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The following guide explores digital identity on the blockchain by diving into Ethereum Name Service (ENS). We explain what ENS is, why it has gained popularity and the role it plays in the crypto industry. Lastly, we utilize the Milk Road public wallet to acquire an ENS domain, and show readers how they can do so on their own.
Identity influences all aspects of our lives, steering our decisions and connecting us to larger communities. And while digital identity looks a little different than real life, it serves just as important of a role in the world of Web3, particularly with ENS and crypto domains.
People have been expressing themselves in unique ways on the blockchain. Some people buy and display an expensive NFT profile picture, while others might brag about their on-chain credentials.
One form of “showing off” has been through Ethereum Name Service. Owning rare domains can be equivalent to owning a very rare NFT. And extra bragging rights if you were early enough in crypto to register a rare crypto domain name on your own.
In short, Ethereum Name Service provides a decentralized way for users to attach names and identities to wallet addresses. In the same way that website domains make navigating the world wide web seamless, ENS allows users to simplify their digital identity.
With ENS, you can register a domain or name tag to replace your lengthy and complex wallet address. You can pick any name that hasn’t been taken, and pay a fee to have it registered to your wallet. All ENS domains are represented by: Domain.eth
The process is quite simple, and it doesn’t impact any other aspects of your wallet. You will simply be able to engage with dApps and explore the blockchain in a more personalized and efficient manner.
Note: While your wallet will be represented by the new crypto domain that you registered, your underlying wallet address will never change. ENS is simply a way of “redirecting” transactions and activity to this underlying address.
ENS is an exciting concept, but there are also several benefits that it brings to the greater crypto ecosystem:
We wanted to add a personal touch to our public wallet, so we registered themilkroad.eth as our ENS domain.
That’s right, you can now easily find and track our wallet by searching themilkroad.eth on Etherscan, or anywhere else on the Ethereum network. This allowed us to officially bring the Milk Road brand to the blockchain and will make our public wallet journey more user friendly.
We’ll be honest with you Roaders though, we already owned the domain. In our case we had to simply transfer the ENS from an old wallet into the Milk Road public wallet. This is done just like transferring an NFT, and can be initiated from the collection screen of any NFT marketplace.
There are two ways to acquire an ENS domain. If the exact domain you are looking for has not been registered before, you can register that domain yourself.
If the domain you want is already registered to another wallet, you will need to purchase that domain on a secondary market. ENS domains are represented by NFTs, so you can find them on all major marketplaces such as OpenSea.
Once you arrive at ENS’ website, you will connect your wallet and be prompted a box to search for a domain:
If the requested name is registered to another user, it will tell you to try again. But if the name is available, you will be able to select the registration term and purchase the domain.
The cost for registration rises as you select a longer time frame. However, ENS also does a good job of showing users the expected savings in gas costs for registering a name for longer.
And just like that you now have a domain tied to your wallet address. Note that aside from renewal when the registration period ends, you will not incur any costs for holding and maintaining the domain.
If you want a domain that is already registered, you will need to go to a secondary marketplace (and hope that the owner is willing to let it go).
ENS domains as a whole are treated as a “NFT collection”, so to browse through them you will need to navigate to their collection on OpenSea.
Once here, you can scroll through existing listings or utilize the search bar to look up a specific domain. If you find one that you like, you can ensure it is listed for sale by seeing if there is an ETH price in the bottom corner.
For example, only the most left domain is for sale in the image below:
Once you find a domain to purchase, you need to click on the exact listing to checkout. Note that this is the same process as buying any other NFT.
Simply connect your wallet, and confirm the purchase as you would on any other marketplace. The individual listing screen will look like this:
While ENS offers a fun and potentially profitable way to express yourself on Ethereum, there are some other things to be aware of:
We’ve now slapped the Milk Road brand on our public wallet and our portfolio is starting to come together. But we’re not stopping there; our next guide is gonna turn things up a notch.
We’ll be exploring a new wallet, as well as our first network outside of the Ethereum ecosystem. Everything we’ve done so far has prepared us for this, and we’ll be right by your side to walk you through it. For now, readers can track our wallet on their own through DeBank. Simply go to their site, paste in our wallet address and follow our journey in real time under “portfolio”.
This report is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions, nor is it offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice. You should conduct your own research and consult independent counsel on the matters discussed within this report. Part performance of any asset is not indicative of future results.
It should also be noted that the writer(s) of this report may hold assets mentioned in the article at the time of writing.