If you've spent time in the web3/NFT space then you've probably seen people using .eth (or .tez) with their usernames and online profiles. Why should anyone purchase an Ethereum Name Service domain? We're about to explain why, where to get one, how much they cost, and some other features you get by owning a .eth name.
What's Ethereum Name Service?
Ethereum Name Service, often abbreviated as ENS, is the service that we use to register .eth names. When people refer to ENS, it's often just shorthand for referring to .eth names in general.
What a .eth name allows you to do is turn your long Ethereum wallet addresses into short and human readable names. If a friend wants to send you an NFT, instead of telling them to send it to 0x40C423d16D1A9B90535cAD9D54ba4a2766D066DA you could tell them to send it to klick.eth. The same is true for doing things at places like Coinbase! If you were to purchase some ETH from Coinbase, you can send it directly out to a .eth name instead of having to copy and paste your long address.
How do I get my own .eth name❓
- Visit the ENS website and search for the name you want.
- Make a request and signal that you intend to register the domain.
- Pay a gas fee + transaction fee based on the length of the domain.
How much do they cost?💸
Here's how the current pricing structure breaks down for registering .eth names.
- 5+ character .eth names: $5 in ETH per year
- 4 character .eth names: $160 in ETH per year.
- 3 character .eth names $640 in ETH per year.
What is a reverse record? 🔀
Instead of an app or website displaying the actual wallet address such as 0x40C423d16D1A9B90535cAD9D54ba4a2766D066DA it could display klick.eth
instead. Not every app or website will support reverse records, but it's a nice touch if it's available. Here's a screenshot to illustrate.
It also makes you more discoverable with a reverse record set on services like DNS.
https://dns.xyz/klick.eth
https://opensea.io/klick.ethVs.
https://dns.xyz/0x40C423d16D1A9B90535cAD9D54ba4a2766D066DA
https://opensea.io/0x40C423d16D1A9B90535cAD9D54ba4a2766D066DAWhy doesn't anything show up when I type [klick.eth] into a web browser? 🤔
Because it's not a normal TLD like a .com, .net, or an .xyz. It's just a shortcut for a long, difficult to remember Tezos wallet address into an easier format. The .eth address is not a URL.
Can I put a website on my .eth domain? 💡
Absolutely. Using a service like Fleek is the current go-to method. It utilizes GitHub repositories and IPFS hosting for the content. For more in-depth answers check out the Fleek docs section or a tutorial such as this.
Where do I resell ENS domains?
The most active place to resell and purchase ENS domains off the secondary market is via OpenSea. After you have successfully registered your domain name, you can simply list it just like any other NFT.
What else can I do with my ENS domain?
You can also use your ENS domain to list your other crypto addresses and identifying information, much like WHOIS data for regular internet domain names. For a great example, look at brantly.eth's ENS profile page.
Wrap Up
Managing your identity in Web3 is important, and owning your own .ETH name is normally the first step people take when establishing themselves. There are other crypto domain name services out there, but if you had to choose only one - ENS is the way to go.