In the Web3 world, you can be as anonymous as you want to. When you interact with sites and services, you are identified by your wallet address. That's it. Nobody will know anything else about you, unless you want them to.
When you created your Ethereum wallet, you would have received a 42 character string. You need to know this string of characters when asked to manually enter your wallet address.
"Manually!?" Yes, it happens. Often.
Remembering this string is impossible, right? Well, yes. Unless you are gifted in such things. I'm not. I'm betting you aren't either. So, what can we do?
Enter ENS - Ethereum Name Service.
ENS allows you to turn 0x7B3932D72C7B019D7c3F523db6b2EdF22A76ca6e into andrewzav.eth - your Web3 username.
Which one are you likely to remember? Naturally.
Note: You can also use ENS with DNS domains that you already own (.com, .org etc) but that's not what we're here for.
So, what are the benefits of ENS in the web3 world? There’s a few obvious ones:
simplified transactions, as you only need to remember a friendly name rather than the whole wallet address;
Increased security, as there’s less chance you’re going to get a name wrong vs a complex wallet address;
Reduced errors, making it easier to send funds to the correct wallet by name;
Improved user experience. If you listen to any of the negatives around web3, many relate to the complexities of the user experience not being what they are used to (in Web2.0). Improving this experience will aid in adoption.
“Ok, I’m sold! How do I get one of these easy-to-remember names?”
Walk this way…
Visit the official ENS website, and click on Go to App
After this, you follow the bouncing ball to complete the transaction, and voila! You can now be web3web3web3web3.eth rather than 0x734dsfe355tdkfjd...etc...
If you do a bit of googling, there are some interesting projects underway and unique ideas about the role ENS names can play.
Until next time.
Cast of the week
Want to dive in further?
ENS Domains is the where you can register and buy a "friendly" name for your wallet address. This also becomes your identity in Web3
A beginners guide to ENS and DNS - good article on Medium
