ENS DAO Newsletter #59

Newsletter Roundup (tl;dr):

• ENS Labs Update: ENS Web Update, Cornell Blockchain Conference

• Community Updates: ETH Limo Q1 Update, Steward Lecture @ Columbia Biz

• Meta-Governance: Voting Period Results, Addressing Attack Vectors

• Ecosystem: Q1 Grants Summary, ENS Identity Round

• Public Goods: Giveth Builders Round Update

Welcome to the ENS DAO Newsletter:

•  New editions — published bi-weekly (Tuesday)

•  Previous editions are archived on the ENS DAO Archive.

•  New proposals are broadcasted to Telegram.

•  ENS DAO Dashboard is now available for public review.

•  Submit feedback — tell us what to feature!

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Refer to ENS DAO Calendar for ENS DAO working group calls and other events.

• Calendar: Public Access / Access with Gmail

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The Term 5 Dashboard, managed by the Meta-Governance Working Group, provides updated summaries of DAO governance and initiatives. Regularly check it for the latest developments.

Note: A minimum of 100k $ENS is required to submit executable proposals. Once a proposal gains momentum, the stewards will prioritize it for a vote during the designated voting window. See our Governance Docs for more information. To view the real-time distribution of voting power among delegates, visit votingpower.xyz.

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@Avsa outlined a Governance Distribution Program in an effort to increase the $ENS voting supply. It details a strategy for distributing ENS tokens to DAO members — review the temp-check here. — 03.19.24 

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Avsa.eth proposed enabling a CANCEL function that would assign the role of canceller to a multisig controlled by a smart contract created by Nick.eth. This function allows a select council of trusted DAO participants to exercise a large number of ‘no’ votes, enabling them to veto proposals that risk the integrity of the ENS DAO — review the temp-check here. — 04.12.24 

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In March 2024, the ENS Protocol registered 21k new .eth domains, bringing the total to 2.1 million. The protocol generated revenue of $1.3 million during this period, all of which was allocated to the ENS DAO. The number of Ethereum account holders with at least one ENS name increased by 18.3k, totaling 844k. There were 16.7k primary ENS names set, making the overall count 788k. Additionally, 3.9k new avatar records were created, reaching a cumulative total of 159k.

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ENS announced several significant improvements aimed at enhancing the functionality and user experience of their platform. These updates include everything from a redesigned website to advanced security measures, reflecting ENS’s commitment to providing robust and user-friendly web3 infrastructure.

Here’s a summary of the key highlights from the update:

1. New Documentation Site: A revamped documentation site with added event videos.

2. Gasless DNSSEC Support: Enhanced support for importing DNS names without gas fees, with a streamlined offchain process.

3. Website Redesign: Updates to the ENS domain website, improving visual elements like fonts and icons.

4. Search Function Improvements: Case-insensitive search capabilities and removal of risky autocomplete features.

5. Testing Infrastructure: Transition from Cypress to Playwright for better efficiency in end-to-end testing.

6. Web3 Starter Kit: Introduction of a Web3 starter kit using Next.js for easier project setups.

7. Security and Quality of Life Enhancements: Multiple updates to improve user experience and security across the platform.

For more information, you can view the full update here. — 04.17.24

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Luc.eth, Developer Relations at ENS Labs, announced the release of new documentation for Enstate, an innovative self-hostable ENS API. Enstate is engineered to provide resolution services and more at remarkable speeds for the ENS ecosystem. These documents aim to assist developers in integrating and utilizing the API for various applications, facilitating enhanced interaction with the Ethereum Name Service.

Read the documentation here. — 04.17.24 

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The ENS Labs support documentation was recently updated to provide guidance on using a .eth name in Farcaster, a “sufficiently decentralized” onchain social app. The documentation includes prerequisites and a step-by-step guide written by Dylan Meador (bdl.eth). It outlines a process to add your ENS name to your Farcaster profile, highlighting four key steps designed to ensure simplicity and clarity.

Read the guide here. — 04.18.24 

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Cornell Blockchain, a student organization of Cornell University, is hosting a panel on Web3 growth at the Cornell Blockchain Conference slated for April 26, 2024. The panel features several industry professionals including Marta Cura from ENS Labs. They will share insights on what it takes from a business development and marketing perspective to build ventures for billions. Participants can claim their tickets here. — 04.19.24 

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Talent Protocol and ENS are hosting a Builders Brunch on Friday, May 3rd, at PoolsideCo. The event is designed for networking and enjoying great food. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP for this gathering where developers and enthusiasts can connect. — 04.22.24 

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• ENS Radio: Fluidkey and Onchain Privacy — 04.10.24

• ENS Radio: Zondax — 04.17.24 

• Galaxy: Crypto UX Promises and Pitfalls with Nick Johnson — 04.17.24 

• OSPN: How NFTs allow for True Ownership with Evan Moyer — 04.19.24 

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Participate in improving the ENS Ecosystem! Provide feedback on Canny, where members of ENS Labs and Working Group stewards will work to address your submissions. The ENS community can submit feedback in three main categories: Feature Requests, Integrations, and Bug Reports. You can also participate by upvoting or commenting on existing submissions. We’re listening to the community, send your feedback on Canny now.

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Uniswap Labs recently announced that over 400,000 uni.eth usernames have been claimed. Users can claim their uni.eth subname for free on the Uniswap Mobile app. — 04.09.24

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Onthis.xyz launched a dedicated search page for shortcuts designed to make it easier for users to find no-code executable on-chain actions. Many of these shortcuts are named via ENS. — 04.11.24 

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Eth.limo has introduced several updates, focusing on a redesigned architecture, support for multiple RPC providers, and a more efficient reverse proxy structure. The updated service includes new features like full end-to-end IPv6 and IPFS CDN with _rewrites file support. Other improvements cover improved caching, easier configuration with dynamic reloads, and custom domain routing logic.

Read the update in full here. — 04.12.24 

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Hidayath.eth from WebHash announced the introduction of the Farcaster Block. This new feature allows ENS names to not only function as addresses but also serves as a gateway to showcase a Farcaster feed directly into a dWebsite. — 04.12.24 

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The article by Dragonite.eth explores the Pokémon ENS collection, which has become popular within the Web3 community. The piece discusses the collection’s origins, which began with minting Pokémon-themed names on the Ethereum blockchain, and highlights its growing momentum in 2023. It touches on the community infrastructure, such as Discord and Twitter, and notes some of the significant sales and collaborative projects. The article provides an overview of the community-driven efforts and connections with notable Web3 personalities. — 04.14.24 

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The Dapp List, a platform for Web3 projects, recently awarded XP to everyone who shared their ENS Name in a recent post. Users can claim their XP drop by heading to the website, connecting their wallet, and clicking on the XP Drop. This is a concerted effort by the Dapp List team to offer points to its core user base. — 04.15.24 

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Kraken, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange,  introduced a wallet that includes support for ENS names. This integration allows users to utilize their ENS domains within Kraken’s platform, enhancing the user experience by streamlining transactions with easily recognizable blockchain domain names. — 04.17.24 

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Brian is a tool that facilitates various functions to administer ENS names, including registration, renewal, availability checks, expiration tracking, and setting primary names for ENS domains. It leverages a non-custodial AI assistant capable of executing multiple onchain transactions efficiently. Designed to support batch operations, the tool optimizes handling multiple ENS domains simultaneously, enhancing the user experience within the ENS community. — 04.17.24 

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Mely.eth posted an illustration of the newly formed “Fellowship of ENS,” a group pledged to safeguard ENS DAO against governance attacks. The image depicts a few characters, each representing prominent members of the ENS community who have taken the pledge to protect the DAO. These individuals are given a delegate veto mechanism through which they can exercise their power to cast decisive “no” votes against proposals that might jeopardize the integrity of the ENS DAO. This move ensures a more secure and protected governance structure, with a select group of trusted DAO participants actively committed to upholding the ENS constitution and defending against any harmful actions or governance attacks. — 04.17.24 

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Mailchain, a provider of Web3 email services, emphasizes the importance of incorporating Web3 identities into growth strategies. In the article, they underscore the potential of Web3 identities to vastly enhance the flexibility, creativity, and human element of our digital interactions. Mailchain highlights that an ENS domain is more than just a digital address—it’s a form of personal expression.

Read the article here. — 04.18.24 

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Usesrs on Console, an onchain community platform, can now utilize their ENS domains as usernames within Console Live Audio Rooms. — 04.18.24 

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Slobo.eth, an ENS DAO Ecosystem Steward, recently gave a guest lecture at Columbia University’s business school. He provided an onchain experience for over 50 students, allowing them to mint their own Layer 2 ENS subnames using Namestone. The students could create an onchain name, update text records, and trade names on Opensea. Gas fees were near zero, thanks to storage on Arbitrum. This initiative served as an engaging introduction to ENS technology and its potential applications, giving students a hands-on experience with blockchain concepts. — 04.18.24 

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Nick.eth shared an ENS advertising jingle developed using Suno AI. Listen to it here. — 04.19.24 

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Liubenben.eth, an ENS Delegate, recently provided a Mandarin Chinese translation of ENS Labs’ weekly ecosystem updates. Read the translation here. — 04.20.24 

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Address.Vision, created by portdev.eth, allows users to view Ethereum addresses or ENS names and their details in a streamlined interface. The platform provides insights into token balances, NFTs, and other Ethereum-related data across different chains like Base, Ethereum, Polygon, and Optimism. The site shows detailed breakdowns of balances, token types, and QR codes for easy sharing, showcasing a modern and visually appealing interface. The site also features custom address unfurls, allowing for convenient tracking and visualization of Ethereum addresses. — 04.20.24 

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Raffy.eth has developed CCIPRewriter.sol, which allows users to customize ENS names and adjust off-chain gateways. The “ccipr.eth” ENS suffix can be added to any ENS name to replace its off-chain gateway, offering benefits for privacy and debugging. To view a demonstration of the CCIPRewriter tool, including its key components like the name input field, the replacement endpoint, and the base name, follow this link. — 04.21.24

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Premm.eth has introduced a new blog discussing the concept of an AI URI, a method to create a uniform resource identifier for AI-generated content. The concept can be applied to various contexts, such as embedding in emails or text messages, linking AI-generated content on ENS, or as part of an existing standard like NFTs. This approach can offer a semantic link between AI prompts and URLs, allowing the AI to interpret and render the intended content. The blog explores the potential use cases of AI URIs in the context of evolving technologies and data representation. — 04.22.24 

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• Meta-Governance – @5pence.eth

• ENS Ecosystem – @slobo.eth

• Public Goods – @vegayp

• DAO Secretary - @limes

The responsibilities of the Lead Stewards & Secretary are set out in Rule 9.8 and Rule 9.9 of the Working Group Rules.

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Working Group	Time	Schedule	Location
Meta-Governance	1pm UTC	Tuesday	Google Meet
Ecosystem	4pm UTC	Thursday	Google Meet
Public Goods	5pm UTC	Thursday	Google Meet

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The Meta-Governance Working Group provides governance oversight and support for working group operations through DAO tooling and governance initiatives.

Meeting Minutes:

• Minutes for Weekly Meta-Governance Meeting — April 9th

• Minutes for Weekly Meta-Governance Meeting — April 16th

Meeting Info:

• Tuesdays · 1:00 – 1:45pm UTC

• Meeting link

Term 5 Meta-Governance Stewards:

• 5pence.eth

• avsa.eth

• estmcmxci.eth

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The first proposal, [EP 5.5], related to the ENS Public Goods Working Group Term 5 for Q1/Q2, sought funding in accordance with the Working Group Rules. It resulted in the successful execution of the proposal, with the transfer of 450.3k USDC from the designated wallet to the Public Goods working group multi sig.

The second proposal, [EP 5.6], aimed to enable self-funding for the Endowment to ensure the continuation of operations. This included measures for financing the Endowment as well as reimbursement to the Meta-Governance Working Group for interim funding provided during January and February. The outcome was the successful execution of the proposal, with the transaction processed through the specified wallet.

For more details, visit the Voting Period Bulletin.

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Corina Pascu from Dhive has presented their initiative as a Small Grants applicant and is seeking support. Dhive is positioned as a data hub, aiming to create a single, accessible location for both onchain and offchain data. They are planning to launch their service in June. Additionally, Dhive intends to establish a trusted credentials environment and implement a notification system to facilitate direct communication from the DAO to users. More about their project can be found on their website at dhive.io.

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Nick.eth introduced a smart contract ‘delegate’ labeled veto.ensdao.eth with 3.8M delegated tokens. This measure is a part of a safeguarding strategy to minimize governance attack vectors, which have been recognized as a significant threat to DAOs.

A key measure implemented is a contract that allows a select group of trusted DAO participants to veto proposals that may pose a risk to the DAO. This veto power is backed by a substantial delegation of ENS tokens from Labs to ensure it has enough weight to be effective. However, this veto can only be exercised by individuals granted special permission and who have agreed to a pledge that they will only use it to prevent governance attacks or actions that would breach the ENS constitution.

Looking forward, there is a proposal to establish a CANCEL role within the DAO, controlled by a multisig, to provide a balance of power and ensure any use of such a decisive action would be seriously considered and used only to safeguard the DAO.

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@karpatkey, in collaboration with @Steakhouse, has provided the latest insights into the DAO’s endowment, which is currently valued at $91.5 million.

Endowment Overview:

• Portfolio Composition:

  • Ether: 75.7%

  • Stablecoins: 24.3%

• Capital Utilization: 99.9%

• Current APR: 5.13%

• Operational Moves:

  • Claimed rewards and converted to ETH

• General Comments:

  • Executed endowment self-funding

  • Ethereum for March fees is now available

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The March Endowment report is now available on Karpatkey’s Website. This report provides a detailed overview of the endowment’s finances and allocations. A high-level overview is made available below for reader’s convenience:

Balance Overview:

• Total funds in the endowment: $104,202,838

• Capital utilization: 99.8%

• Monthly DeFi results: $443,017

• Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 5.27%

Review the full report prepared by prepared by Karpatkey here.

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Financial Overview:

• Revenue > Cash Burn, Runway: 211 months

• Revenues: $3.2M (up from $2.4M last month, and $3.1M last year)

• Cash inflow: $1.3M (down from $1.5M last month, and from $1.7M last year), exceeding cash burn by 1.97 times

• Normalized Cash Burn: $0.7M, with Reserves now at $140M (ETH: $108M, USDC: $32M)

• Total Endowment: $95.8M, with P&L of $6.2M, primarily from ETH mark-to-market gains

Review the full report prepared by @Steakhouse here.

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The Ecosystem Working Group strengthens the ENS Protocol by facilitating developer relations, identifying and funding high-potential projects that enhance ENS, and bolstering support for ENS-aligned initiatives overall.

Meeting Minutes:

• Minutes for Weekly Ecosystem Meeting — April 11th

• Minutes for Weekly Ecosystem Meeting — April 18th

Meeting Info:

• Thursdays · 4:00 – 5:00pm UTC

• Meeting link

Term 5 Ecosystem Stewards:

• Slobo.eth

• Limes.eth

• 184.eth

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ENS Ecosystem grants support the development and improvement of the ENS protocol and ecosystem, with a focus on technical projects. These grants are awarded retroactively based on demonstrated value and are intended to foster innovation within the ENS community. The following is a summary of projects that have been awarded Ecosystem Grants in Q1:

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ENS is set to sponsor the opening night at FarCon from May 2-5 in Venice Beach, California. There has been an extension for ticket availability provided by Warpcast. Additionally, ENS will be present at EthCCfrom July 8-11 in Brussels, Belgium.

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ENS Labs updates its documentation weekly, with input from both internal and external contributors. Feedback is encouraged via the dedicated Telegram channel. Continuous front-end updates are posted on the ENS Blog, including the April 2024 update. Developers can use the enstate.rs API to set up ENS services or learn more about the platform.

The Graph is transitioning to a decentralized network, set for completion by mid-June. ENS Labs is preparing for this, with no immediate action required. Additionally, ENS Labs is conducting long-term research into Layer 2 solutions for better scalability and collaborating with teams integrating ENS into their projects.

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Subname Frame on Warpcast

@Cap.eth introduced a novel Farcaster frame through Warpcast, enabling users to mint a free ENS Subname from GotFramed.eth. This frame is gasless and fully resolvable, incorporating the user’s address record, with more ENS-themed enhancements planned for release.

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ENS Round-up Series

@limes.eth introduced an ENS Round-up series which aims to provide updates in a visual format for those who prefer video content. The initiative is set to deliver new content bi-weekly.

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Dart Implementation

Peter Anyaogu has developed a Dart implementation of ENSIP-15, the ENS Name Normalization Standard, and the normalization library is now accessible as a Dart package.

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Browser Extenstions

@maintainer.eth showcased a dashboard/Chrome Extension for accessing various ENS, Web3, Tax, and more information and applications, sparking a conversation about enhancing the accessibility of this extension/dashboard.

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AI Agents

@prem published a blog post titled “Introducing ai:” on Medium, discussing the integration of AI prompts into browsers.

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EVM Chains

Griff Green led a discussion about EIP155 Namespace for EVM Chains and addressed the use of CAIP-10 for registering chain-specific addresses within ENS. The goal is to start registering EOAs as EOAs rather than tied to a specific chain. There’s an initiative to merge CAIP69 into CAIP10 to facilitate the specification of EOA wallets. Further context is provided by comparing ERC-4337 and EIP-3074, highlighting the importance of understanding the nuances between different EIPs and ERCs as they relate to ENS and blockchain interoperability. The discussions and proposals are documented in ENS improvement proposals and GitHub repositories.

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EP-10 funded Spruce’s community-run OpenID Connect (OIDC) Identity Provider Server. Integrated with Ethereum’s KZG ceremony, the $250,000 budget allocated $75,000 for community rewards, $175,000 for Spruce’s maintenance, and $70,000 for community projects. Part of this funding went to Davis Shaver’s WordPress work with SIWE + ENS names, with the rest designated for partnerships in the GG20 ENS Identity Round. For full details, check the complete review.

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The Gitcoin Round 20 Review Period followed a successful two-week application phase. ENS is providing $100k USDC for matching, with a total of 71 applications submitted before the closure. The donation period is set to begin on April 23, and stewards are tasked with reviewing the applications to ensure they meet the required guidelines. Gitcoin utilizes quadratic funding for its grants program; additional information on quadratic funding can be found at wtfisqf.com.

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The Public Goods Working Group supports the greater Ethereum ecosystem by identfying and funding open-source development.

Meeting Minutes:

• Minutes for Weekly Public Goods Meeting — April 11th

• Minutes for Weekly Public Goods Meeting — April 18th

Meeting Info:

• Thursdays · 5:00 - 5:45pm UTC

• Meeting link

Term 5 Public Goods Stewards:

• Coltron.eth

• Vegayp.eth

• Simona.eth

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The Giveth funding round has concluded, recording 412 donations and supporting 32 eligible projects with a $20,000 matching pool. There were 217 unique donors, contributing a total of $7503. Donations were made across various blockchain chains, and many projects were verified, with minimal concerns of dubious activities. A detailed analysis of the round will be available soon on the Giveth website, and top-donated projects will be invited for further engagement.

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The Small Grants voting period is on hold due to technical issues encountered with the voting interface and token weight calculations. The problem with token value has been resolved, but a front-end fix is still pending. There is a recommendation to halt the voting on the ENS Grants page until the issue is resolved. The consensus is to wait until the front-end issues are addressed to resume voting. The delay has expedited front-end updates for a quicker resolution. The voting round is expected to restart with the submissions that have already been made.

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MetaGo Project, presented by Eugene and Alex, received a $40k grant from MetaGov and DAOStar for research aimed at enhancing grant coordination. They hosted a summit on Web3 grants in Denver and are developing a common DAO standard, collaborating with various organizations like the Ethereum Foundation and Stellar. Current projects include creating a common standard for DAOs, improving grant program success metrics, and supporting grantee communities.

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John Hoopes presented Astral.Global, focusing on the development of dApps that leverage geographic location. Astral Global provides open-source tools and infrastructure to facilitate the creation of such dapps. They offer Spatial Registries, which are onchain geospatial databases allowing the registration of geographic assets like points, lines, and polygons, with open access and upcoming privacy-preserving features. They also provide location Attestations for verifiable location claims of persons or devices, compatible with EAS and Astral’s spatial registries.

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ENS DAO offers several resources for understanding and participating in its ecosystem.

• ENS DAO Basics: Details the ENS DAO, including voting and governance.

• Support Docs: Provides guidance on registration, renewals, and development aspects.

• Governance Docs: Offers additional insights into governance structure.

• ENS Agora: Governance hub for proposal review and voting.

• Give Feedback: Feedback platform where users share input to improve ENS.

• ENS Repository: The ENS Protocol’s main Github Repository.

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Thank you very much for reading! Goodbye. 👋🏼