So, let’s have a look what .ETH domains are about.
What Are .ETH Domains Used For?
You can use the .ETH domains to make your life a lot easier. In Part 1 we already saw that your ETH address is 42 characters long and alphanumeric. A long string of letters and numbers that is difficult to remember. It’s also called a hexadecimal address or hex. When you need to copy it, it’s easy to make a mistake.
The .ETH domains allow you to replace the hex with a name. For example, “0xA1F92257248eb0B3Db4bE6b36c46D1B19C11da6f” becomes “Jonathan.ETH”.
We just restocked POAPs! You can claim at https://t.co/qnAesXCUIQ
If/when we run out again, we will keep restocking the links so keep trying. If you are eligible, you will get your POAP as long as you claim before Dec 31https://t.co/8SSRIxDsP0
— ens.eth (@ensdomains) November 16, 2022
This makes it a lot easier and convenient to use your public ETH address. Instead of needing to remember the hex with 42 characters, you can now use whatever .ETH domain you own. As a result, it becomes easier to remember your ETH address. It works with any name, but the minimum length of the name must be at least three characters. The picture below shows my .ETH domain name from
Source: ENS domains
.ETH Domains for Sale
There are lots of .ETH domains for sale on marketplaces. Many people minted brand or rare names, like Amazon.ETH or 000.ETH.
These can sell for a lot of money. NonFungible has a list of the highest all-time sales. Paradigm.ETH leads this list with a cool 420 wETH or $2 million at the time of the sale. PFJI.ETH comes in second for a nice 350 wETH or $463,000. On #3 comes 000.ETH for a whopping 300 ETH or $317,000. A lucrative way to make some money.
These samples are all based on the ENS domain, but there are other domain services out there as well. For example, Unstoppable Domains. However, not all these services sell .ETH domain names. On the other hand, most blockchains now have their own name services. For example, you can get .BNB, .ZIL, .SOL, .APT, or .SUI and more.
Currently, there are 2.583k .ETH domain name NFTs from ENS alone. On OpenSea, there is 12% of this number for sale, so roughly 31,000 .ETH domain names. The total volume is 73,555 ETH, or at current prices $92.3 million. Although the floor is at 0.0011 ETH, we saw what kind of top prices people are willing to pay. In other words, there’s a thriving market in domain names. The picture below shows the OPENSEA ENS NFT page.
Source: OpenSea
How to Transfer a .ETH Domain to Another Wallet
Transfers of .ETH domains to another wallet are easy to set up. In the case you sold a .ETH domain, as described above, there are a few steps you need to go through. Before we go into that, it’s good to understand what some terms mean. We have three terms to look at:
- The Registrant — This person owns the registered ENS domain name. This makes this person also the controller. They registered and paid for the domain name. The Registrant can change the owner and Controller. They can assign or reclaim the domain names ownership.
- — This is the wallet address that holds the registry’s address. For instance, this allows them to reassign ownership. They can also set resolvers or create subdomains.
- Controller — Within the domain, they can edit records.
Your first step is with the ‘Register’ and ‘Controller’. You need to transfer them to the new owner or Ethereum account.
- .ETH domains are ERC-721 compliant NFTs. In other words, changing the Registrant is easy. You only have to transfer the NFT from any compliant Ethereum wallet.
- The new owner will have to change the Controller input. However, you can also do this before you transfer the domain. For instance, if you don’t want your name associated with the transfer.
- Change the Controller and set the ETH Address record to the new Ethereum address.
- Now you can transfer the name.
ENS stats for November 2022
– 70k new .eth registrations (total 2.79m names)
– $1.7m in protocol revenue (all goes to the @ENS_DAO
– 22k new eth accounts w/ at least 1 ENS name (total 612k)
– 5,445 avatar records set (total 62k)
– 1,660 DWeb content records set (total 16,715) pic.twitter.com/LRK2iqPQjr
— ens.eth (@ensdomains) December 1, 2022
Conclusion
The .ETH domain names are popular and in demand. That’s a good reason to shed some light on how these domains work and what you can do with them. Don’t hesitate to look up Part 1, the link is at the start of this article.