ENS Token Surges 70% as Vitalik Buterin Praises Web 3.0 Platform

ENS and Web 3.0

The governance token of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) skyrocketed up to 72% on Jan. 3 after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin praised the domain platform.

Buterin expressed his admiration for ENS in a Jan. 3 post on X (formerly Twitter), calling it “super important” and emphasizing that it should remain available and reasonably priced for all Ethereum network users, especially those on layer-2 networks such as Optimism (OP), Arbitrum (ARB) and Polygon (MATIC).

“All L2s should be working on (trustless, merkle-proof-based) CCIP resolvers, so that we can have ENS subdomains registerable, updateable and readable directly on L2s,” said Buterin.

Buterin believes that layer-2 networks are a key part of Ethereum’s long-term scalability and that registering ENS addresses on them could greatly improve their usability.

ENS Web 3.0

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a system that allows users to purchase a “.eth” domain name, making it easier to transfer and receive funds between parties on the Ethereum network. On Nov. 28, 2021, ENS achieved an all-time high of $74.25, around the same time that the broader crypto market began to tumble.

Shortly after, the price of the ENS token surged from a yearly low of $8.50, increasing more than 72% to reach an eight-month peak of $14.7, according to CoinMarketCap data. The price of ENS has since stabilized and is currently trading for $12.9 as of publication.

In September 2022, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed introducing a 3% “Harberger” tax on ENS domain names. This would prevent hoarding of domain names among early users looking to maximize profits, and would enable wider adoption and more decentralized ownership of ENS addresses.