of decentralization.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Bit alarming that the top delegate so far for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ENS&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$ENS</a> is Coinbase, a centralized company. Lots of great delegates out there, take a moment to review anyone other than a corporate megalith perhaps?&mdash; Adam Cochran (@adamscochran) <a href="https://twitter.com/adamscochran/status/1457903608134053895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



ENS’ Millegan, however, welcomes the bid. “I think it&#8217;s great that Coinbase wants to get involved. ENS is the identity protocol of Web3, so we need a wide range of perspectives: average users, developers, companies, DAOs, etc. The key thing is Coinbase has no special insider advantage. They&#8217;re just like anyone else.”



Coinbase is currently in third place in <a href="https://www.withtally.com/governance/ens" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the delegate vote count</a>, right behind Millegan and <meta charset="utf-8">Johnson, so they will very likely become an influential delegate. The process is open-ended, and ENS token holders can choose to delegate to any delegate, or to self-delegate and vote on governance issues directly.



Whatever you think about the Coinbase candidacy, the fact that they have signaled strong support is being interpreted as bullish for the ENS token price, which currently trades predominantly <a href="https://info.uniswap.org/#/tokens/0xc18360217d8f7ab5e7c516566761ea12ce7f9d72" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on Uniswap</a>.



The token, now <a href="https://etherscan.io/token/0xc18360217d8f7ab5e7c516566761ea12ce7f9d72" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in 47,000 wallets</a> and growing, peaked so far on its second day of trading at just shy of $68 per token, and stands at $62 at time of publication.


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