So a few days ago I heard about this thing called an ENS (Ethereum Domain Service) domain name. What really piqued my interest is that fact that you can link a domain name such as "dhumphrey.eth" to your Ethereum wallet address and get people to send Ether or tokens to the domain instead of having to copy over that long string that identifies your wallet. And you can do much more with the domain if you really want to. Awesome, isn't it?
More Details
As Jim Manning of ethnews.com said:
In the world of blockchains, cryptographic addresses are a common sight. They are long, and generally look like a string of random numbers and letters. They’re longer than IP addresses, and certainly look more daunting. So making them more human-readable is integral to increasing widespread adoption of Ethereum and blockchain technology.
ENS describes itself as:
ENS offers a secure and decentralised way to address resources both on and off the blockchain using simple, human-readable names.
It gets rid of long addresses in a truly secure and distributed way, offering a world of opportunities for you. Make sure to register your own one quickly before it's taken!
How To Get Your Own
Now, let's move on to how you would be able to do this yourself. I used MyEtherWallet to register mine. MEW really simplifies the process because you can just bid on the domain straight from your MEW wallet without the need to download wallets and such. If you want to you can just go to the official ENS registrar site and do it there.
This tutorial will cover the MEW process, since it's much simpler and easier to use. The basic concepts are still the same, though, so you can also read the tutorial if you plan on taking the other method.
- First you place a bid on the name you selected. The minimum increment is 0.01 Ether, around $2.50 to $3.
- You must then enter a bid mask, which is essentially an amount of Ether that is larger than or equal to your bid. This amount is shown publicly before the reveal period so that someone who might want to outbid you doesn't know how much you really bid.
- After you've done all of this, you'll get a secret phrase which will allow you to reveal your true bid amount (removing the mask) during the reveal period.
- The bidding period lasts 3 days (72 hours) from the time the first bid is placed. In that time anyone can place a bid on the domain.
- After the three days are over, the auction will enter the reveal period in which you must now enter your secret phrase to reveal your bid. No one can make a new bid on the domain now. The reveal period is open for 2 days (48 hours) before finally ending and completing the auction. Whoever has revealed the highest bid wins! You must then finalize the auction and then you officially own the domain.
And that's it! Your domain will expire after a year as per normal domains, although ENS is still working on a better and more permanent domain registrar system (which will include renewal fees).