ENS Names Launch on Console.xyz

We’re excited to announce that Ethereum Names Service (or ENS) domains are now available for use on Console. For the first time, every one of the 2.5 million owners of .eth domain names can now securely chat with other .eth names.

The ENS community will benefit from Console’s mission of creating the world’s greatest community chat app. And as we build Console, ENS users will unlock all the wonderful benefits of decentralized, open source, and private chat.

ENS is a global passport for the Internet

ENS domain names create excitement in the community because they are the first step in creating a truly global passport for the Internet.

A global internet passport means you can have one persistent identity across all the apps you use. Why is that important? Today you may have one username on Instagram, one name on TikTok, and another for your Gmail. Multiple usernames can lead to confusion, distrust, phishing, scams, and spam.

Let’s look at a real-world Web2 vs. Web3 example: Jimmy Fallon’s Venmo may be @jfallon, while his email is jimmyfallon@gmail.com and he’s @jimmyfallon on Twitter. But now with his announcement that he owns fallon.eth he can use one name across ALL of his properties.

We believe 2023 will be the year of owning your online identity. And we support ENS names as they are more broadly adopted across both Web2 and Web3 apps.

Global identity is the future

The promise of a global passport for the Internet isn’t new.

Microsoft Passport (2008), Facebook Connect (2008), OpenID (2007), and many more have all vied to become the one password to rule them all. The only problem is — who really wants Bill Gates, Zuck or any single company to own all the secret passwords for the Internet?

Luckily, a new technology inspired by the Bitcoin blockchain came along around 2016-ish, often referred to as decentralized identity. Decentralized identity is a way of securing your identity on the blockchain, rather than in a centralized database, and then using a web wallet to prove it's you.

ENS is now the most popular decentralized identity in the world. Here’s how it works:

1. ENS issues .eth names and securely stores them on the Ethereum blockchain.
2. As a user you can purchase a ETH name for about $5/year.
3. Once you own your .eth name you can use it to access websites and apps. Think of ENS as the last username you’ll ever have to own.

Once your .eth identity is stored on the Ethereum blockchain, how do you access it? Crypto. No, not cryptocurrency, but cryptography!

Cryptography is the exchanging and decoding of secrets. By combining the blockchain (which stores your identity) with a cryptographic secret you own (i.e. a web wallet like MetaMask), you can prove that YOU own the identity stored on the blockchain. In other words, you can prove that you are who you say you are.Turns out your mom was right; you are a special snowflake. If you own an .eth name, you’re the only one among 8 billion people who can access it. It would take the world’s best hacker centuries, possibly millennia, before they could hack it. And that’s just one reason why decentralized identities are so powerful.  

While Facebook Connect and OpenlD still live on in some fashion, they never really hit massive mainstream adoption. ENS names are a major leap in innovation, and they are leading the path toward humans having secure global identities.

How to buy an ENS name

If you’d like to buy your .eth (ENS) name, search for ENS names at app.ens.domains or visit the market of ENS names on OpenSea. Once you find an ENS name, you can purchase the ENS name in three steps:

1. Download and install the MetaMask browser extension.
2. Send some Ethereum (ETH) to your MetaMask wallet.
3. Search for your ENS name and use your MetaMask wallet to purchase your name with Ethereum (ETH). Most ENS names are about $5/per year.

If you get stuck with any of the above steps reach out to us @consoledao on twitter and I’d be happy to help.

Next Steps

With Console’s integration with ENS names, you can use your global internet passport to chat with other .eth names.

We think this is a really exciting innovation that's going to unlock lots of potential for NFT communities, artists, musicians, and the broader web.

Visit Console.xyz to join us today.