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ENS Labs proposes mainnet activation of ENSv2 to freeze v1 registrations

ENS Labs has submitted a governance proposal to activate ENSv2 on Ethereum mainnet, a move that would halt new registrations on the original v1 registrar and transfer control of the upgraded system to the ENS DAO.

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) logo in white against a blue background.
Image: @cryptodotnews

ENS Labs has asked the ENS DAO to switch on ENSv2 on Ethereum mainnet, halting new .eth registrations on the legacy v1 registrar and shifting sign-ups to the upgraded protocol, according to reports by Unchained and crypto.news. ENS founder Nick Johnson, posting as nick.eth, published the executable proposal on the ENS governance forum on Oct. 11, though no voting date or formal vote on Tally or Snapshot was linked at publication time.[1][3]

The proposal packages 15 calls from the DAO timelock into an atomic transaction that pulls all five authorized controllers from the v1 BaseRegistrar. It adds back only two: ETHRenewerV1, which manages renewals for names reserved on v2, and a Graveyard contract to claim names that expired past their grace period. Ownership of the v1 registrar would pass to ETHRenewerV1, preventing new registrations or additional controllers. Registrations on both versions would pause for an estimated few hours between the proposal's execution and the v2 launch.[1]

Only one of the five activation phases requires a DAO vote. Afterward, ENS Labs has committed to opening v2 registrations, routing lookups through v2, and renouncing all v2 admin roles to the DAO timelock, leaving the DAO with full administrative control. The full v2 contract set is already deployed on mainnet, and all v2 registration fees are directed to the timelock.[1][2]

Existing .eth domain holders do not need to take immediate action, as current names will continue functioning with no set deadline to migrate. When moving to ENSv2, the post-expiry grace period decreases from 90 days to 28 days, with existing expirations extended by 62 days to compensate. While the DAO can reverse the v1 freeze through another vote, moving individual names to v2 is permanent.[1]

Key facts

  • ENS founder Nick Johnson posted an executable proposal on Oct. 11 to activate ENSv2 on Ethereum mainnet and freeze new registrations on v1.
  • The proposal bundles 15 DAO timelock calls into a single transaction, removing five v1 controllers and assigning registrar ownership to ETHRenewerV1.
  • Only one of the five activation stages requires an on-chain DAO vote, ending with ENS Labs transferring its admin roles to the DAO timelock.
  • Existing .eth domain owners face no migration deadline, and active names will continue working on v1 without required user action.
  • ENSv2 cuts the post-expiry grace period from 90 days to 28 days, compensating users by extending v2 expiration dates by 62 days.
  • The v1 registration freeze can be reversed by a future DAO vote, but migrating individual names to v2 is irreversible.
  • The full ENSv2 contract set is already deployed on Ethereum mainnet, with registration fees assigned to the DAO timelock.

Sources · 3 sources

  1. UN

    UnchainedArticle ·

    Ethereum Name Service Team Asks DAO to Switch On ENSv2 and Freeze New .eth Sign-Ups on v1 ENS Labs has asked the ENS DAO to activate ENSv2 on Ethereum mainnet, a step that would freeze new .eth registrations on the original v1 registrar and move them to the new system. ENS founder Nick Johnson, posting as nick.eth, published the executable proposal on the ENS governance forum on Oct. 11. It bundles 15 calls from the DAO timelock into a single atomic transaction. Those calls pull all five controllers now authorized on the v1 BaseRegistrar and add back just two: ETHRenewerV1 , which handles renewals for names already reserved on v2, and a Graveyard contract that can claim names left expired past grace. Ownership of the registrar then passes to ETHRenewerV1, which, according to the post, can neither register new names nor add controllers. The post does not give a voting date, and no Tally or Snapshot vote had been linked as of publication. Get Unchained’s crypto news in your inbox with the free Unchained Daily newsletter . What It Means for .eth Holders Existing owners don’t have to act. “If you own a .eth name and do nothing, it keeps working,” the post said, adding, “There’s no deadline to migrate.” Owners can move a name to v2 through the ENS app whenever they choose. Names that have lapsed past their grace period won’t carry over and will open up for anyone to register on v2. ENSv2 shortens the post-expiry grace period to 28 days from 90. To compensate, “each name’s v2 expiry is extended by 62 days to make up the difference,” according to the proposal. Registrations stop on both v1 and v2 between the proposal’s execution and v2 going live, a gap the post expects to last “a few hours.” Labs Hands Over Control Only one of the five activation stages requires a DAO vote. The last step, according to the proposal, is for ENS Labs to renounce its admin roles over the v2 contracts and pass them to the DAO timelock. Before that, Labs plans to re-run its name reservations after the freeze, let the v2 registrar take sign-ups and route name lookups through v2. Those steps are commitments by Labs, not part of the onchain vote. “When that’s done, the DAO controls ENSv2 just as it controls v1 today, and Labs holds no privileged role in either,” the post said. Registration fees on v2 are paid to the timelock, which has owned the fee-handling contracts since deployment. The post also lists tradeoffs, including the loss of an emergency path on v1 that lets a designated controller disable a registrar controller without a vote. “The v1 freeze is reversible; migrating a name is not,” it said. The DAO could restore v1 controllers with another executable, but migrated tokens can’t be returned. ENS Labs first pitched ENSv2 in 2024 as a move to a layer 2. The new proposal says the full v2 contract set is already deployed on Ethereum mainnet. Related Listen: How One ENS Vote Reignited the DAO Governance Debate: Uneasy Money The post Ethereum Name Service Team Asks DAO to Switch On ENSv2 and Freeze New .eth Sign-Ups on v1 appeared first on Unchained .

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  2. LS

    Laura Shin@laurashinPost on X ·

    Only one of the five ENSv2 activation stages goes to a DAO vote. After it executes, ENS Labs commits to opening v2 registrations, cutting resolution over and then giving up every v2 admin role it holds to the DAO timelock. https://t.co/q2oNPj80mi

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  3. CN

    crypto.news@cryptodotnewsPost on X ·

    JUST IN: ENS proposes mainnet activation of ENSv2, with DAO control The plan would freeze new registrations on ENSv1 and migrate names to the upgraded system, giving the ENS DAO administrative control over ENSv2. https://t.co/MtWYmzlCP3

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