Owners of ‘.eth’ domains can now claim $ENS token airdrop

Owners of a ‘.eth’ domain name from Ethereum Name Services (ENS) domains can now claim an airdrop of the $ENS governance token.

The token will enable users of ENS to vote on future proposals and participate in governance through the ENS DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation).

The amount of tokens a user can claim is dependent on three factors:

– How long they’ve owned their ENS domain name
– How long their ENS domain name is registered for
– Whether a ‘reverse record’ is set for the name

The value of the airdrop in $ENS tokens was worth different amounts for domain owners dependent on these factors.

Users will have until May 4, 2022 to claim their tokens, after which any remaining tokens will be sent to the DAO treasury.

An ‘ENS domain’ essentially allows a user to ‘shorten’ their alphanumeric wallet address into a ‘domain name’ format and is often used as an ‘identity’ on social media channels like Twitter.

This ‘domain name’ address can then be used instead of a wallet address to send funds via an exchange or Web3 wallet.

How the DAO works

Users are given the opportunity to ‘delegate’ their governance tokens to another user, who can then use the tokens to vote on decisions made within the DAO.

The structure behind the DAO means that decisions have to be voted on by token holders to pass, creating a decentralised voting process.

During the first week, anyone claiming their tokens will also be able to vote on the proposed ENS Constitution, which is a set of rules for the DAO.

According to ENS Domains, the first decisions made by the DAO will involve token holders requesting the ability to “govern protocol parameters, like pricing, the price oracle” and “control funds from the existing community treasury”.

ENS has been praised on Twitter for its approach towards governance and the importance of the platform towards Web3.

Others have commented on the capabilities of a decentralised Web3 network, with Twitter user ‘Solarpunklabs‘ saying “how radical it is that in Web3 we will collectively own our own domain name system”.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase also announced it was taking an “active role in the @ensdomains DAO, to support the future of ENS.“