What Is An ENS Domain? (And Should You Get One?)

When you navigated to this article, your computer used a domain name, CultOfMoney.com, to find it. There are many more endings than ".com," including .org, .net and .edu, and if you're into cryptocurrency, you can get a crypto-specific version ending in .eth. You can find ours at cultofmoney.eth.

What Is An ENS Domain?

A traditional web domain is like a website's street address. When you type it into a browser, your computer looks up the matching IP address of the server that hosts the site.

ENS does the same job for crypto. Instead of a server's IP address, a .eth name points to a wallet address, and it can point to addresses on other blockchains too, such as Bitcoin or Solana. Each .eth name is a non-fungible token (NFT) that you hold in your wallet, so you control it, not a registrar.

With an ENS name, if someone wants to send you ether, you can give them yourname.eth instead of your public wallet address. Most major wallets, including MetaMask, Coinbase's wallet and Rainbow, look up .eth names when you type one in the "send" field.

• Tip: You can also import many traditional domain names, including .com domains, into ENS.

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How ENS Domains Work

When you own a .eth domain, you connect your wallet to the ENS app to manage it. By default, anyone can look up your domain to find your linked Ethereum address, which is handy for receiving payments.

ENS also supports text records such as an email address, X or Discord usernames, an avatar and plain text. Anything you add is public and stays on the blockchain, so you may not want to add your personal email address. Edits are blockchain transactions, so they cost gas fees, though those fees are now a small fraction of what they were when I set mine up.

ENS names are most useful for receiving payments and NFTs. You can also point an ENS name at a website stored on IPFS, a decentralized file network, instead of a regular server.

Which Browsers Support .Eth Domains?

If you type yourname.eth into Chrome or Safari, you'll probably get an error, because .eth isn't part of the regular DNS system that browsers use.

Brave can resolve .eth names itself once you turn on its "Resolve Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain names" setting under Web3 Domains, according to Brave's documentation. In other browsers, you can add ".limo" to the end, as in vitalik.eth.limo, and a free gateway service called eth.limo loads the site. You can test it with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's site.

What An ENS Domain Costs

ENS charges a yearly fee based on the length of the name, plus network gas. These are the base prices ENS set for ENSv2, according to ENS's pricing announcement:

Registering or renewing for longer earns a discount on every name length: 12.5% off for two years, 31.25% off for three to five years and 43.75% off for six years or more, according to the ENS FAQ. For a five-plus-character name, that works out to about $7 a year on a two-year term, about $5.50 a year on three to five years and about $4.50 a year on six years or more. Names shorter than three characters can't be registered.

Setting Up Your .Eth Domain

Wanting to head off anyone else with my name, I bought a .eth domain myself. To buy an ENS domain, you need a crypto wallet that works in your web browser, such as MetaMask, Coinbase's wallet or the wallet built into the Brave browser. I used MetaMask.

Buying the domain is similar to paying for an item at any online store, but you pay in crypto instead of dollars. Under ENSv2, the registrar takes the stablecoins USDC and DAI for the fee, according to the ENS FAQ, and you also need a little ETH in the wallet for gas. If you don't have either, you can buy them on Coinbase or Kraken (US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia) and send them to your wallet.

If you want to buy and set up an ENS domain, follow these steps:

1. Search for your desired name: Go to the ENS app at app.ens.domains and search for the name you want.
2. Connect your wallet: If the name is available, connect your wallet when prompted.
3. Pick a length and pay: Choose how many years to register, which now gets you a multi-year discount, and confirm in your wallet. ENS redesigned registration in ENSv2 so it feels like a single action, and the app shows which payment tokens it accepts.
4. Set a renewal reminder: If your registration expires, you get 28 days to renew before someone else can grab the name. Turn on renewal notifications in the ENS app.
5. Add your details: Now that you own the name, add your wallet addresses and any text records you want, and set it as your "primary name" so apps show it instead of your address.

Your purchase is recorded on Ethereum, showing that your wallet owns the name. Congrats, you're an ENS domain owner. You can see the transaction on Etherscan or the new ENS Explorer.

To host a website on your name, which takes more technical skill, start with the IPFS documentation.

Pros And Cons Of ENS Domains

Pros

• Gives you a readable name for receiving crypto in place of a long wallet address
• You own the name as an NFT in your wallet
• Works across most major wallets and many apps
• Costs $8 a year for most names, with discounts for multi-year terms

Cons

• Doesn't load in most browsers without a gateway or extension
• Setup takes more steps than a regular domain
• Everything you add to your profile is public
• A missed renewal can cost you the name

Should You Get An ENS Domain?

For most people, an ENS domain is more of a nice-to-have than a necessity. But if you use crypto regularly and want an easier way to get paid, it's worth the $8 a year.

I don't get many payments in crypto, so I rarely share my ENS name. Still, owning a .eth name is a fun way to use the blockchain and an easy way to share your wallet address. If you want one, you can search for a .eth name on the ENS app. Readers comparing options can also look at Unstoppable Domains, a separate company that sells blockchain names with its own endings and pricing.

Update: What Has Changed Since I Bought My Name

I wrote the original version of this article in early 2022. Here's what has happened since:

• Gas got much cheaper. When I first wrote this, gas for a registration ran about $160. ENS co-founder Nick Johnson said in February 2026 that registration gas costs had fallen 99% over the prior year, as reported by The Block.
• ENS dropped its own layer 2. ENS Labs spent 2024 and 2025 building Namechain, a separate network for ENS. In February 2026 it canceled Namechain and moved the upgrade to Ethereum mainnet, citing lower costs on Ethereum itself.
• ENSv2 launched. The upgrade went live on Oct. 27, 2026, with a new ENS App, an ENS Explorer for checking who controls a name and finer control over subnames, according to ENS. My old name kept working without any action, and upgrading it is optional.
• Prices changed. The yearly price for five-plus-character names rose from $5 to $8, multi-year discounts arrived and the grace period after expiry shrank from 90 days to 28.

Risks Of ENS Domains

• Losing your name: if your registration lapses past the 28-day grace period, anyone can buy it, and payments sent to the name would go to the new owner.
• Copycat names: scammers register names that look like yours or a brand's. Double-check the address a name resolves to before sending large amounts.
• Privacy: linking your name to your wallet makes your balance and history easy to find. Use a separate wallet for your public name if that matters to you.
• Wallet security: your name lives in your wallet, so a stolen seed phrase means a stolen name. Our list of common crypto scams covers how people lose wallets.

FAQ

How Much Does An ENS Domain Cost?

A .eth name with five or more characters costs $8 a year, four-character names cost $160 and three-character names cost $640, plus gas. Registering for two or more years earns a discount.

Do ENS Domains Expire?

Yes. You register for a set number of years and must renew. After expiry, you have a 28-day grace period to renew before the name goes to a short premium auction and then becomes available to anyone.

Do I Need To Do Anything Because Of ENSv2?

No. Existing names keep working. You can choose to upgrade your name in the ENS App to use new features like finer subname controls.

Can I Use An ENS Name To Receive Bitcoin?

Yes, if you add a Bitcoin address to your ENS records and the sender's wallet supports ENS lookups for Bitcoin. Many wallets only resolve the Ethereum address, so confirm before relying on it.

What Is The Difference Between ENS And Unstoppable Domains?

ENS names end in .eth, renew yearly and are governed by the ENS DAO. Unstoppable Domains is a private company that sells names with its own endings and pricing rules, so check its current terms, including any renewal fees, before you buy.