Published: Oct 13, 2026
The Ethereum Name Service (ENS), the leading decentralized domain name provider operating on the Ethereum blockchain, is formally seeking approval from its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to activate a massive upgraded naming protocol directly on the Ethereum mainnet.
Nick Johnson, the founder of ENS, has officially submitted an executable draft proposal aimed at launching ENSv2, which represents the next major evolutionary phase for the protocol. If the decentralized community votes to approve the proposal, the upgrade will freeze new domain registrations on the original ENS registrar. However, existing domain holders will still retain the full ability to renew their current names without undergoing any forced migration processes.
The forthcoming upgrade introduces a significantly redesigned registry architecture built to offer more flexible domain management and advanced permissions. Once the activation process is successfully completed, ENS Labs has outlined plans to transfer all remaining administrative control over the newly upgraded contracts directly to the hands of the DAO, further cementing the protocol’s commitment to complete decentralization.
Under the mechanics of the transition, new .eth registrations will be smoothly moved over to the upgraded system as soon as domain records have been fully synchronized. Johnson has issued a warning to the community, noting that new registrations will be temporarily unavailable on either version for a brief window lasting several hours while the transition takes place in real time.
For current participants within the ecosystem, existing domain holders are not required to migrate their assets immediately. Their existing names will continue to function normally, according to the specifications outlined in the proposal. Furthermore, ENS Labs has reserved existing .eth names for their current rightful owners on the upgraded system, granting users the freedom and flexibility to migrate whenever they feel ready to do so.
The activation proposal is currently residing in the draft stage of governance and must successfully advance through the pipeline to an onchain DAO vote before any implementation can occur.
Under the established governance rules governing the ENS ecosystem, executable proposals must satisfy strict participation and majority thresholds. Specifically, they require at least 1% voter participation—representing a minimum of 1 million ENS votes—alongside a majority approval during a mandatory seven-day voting window. If the community votes in favor of the upgrade, the implementation will also be subjected to a mandatory minimum two-day timelock before the code is officially executed on the network. At the time of submission, a specific official voting date has not yet been formally announced by the DAO.
