Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin praised the decentralized domain name system (ENS) as “very important” in a post on January 3rd, leading many investors to believe that he was endorsing ENS. However, is the situation really that simple? What is Vitalik’s true intention?
Many people thought that Vitalik Buterin’s retweet of ENS’s layer2 data analysis solution was an endorsement of ENS and its grand narrative. However, this is not entirely the case. If we carefully analyze the layer2 integration method provided by ensdomains, we can understand Vitalik’s intention: to further reduce Ethereum’s control over layer2.
Why? Next, I will briefly analyze the reasons:
ENS domain name service defines an interactive logic where users only need to enter a short domain name to automatically connect to the corresponding long address associated with the ENS smart contract, solving the pain points of complex and difficult-to-remember EOA addresses that are not easily recognizable.
It can be said that ENS’s domain name service is aimed at the future expansion of the user base, especially for some mass adoption user groups. Layer2 is the future of Ethereum’s expansion and the absorption of large traffic. If ENS’s domain name resolution solution cannot cover Layer2 and only stays at the Ethereum mainnet level, it will be difficult to imagine its potential.
Based on this background, ENS naturally considers providing a complete set of data resolution solutions for Layer2, allowing users to directly perform domain name resolution and data queries on Layer2, reducing their reliance on centralized gateways of each Layer2.
In short, this solution allows users to use ENS domain names in a permissionless and decentralized manner on various Layer2 networks. So how is it done?
ENS has designed a “layer bridge” with interopeablity and interactive communication capabilities, allowing each Layer2 to retrieve and verify domain name data from the off-chain environment of Ethereum mainnet. Through this bridging mechanism, the domain name data resolution functionality of various Layer2 networks and the mainnet are connected, enabling the secure use of ENS short domain names on Layer2.
The document mentions that EIP3668 will ensure that domain names used on Layer2 chains are correctly verified by the mainnet smart contract, avoiding misuse of domain names. EIP5599 relaxes the restriction that domain name resolution must interact with the ENS smart contract, allowing the resolution task to be delegated to external systems (Rollup contracts), greatly enhancing the concurrent processing capability of domain name resolution.
It is not difficult to see that in order for users to use ENS domain names on Layer2 networks, it is necessary to call and verify the global data on the Ethereum mainnet. This means that to enjoy this service provided by ENS, it is necessary to adopt the legitimate Ethereum Data Availability capability. Layer2 networks that take shortcuts based on OP Stack and place DA on third-party DA platforms like Celestia will not be compatible with ENS.
With this in mind, it is not difficult to understand Vitalik’s intentions. I have analyzed in multiple articles before that Layer2 will definitely have a big outbreak after the London hard fork upgrade. Various types of Layer2 networks will emerge like mushrooms. The modular thinking and various stack component services are breaking the boundaries of the mainnet providing DA and Layer2 providing extension modules.
Because only DA data is on the Ethereum mainnet, Ethereum validators have control over the “security” of Layer2 assets. If validators lose their verification control, Ethereum becomes a “bulletin board” for the results released by Layer2 networks, and the dependency of Layer2 networks on Ethereum will also weaken. To a certain extent, it is unknown whether these Layer2 platforms are willing to be Ethereum’s Layer2. Therefore, Vitalik will try his best to steer the development trajectory of Layer2 towards the orthodox path of Ethereum.
In conclusion, using ENS to establish a set of interactive operational standards for various Layer2 platforms, while consolidating DA control, is a brilliant move.
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