Big whales buy ENS domain names, "Web3 business cards" and turn them into business

On July 4, the "000.eth" ENS domain name was sold for 300 ETH, setting the second highest ENS domain name transaction price record in history.

Before this transaction, the ENS domain name market had been turbulent for several days. On July 3, the transaction volume of ENS domain names exceeded 3.26 million US dollars, setting a record high transaction volume in nearly a month and topping the NFT market transaction volume ranking.

Judging from the transaction records, the domain names with 3 to 5 digits are the most popular in the market recently. Some 3-digit domain names are sold for more than 30 ETH, while 5-digit domain names are sold for around 0.045 ETH.

Some analysts believe that the explosion of ENS domain names when the crypto asset market is quiet may be related to the low gas fee of the Ethereum network. According to OKEx data on July 4, the current gas fee price is 13Gwei, which is lower than 94.52% of the time in history, making the cost of domain name creation and transaction lower.

What is noteworthy is that in this wave of ENS transactions, many whales created and bought ENS domain names in batches, and attached website links to the domain names they used for personal use, starting a domain name sales business. As a "Web3 business card" that can replace blockchain addresses, the ENS domain name market has become a cost-effective tool in the bear market.

ENS domain name tops NFT transaction volume ranking

In the cold winter of the crypto asset market, the NFT market is also quite depressed, with the daily NFT transaction volume falling from the peak of US$3.26 billion to around US$150 million. In the cold market environment, ENS domain names have emerged from the "independent market", with a recent surge in transaction volume and frequent large purchase orders.

On the morning of July 4, the domain name "000.eth" was sold for 300 ETH, ranking second in the ENS transaction price denominated in ETH. The ENS domain name with the highest transaction volume in history is "paradigm.eth", which was sold for 420 ETH. The domain name corresponds to Paradigm, a well-known crypto investment fund.

ENS stands for Ethereum Name Service, which is a domain name management system on Ethereum. The project was incubated by the Ethereum Foundation in 2017. Holders can use ENS domain names ending with ".eth" to bind various blockchain addresses to receive crypto asset payments.

Since ENS domain names are non-homogeneous, each domain name can be considered an NFT. Just before the "000.eth" domain name was sold at a high price, the ENS domain name had been hotly speculated for several days.

According to NFTGO data, ENS domain name transaction volume continued to increase after entering July. On July 3, the transaction volume of ENS domain names exceeded 3.26 million US dollars, setting a record high in the past month. It also successfully topped the NFT market transaction volume ranking, surpassing a number of blue-chip NFT projects such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks. The overall market value of ENS domain names has climbed to 61.56 million US dollars, up 8.7% from the low point in the past month.

ENS domain name transaction volume surged on July 3

Judging from the transaction records, most of the ENS domain names sold recently are 3- to 5-digit digital domain names. Since the minimum length of an ENS domain name is 3 characters, the price of a 3-digit domain name is relatively high. After "000.eth", "218.eth" was sold at a high price of 39ETH, "933.eth" was sold at a price of 35ETH, and "635.ETH" was sold at a price of 30ETH.

In contrast, the price of 5-digit domain names is much cheaper and the transaction volume is higher. NFTGO shows that recently, 5-digit domain names including "77451.eth" and "32840.eth" have been sold one after another, with an average price of around 0.045 ETH, or about $47.25.

Prior to this, the peak of ENS domain name transactions occurred in May this year, when a series of high-priced digital domain name transactions triggered a wave of "digital wars". Most of the popular ENS domain names were 3- or 4-digit domain names, such as "00X.eth", "X00.eth", and domain names with features such as consecutive numbers. On May 2, the single-day transaction volume of ENS domain names reached an all-time high of US$8.668 million.

In general, ENS traders prefer digital domain names, which is probably because Arabic numerals are universally used around the world and there is no language barrier. When used as a "payment code" for crypto assets, digital domain names are also easier to remember and identify.

Some analysts believe that the reason why ENS domain names are experiencing another trading boom at this time is related to the reduction of Ethereum network gas fees. According to OKEx data on July 4, the gas fee price was 13Gwei, which is lower than 94.52% of the time in history. Since both creating and trading ENS domain names consume gas fees, operating at a time when gas fees are lower will significantly reduce the creation cost.

Giant whales buy Web3 domain names to open "mall"

Since ENS domain names support DIY registration and creation, users' blockchain addresses can be simplified. As the concept of Web3 becomes more and more popular, it is also regarded as a personal business card in the Web3 era.

Previously, many well-known figures have used their ENS names as Twitter usernames, such as Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin (vitalik.eth), basketball star O'Neal (shaq.eth), etc. Some brands are also making plans here. Budweiser once acquired the ENS domain name Beer.eth for 30ETH, and Puma changed its Twitter account name to Puma.eth.

According to the ENS official website, there are currently 1.12 million ENS domain names generated, and about 406,000 users hold ENS domain names. NFTGO data shows that among all ENS users, 70.25% of them hold 1 domain name, 3.88% of them hold 11-100 domain names, and 0.33% of them hold more than 100 domain names.

In this wave of ENS domain name transactions, we can also find that some big whales are registering and purchasing domain names in large quantities, and some have even opened domain name "mall".

According to NFTGO data statistics, the "chiefexecutiveofficer.eth" account has recently purchased a large number of ENS domain names, including "chickenpox.eth", "cortuzone.eth", etc. Currently, the account holds as many as 1,948 domain names, making it one of the top ten holders of ENS domain names.

Another major ENS domain name holder, "baoyou.eth", holds 2,702 ENS domain names, most of which are Chinese pinyin domain names, such as "zhacai.eth" and "hanfeizi.eth".

It is worth noting that the whale with the account name "goodnames.eth" currently holds a total of 1,101 ENS domain names. He added a personal Twitter link to his domain name address. After clicking on it, it can be seen that he has opened a domain name mall called "GoodNames". The account profile shows that "GoodNames" provides high-quality domain names on Ethereum, "Welcome to buy your future name."

"goodnames.eth" holders have opened an ENS domain mall

In fact, at the beginning of the birth of Web2 domain names, many well-known entrepreneurs made their first pot of gold by reselling domain names. For example, Yao Jinbo, the founder of 58.com, once founded the domain name trading website "Easy Domain" and made his fortune by selling domain names.

In the view of industry insiders, compared with traditional website domain names, ENS domain names also have multiple practical uses. In addition to serving as blockchain addresses, they also serve as NFTs with identity identifiers, which can store personal data and other information, equivalent to a digital identity card on the chain. Some people have also formed communities around ENS domain names, a typical example being the "10k Club", where members all hold four-letter and three-letter domain names, and many of them also hold blue-chip NFTs. They gather together using ENS as a medium to conduct Web3 investment research, etc.

As more and more blockchain users bind ENS domain names, the Web3 domain name business is booming.

It should be noted that as the ENS domain name market expands, it is inevitable that a lot of hype will arise. Hoarding and investment need to be cautious, because creating a domain name and long-term holding require renewal fees. The cheapest ".eth" domain name with more than 5 characters requires payment of $5 worth of ETH per year, and a 4-character ".eth" domain name requires payment of $160 worth of ETH per year. The 3-character ".eth" domain name is even more expensive, requiring payment of $640 worth of ETH per year.

For ordinary users, a better way is to create a domain name by themselves during a period when the gas fee is low, so as to obtain a "blockchain business card" at a lower cost.