What is ENS?
ENS (Ethereum Naming Service) is a decentralized web3 identity and username platform. You may have seen many people displaying a .eth name as their Twitter username, these .eth names are ENS domains.
On a basic level, owning an ENS domain allows you to have a simple and human-friendly username that will redirect to your long and complicated wallet address. So, instead of having to remember or constantly copy a string like this:
0x7a3d05c70581bD345fe117c06e45f9669205384f
You can instead just write or send people this:
rainbowwallet.eth
This is somewhat similar to the DNS system of the traditional internet. When you type in âgoogle.comâ, under the surface it actually redirects you to a long and complicated IP address.
What can an ENS domain do?
ENS domains can do a lot more than just be a handy shortcut, they can also act as your âweb3â username and identity profile.
If you own an ENS domain inside your wallet and set it up correctly, your domain name will actually appear on most of the sites that you connect your wallet to. When you login to Uniswap using Rainbow, it actually recognizes your username and displays it.
ENS shows the powerful potential of web3. Instead of having to create individual accounts and profiles with every website (thereby relinquishing your data and control over to a centralized entity), you instead own your profile and identity and it goes around the web with you.
In this guide đ, weâll teach you how to purchase your first ENS domain directly using Rainbow!
Instructions to Register on Rainbow:
Step 1: On your main wallet screen, click on the compass Discover icon
Step 2: Next, click the Register a .eth name button
Step 3: You can now search for an ENS name! Once youâve found one thatâs available, you can click the continue button
- Note that if youâre searching for one thatâs already taken, youâll see an alert letting you know itâs đ Taken
Step 4: Youâll then be brought to an edit profile screen. You can either choose to edit your profile details here (additional instructions available here: https://learn.rainbow.me/ens-profiles) or, skip to start the purchase process
Step 5: Once you proceed forward, youâll be met with the registration details screen. Thereâs a few things here for us to review/explore. One, youâre able to set how long you want to register your name for with a minimum of 1 year. You can also review the estimated costs including:
- Registration Costs
- Estimated Network Fees
- Estimated Total in ETH
- Estimated Total in USD
When ready, you can then click Start Registration
Step 6: Your purchase/transaction will begin and will be pending in the blockchain. This can take some time to move forward to the next step. If youâre interested in speeding up your transaction, you can click đ Speed Up. For additional details, check out our article here: https://learn.rainbow.me/speed-up-a-transaction
Step 7: Once the request is complete, youâll then be brought to a Reserving Your Name screen.
Step 8: After the reservation is complete, youâre then in the home stretch of completing your registration! Itâs time to confirm. On the confirm registration screen, before confirming, you have the additional option of setting your ENS name as your primary name. When ready, you can click Confirm Registration
Step 9: Youâve done it! It may take a few moments for the transaction to complete, but once completed, you can head back to your wallet screen and view your ENS name under collectibles.
Step 10 (Optional): If you changed your mind and are looking to set your name to your wallet, you can expand that ENS name and click set as my ENS name. This step can be done at anytime!
Instructions to Register on ENS Directly:
Step 1: Go to the ENS registration website
Step 2: Type in the name you would like to register in the search bar
Step 3: If the name is still available, tap on it
Step 4: Next, connect your wallet to the ENS website by tapping on the hamburger menu icon in the top right of the navigation
Step 5: Tap the âConnectâ button
Step 6: Select âWalletConnectâ from the list of options
Step 7: Choose âRainbowâ from the list of wallets
Step 8: Confirm you want to open in Rainbow
Step 9: A connection prompt will appear inside the Rainbow app. Check to see if there is a blue checkmark indicating that you are connecting to the official website, then tap the âConnectâ button
Step 10: Go back to the ENS website, review the cost breakdown of the domain, scroll down and tap the âRequest to Registerâ button. Note: if you do not have enough ETH in your wallet to cover the cost of the transactions, youâll need to add more ETH to your wallet
Step 11: Tap âOpen in Rainbowâ again
Step 12: A transaction request will appear in the Rainbow app. Review the transaction details and tap âConfirmâ to authenticate the transaction using your deviceâs biometric or passcode
Step 13: Next, head back to the ENS website and wait a few minutes for the transaction to confirm and for the 1-minute wait period to complete
Step 14: After the 1-minute wait period is over, tap the âRegisterâ button
Step 15: Tap âOpen in Rainbowâ again
Step 16: Lastly, review the final transaction details and tap the âConfirmâ button to authenticate the transaction using your deviceâs biometric or passcode. Once this last transaction finished on the blockchain, you will be the owner of your ENS domain!