ENS DAO vote on ENSv2 activation

The ENS DAO is set to vote on a proposal to activate ENSv2, the next-generation infrastructure of Ethereum Name Service, without forcing existing .eth holders to migrate. The vote is expected in October 2026, but no exact vote or launch date has been confirmed. The proposal involves ETH-based domain infrastructure, and the timing remains tentative.

What is happening

An Oct. 11 proposal would let current .eth domain holders keep their names indefinitely, as long as they keep renewing them, while offering a permanent migration option for those who want upgraded features. Once activated, ENSv2 would handle all new .eth registrations, replacing the registration infrastructure introduced in 2017. The proposal still needs approval from the ENS DAO, whose Oct. 12 governance bulletin listed the vote as pending.

Holders who migrate would permanently hand management of their domains to the new system. Their original ENSv1 token would move into a smart contract called the Graveyard, which cannot return or transfer tokens. Those who stay on ENSv1 would keep access to their names and renew them through a dedicated contract that also preserves their ENSv2 reservations.

The upgrade would introduce a hierarchical structure in which individual domains can maintain separate registries for subdomains, giving businesses and decentralized applications more flexible permission delegation. Annual fees for names with five or more characters would rise 60% to $8 from $5, while three- and four-character names would keep current prices. Longer registrations would receive discounts of roughly 44% for six or more years. Payments would be made in stablecoins such as USDC and DAI instead of ETH. For migrated names, the grace period would shrink from 90 to 28 days, offset by a 62-day extension of expiry dates.

Why it matters

For .eth holders, the proposal presents a choice between staying on the existing system and migrating irreversibly for new capabilities. The changes to pricing, payment currency and grace periods could affect renewal planning and the cost of holding names, particularly for owners with large portfolios.

For the wider ecosystem, wallets and applications that integrate ENS would need to update their resolution infrastructure to support the new system. Several points remain unresolved: the timing of the final steps, and whether existing holders can renew during the temporary suspension of registrations, which is expected to last several hours. The proposal contains conflicting provisions on this question. Traders and holders may want to follow the governance discussion for clarification.

Key details

• Date: October 2026 (month precision; exact vote and launch dates not announced)
• Project: Ethereum Name Service
• Coins: ETH
• Category: Governance Vote
• Status: Tentative
• Source: CryptoSlate (cryptoslate.com)