A generation ago, few could have imagined how important a brand name followed by a funny-looking “.com” suffix would be to every business. But then thousands of dollars soon traded hands between businesses that were behind the times and those that were savvy enough to rush into the marketplace and gobble up the most popular names.
As blockchain and crypto become ever more familiar parts of our collective lexicon, the outlines of Web 3.0 have started to take shape and a groundswell is forming. Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs, DeFi, among many other blockchain-centric terms have become common knowledge. A forward-looking company will ponder “What’s next?”
One potentially valuable contour of Web 3.0 could be an Ethereum Name Service domains (ENS Domains). Much like the old IP addresses of Web 2.0, which became much easier to navigate with the proliferation of domain names, ENS Domains hold the promise of a much easier link between you and your customers, business partners, etc., on the Ethereum blockchain.
For most people or businesses on the blockchain, identifying a wallet requires a long string of alphanumeric values. For example, a Coinbase Wallet, for use on the Ethereum blockchain, might look something like this:
0xb15166d10aebc6bb4868668eff1b3acd95da920c
Much like the DNS system for website domain names, ENS allows for a shortened version of your wallet address. Think “apple.eth” for the purchase of an iPhone with cryptocurrency in the future. Or, perhaps, the future online store for Apple products.
The Ethereum blockchain is, of course, only one of several blockchains onto which Decentralized Finance applications are being built. But it’s currently the largest … by far. To make sure your business is prepared for the promise of a crypto-centric future, consider grabbing your ENS domain as soon as possible.
How do you reserve your ENS domain? It is a very simple process:
- Make sure you have some ETH in your ETH wallet (such as Coinbase Wallet, Metamask, or Trust Wallet);
- Log onto https://app.ens.domains and search for your preferred domain;
- If nobody has the name yet, the name will show as “Available”;
- Click on the name and you can reserve your .eth name for as long as you desire;
- Just follow the easy-to-understand steps and your name.eth will be yours.
