Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has scrapped plans for its dedicated Layer-2 network “Namechain” and will deploy its next major upgrade, ENSv2, directly on Ethereum. The team cited a 99% decline in gas costs and confidence in upcoming Ethereum scaling milestones as reasons for the pivot.
ENS abandons Namechain L2 plan
ENS, the naming protocol that maps human-readable .eth addresses to Ethereum wallets and other resources, had explored launching a specialized Layer-2 dubbed Namechain to lower fees and improve throughput for registrations, renewals, and resolution. The project now says those goals can be met on Ethereum mainnet, eliminating the need for a dedicated L2.
Rationale: lower costs and roadmap confidence
According to the team, transaction costs have fallen sharply, and forthcoming Ethereum scaling upgrades are expected to further expand capacity. Against that backdrop, deploying ENSv2 directly on mainnet allows the protocol to leverage Ethereum’s security and liquidity without adding the operational complexity of a separate Layer-2 environment.
What to expect from ENSv2
ENSv2 is positioned as the protocol’s next major iteration, aimed at enhancing the user and developer experience for name registration and resolution while maintaining compatibility with existing ENS infrastructure. By remaining on Ethereum, ENS expects to streamline implementation and minimize fragmentation for users, wallets, and dApps that already integrate the .eth naming system.
Implications and next steps
The decision underscores a broader trend of protocols reassessing L2 strategies as Ethereum’s base layer and rollup ecosystem reduce costs and improve performance. ENS said it will proceed with deploying ENSv2 on Ethereum and provide further technical details and timelines as development progresses.