You might have seen people on Crypto Twitter (it’s X now) flaunting their .eth names as their handles.
Yup, those are ENS names. And one need to buy it, link it to their wallet, so as to flex on socials (don’t fake it till you make it).
But ENS names are not just for flex, they have an amazing Utility, which ain’t the case for most NFTs.
Anyways, let’s understand what these ENS domains are and how to get one.
First of all, let’s understand what an NFT is because an ENS Domain is an NFT.
An NFT stands for “Non-Fungible Token.” It’s like a unique, digital collectible. Imagine having a special edition trading card that no one else has, and it’s all digital.
Now, ENS Domain is an NFT, too. And it stands for Ethereum Naming Service.
Instead of being a fancy piece of art or a digital cat, it’s a special kind of NFT that gives you ownership of an address which you can attach to your wallet. You know, like owning a piece of internet real estate.
Similar to how you get a domain name www.whatever.com to access a website, instead of typing the IP address which contains random numbers, you get an ENS domain (.eth) to your wallet, for the easy access of your crypto wallet.
When you own an ENS Domain, it’s like saying, “Hey, I’ve got this cool address, and it’s mine!” So, it’s not just for show; it’s like owning a little piece of the online world.
Are we good? Ok, let’s see how we can get one.
The reason why you are planning to even get an ENS is because you have a wallet. And that wallet will have an address, which you want to link it to the ENS domain name.
Now, if you don’t have a web3 wallet, you can start with creating a Metamask wallet. And here is a full guide on how to do that.
Once you installed it, there is where you can find the address of your wallet (refer image below – left). And also, I have an ENS name called sujith.eth that I’ve linked to this wallet address (right).
Ok, let’s see how you can do it for your wallet address too.
Go to app.ens.domains and click on connect (top-right) to connect your Metamask wallet to the website.
Now, search for the name you want to register. This is similar to finding a domain name, and it doesn’t need to have to be your name, while at the same time, check if the one you want is available to register or not. If not, try for a new one.
The goal is to make sure the name is easily remembered. Once you find the name, click on it and choose the years. Basically, how long you want to own it.
Make sure to click on Ethereum and turn on the ‘Use as primary name’ button. Note that you need to pay in crypto, which is $ETH in this case.
Once you hit the begin, the payment process will start. $ETH will be deducted from your wallet.
But…Wait a minute..
You didn’t have any $ETH in your wallet? Well, there are two options. Buy $ETH from an exchange like Binance or Coinbase and transfer that $ETH to your wallet. Or
Choose the credit card payment option instead of choosing Ethereum in the previous step, although I’d recommend paying with $ETH. I mean, you are registering your first ever online decentralized identity and you want to pay via FIAT currency?
Once the registration is done, you can go to profile, choose the more section. You’ll see all the details there, and also, you can extend your ENS ownership there.
That’s it! Done. You now have your ENS name setup and linked to your wallet address.