In a significant development for Ethereum’s naming system, ENS Labs announced on Tuesday that it has selected Linea’s zero-knowledge rollup technology to power its upcoming layer-2 network, Namechain. This partnership between the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Consensys, the company behind Linea, aims to bring faster and cheaper transactions to the rapidly growing ENS ecosystem.
The Need for Speed: Why ENS Chose Linea
ENS, often described as the “phone book of Web3,” enables users to associate human-readable names like “parishilton.eth” with their Ethereum wallet addresses. However, as the demand for ENS names has surged, the need for a scalable solution became apparent. Enter Linea, a zero-knowledge rollup launched by Consensys in July 2023.
According to Nick Johnson, the founder and lead developer of ENS, the decision to build on Linea came down to two key factors: alignment of values and the need for fast transaction finality. Zero-knowledge rollups like Linea use advanced cryptography to secure transactions and provide near-instant finality, a critical requirement for a naming service.
“For a naming service like ENS, we need fast finality. You want to be able to update your ENS name and have the chain reflect it in the smallest interval possible. To do that and have it remain decentralized and secure, we need fast finality, and optimistic rollups can’t deliver that.”
– Nick Johnson, Founder of ENS
Linea’s Growing Ecosystem and Future Plans
Linea has quickly become a top contender in the layer-2 scaling space, with over $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) across its ecosystem. ENS joins a growing list of projects building on Linea, including the Status blockchain wallet application.
Nicolas Liochon, the founder of Linea, emphasized the importance of having multiple organizations contribute to the Linea protocol to ensure decentralization and security. He expressed enthusiasm for collaborating with the Namechain team to strengthen the layer-2 network.
“We really want to have multiple organizations contributing to Linea, and we work on having more organizations too, as a way to make [the network] more secure. So really, we want to have multiple teams so there’s no centralization point.”
– Nicolas Liochon, Founder of Linea
While both Johnson and Liochon confirmed that there are no concrete plans yet for integrating the upcoming Linea token into the Namechain ecosystem, the possibility remains open for future exploration as the partnership develops.
The Future of ENS and Web3 Identity
The launch of Namechain on Linea marks a significant milestone for ENS and the broader Web3 identity landscape. By enabling faster updates and more affordable transactions, ENS is positioning itself to become the go-to naming service for the decentralized web.
As more projects flock to layer-2 solutions to overcome Ethereum’s scalability challenges, ENS’s move to Linea could set a precedent for other identity and naming services. The partnership between ENS and Consensys showcases the collaborative spirit within the Ethereum community, as projects work together to build a more efficient and user-friendly Web3 ecosystem.
With Namechain powered by Linea, ENS is poised to onboard the next wave of users into the world of decentralized identity. As the “phone book of Web3” becomes more accessible and cost-effective, it could play a pivotal role in driving mainstream adoption of Ethereum and other blockchain technologies.
Conclusion
ENS Labs’ decision to build Namechain on Linea’s zero-knowledge rollup technology is a testament to the growing importance of layer-2 scaling solutions in the Ethereum ecosystem. By partnering with Consensys, ENS is not only accelerating its own growth but also contributing to the development of a more robust and decentralized Web3 infrastructure.
As Namechain prepares to launch on Linea, the crypto community eagerly awaits the impact this partnership will have on the future of decentralized identity and the wider adoption of Ethereum-based services. With faster, cheaper transactions and a commitment to decentralization, ENS and Linea are paving the way for a more accessible and user-friendly Web3 experience.
