Ethereum Name Service

ENS uses a system of hierarchical, dot-separated domain names, where domain owners have full control over their subdomains. At its core, ENS is built on two smart contracts - the ENS registry and the resolver contract. The registry records information about registered ENS domains, including the owner, resolver, and caching time. The resolver contract is responsible for translating between machine-readable addresses and human-readable domain names.

ENS is unique as it is the first service to bring the concept of a domain name system to the decentralized web3 ecosystem. Unlike traditional DNS, ENS is built on a decentralized blockchain, making it more censorship-resistant and secure, with no single point of failure. Additionally, ENS simplifies the user experience by allowing users to receive crypto assets or NFTs to easy-to-remember domain names, rather than long alphanumeric wallet addresses.

ENS inherits the security of the Ethereum blockchain, which is secured by a proof-of-work consensus mechanism that requires miners to mine new Ether. A decentralized network of thousands of nodes validates transactions and secures the Ethereum network, ensuring that ENS does not have a single point of failure and cannot be easily hacked.