Ethereum's ENS Identity System Set to Launch Own Layer-2 Blockchain

ENS Labs, the company behind the Ethereum Name Service, plans to build its own layer-2 blockchain called Namechain, which will use zero-knowledge rollups and will likely go live around the end of 2025. Chief operating officer Katherine Wu told CoinDesk that the network will leverage an existing zkEVM-compatible chain, with the team in the final stages of choosing which one to use. The plan is part of ENSv2, a re-architecture of the ENS protocol that ENS Labs proposed in May, and Wu said Namechain will be backward compatible with ENSv1 from launch, with users seeing no front-end difference apart from lower gas fees.