ENS, Ethereum’s name service, is enjoying a boom. August saw its third highest ever monthly revenue, it recently overtook BAYC in trading volume and Coinbase launched ENS integration. All of this amid a general market turndown.
So, is this the time to invest in an ENS domain?
Hype around ENS is growing
Why is ENS so popular?
2.17 million ENS domains were created in August. To put that dramatic growth into perspective, there were only a million such names three and a half months prior. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the market. NFT sales slumped to a one-year low in June, a far cry from last summer’s bull run. Crypto remains in the doldrums. As the market stagnates, ENS goes from strength to strength.
A great deal of this bullishness is associated with the Merge. ENS registrations climbed by an incredible 170% on 6th September. The excitement around the PoS switch and the anticipation that it will boost ETH’s popularity inevitably translates into increased ENS demand. This creates a favourable sentiment.
With sentiment comes hype. The recent uptick in ENS trading was triggered back in July when the domain 000.eth sold for 300 ETH. Much like the NFT bull run of last summer, there’s now a massive amount of hype around ENS. Shorter domains tend to be more popular (selling for around 15 ETH) followed by four digits, which often go for over 1.5 ETH.
000.eth is currently on sale for 5000 ETH
Is now the time to invest in ENS?
According to Nick Johnson (founder of the naming service) ENS implementation is now so widespread that “people expect it and it's surprising when something doesn't support it.” Utility is key. ENS can incorporate a payment and authentication system, domain name and hosting platform. In this way, it might be viewed as a convenient link between Web2 and Web3. People are waking up to these possibilities.
The value of an ENS domain is also more immediately clear than that of an NFT. For example, bullish.eth is an objectively better purchase than y08dntx8emfn.eth. This makes ENS trading lower risk than other crypto ventures and lowers the entry-level too. There’s no chance of being rugged and nearly anybody can get involved.
The prestigious 10k Club has enjoyed big sales
Minuscule gas fees in the bear market are helping too. This, coupled with the low price of ETH, makes it easier than ever to trade ENS. Social scenes are flourishing in this low cost, low gas environment. The prestigious 10K club, for example, includes members with 0-9999 registered domains. A ticket into that club might be beyond the reach of most, but if you are considering taking your first steps into ENS our big advice is this: DYOR and keep those names short!
Sources
https://www.one37pm.com/nft/ens-domain-surge
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0x57f1887a8bf19b14fc0df6fd9b2acc9af147ea85/24293655359084398983762148957951887367734741115283469135310733710692111186993
