ENS Proposes ENSv2 Upgrade With Irreversible Migration for .eth Domain Holders
ENS Proposes Major .eth Registry Upgrade
The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has proposed a major upgrade called ENSv2 that would change how .eth domains are managed. The proposal, posted on Oct. 11, lets current domain holders stay on the existing system if they wish, but anyone who migrates to ENSv2 cannot return.
ENSv2 would replace the registry system introduced in 2017 with a new hierarchical structure. The upgrade also introduces stablecoin payments for registration fees, higher costs for some names, and changes to expiration rules.
The ENS decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, is still reviewing the proposal. A governance bulletin on Oct. 12 listed the vote as pending, and no launch date has been set.
Key Details of the Upgrade
- Existing .eth holders can keep their domains on the current system by continuing to renew them
- Users who migrate to ENSv2 permanently transfer their domains; their old tokens go into a smart contract called the Graveyard with no way to retrieve them
- Annual fees for names with five or more characters would rise 60%, from $5 to $8
- Three- and four-character name fees would stay the same
- Users registering six or more years at once would get roughly a 44% discount
- Stablecoins like USDC and DAI would replace ETH for payments, keeping fees fixed in dollar terms
- The grace period for migrated names would shrink from 90 days to 28 days, though expiry dates would be extended by 62 days to compensate
What the Proposal Says
According to the official ENS proposal, ENSv2 would introduce a hierarchical registry structure allowing individual domains to maintain separate registries for their subdomains. This would give owners more flexibility in assigning permissions, letting businesses and apps delegate responsibility for specific names without giving up broader control.
During migration, an owner's ENSv1 token moves into the Graveyard contract, which cannot return or transfer tokens it receives. Users who stay on ENSv1 keep access to their domains through a dedicated contract that also preserves their ENSv2 reservations.
The official guidance notes that ENS expects to temporarily suspend new registrations while developers synchronize existing records and activate the new infrastructure, a process expected to take several hours.
Uncertainty Around Transition
Several details remain unclear. The proposal contains conflicting provisions on renewals during the transition period, leaving open whether existing holders can renew names before ENSv2 becomes operational. Wallets and applications that use ENS must also update their infrastructure to support the new system. ENS Labs would complete final synchronization, activate ENSv2 registration, and transfer remaining administrative permissions to the DAO after approval, but the timing of those steps has not been announced.
Why This Matters
ENS is one of the most widely used domain services in crypto, with .eth names serving as readable addresses for wallets, websites, and other on-chain identifiers. Any change to how domains are registered, managed, or expired affects millions of users and the applications that depend on them. The irreversible nature of migration and the fee changes could influence how people manage their domains going forward.
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.