300 ETH Domain Sale Renews Interest in ENS, Becomes Most Traded Collection on OpenSea
A recent anonymous purchase of an Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain, “000.eth”, for 300 ETH has led to a surge in new registrations for the decentralized domain name protocol. Powered by smart contracts on Ethereum, the domain names are Web3-friendly, open, and non-profit. Users can register and use them in place of their public keys, making them more readable than the default alphanumeric character string used on the blockchain.
Data from Dune analytics shows that new ENS domain registrations grew from around 12,000 to over 35,000 between 3rd and 4th July.
The spike in demand comes after the $316,862.81 purchase of “000.eth”, making it the second-biggest deal for a domain name. The current record purchase for an ENS domain is 420 ETH, valued at $1.5 million used to buy paradigm.eth in October 2021.
“000.eth” sells for 300 ETH (~$316,862)
Although “000.eth” was purchased anonymously, they were suggestions that venture capital firm Paradigm may be behind it. The sentiment echoed the Paradigm.eth purchase, which the company was also thought to be behind before they debunked the rumors.
Nonetheless, from on-chain data, it is clear that whoever is behind the purchase is a strong crypto enthusiast. Two other ENS domains, “samanatha-000.eth” and “samanatha.eth”, and a few high-end NFTs are stored in the wallet that currently holds “000.eth”. The wallet owner presumably owns a Bored Ape #3553 and a Fidenza #229, both worth approximately 115 ETH and 85 ETH, respectively.
Regarding the domain itself, its previous owner was EtheOS, who received the name in June 2020. Initially, “000.eth” was put up for sale in September 2021 for 100 ETH, valued at $300,000 then. Subsequently, in January of this year and again in March, the user re-listed the name for 500 ETH each time. The offer was up for three months before it eventually sold.
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ENS Domains Surge Amid Crypto Winter
The purchase of the domain seemed to have sparked a frenzy for the ENS domains despite the general fall in crypto prices. There has been a significant increase in newly registered domains, with many users hoping to cash in on the excitement.
The aftermath of the purchase has also ushered in a 3-digit mania with a large number of new addresses with only three digits being created. Additionally, ENS has topped OpenSea in trade volume for the first time over the past 24 hours.
The domain name flipped other digital collectibles like the famous Bored Ape Yacht club and Otherdeed for Otherside. Despite a 29% drop in 24 hours, the digital asset managed to maintain its lead with a volume of 1,040.7 ETH. Although floor prices paled in comparison to its peers, it was compensated by sheer trade volume. Over 437,000 ENS owners adequately made up for that deficiency.
Furthermore, the domains are NFTs and may be bought and traded on well-known sites like OpenSea.The ENS is one of the most extensively used naming standards, statistics show that it has over 1.1 million names, 504 integrations, and more than 400k owners. The names’ unique nature allows some owners to buy a domain even though they never use it. However, they can anticipate its value appreciation in the hopes of greater gains, this process is known as squatting.
As Web3 continues to gain prominence with venture firms investing billions in the space, ENS domains would continue to gain prominence. Already, several prominent names have changed their names to include the .eth extension.
They include Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Celebrities too are not left out, the likes of Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, and Jimmy Fallon have acquired Web3 identities on Ethereum.
Do you think ENS domains would ever become as ubiquitous as .com domains? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
