• In a major leap for Ethereum scaling, ENS Labs and Linea Association join forces to create Namechain.

Zug, Switzerland, December 17th - Today, ENS Labs, the organization behind the open-source blockchain naming protocol, Ethereum Name Service (ENS), and the Linea Association, which powers the growth, development, and governance of Linea’s open-source technology and ecosystem, announced a joint engineering partnership to build Namechain.

Namechain is a custom Layer 2 (L2) solution designed to power the next generation of onchain identity and naming services. This collaboration underscores the pivotal role of Linea’s technology in scaling ENS and advancing Ethereum’s ecosystem. Namechain, the ENS’s L2 agnostic solution, is planned to launch at the end of 2025.

“Since its inception, ENS has always been deeply committed to the open web and permissionless innovation. These values create unique requirements for an L2, both from a technical and values perspective. On a technical level, ENS places unique demands on a blockchain for fast finality. We believe that Linea has a rare combination of the technical talent and vision required to meet our technical goals, while sharing our belief in the importance of public goods and open protocols for the future of the Internet. That combination makes them uniquely suited to build Namechain with us,” said Nick Johnson, Founder and Lead Developer of ENS Labs.

“The launch of the Linea Association represented a pivotal moment for us as we advance our commitment to decentralization and open-source innovation. Partnering with ENS Labs to build Namechain underscores this mission, as it leverages our zkEVM technology to create scalable, secure, and user-friendly solutions for Ethereum’s digital identity ecosystem. Together, we are setting a new standard for decentralization and community-driven development in web3”, said Nicolas Liochon, Co-founder of Linea.

A Pivotal Unlock for ENS Scaling

ENS extends beyond Ethereum addresses, serving as a universal naming service for blockchain addresses, decentralized websites, and bringing DNS onchain. ENS is a cornerstone of web3, simplifying blockchain interactions by replacing complex wallet addresses with human-readable names such as "vitalik.eth."

With over 2.5 million onchain ".eth" names and 20 million offchain .eth names already registered, ENS adoption continues to grow, driven by integrations with mainstream platforms like Google, PayPal, and GoDaddy. However, the high costs and slow transaction speeds of the Ethereum Mainnet have posed barriers to broader adoption.

As ENS has continued to gain mass adoption in web3 and beyond, the need to scale has also come front and center while the team looked towards L2 scaling as a solution. ENS’s unique workload is read-heavy (thousands of reads per write) and requires low-latency state updates, making traditional L2 rollups less suited to its needs. Launching a custom rollup like Namechain will enable ENS to meet its specific performance requirements while improving user experience and cost-effectiveness.

It will offer faster and more cost-effective transactions for Ethereum names and enable users to create a single identity, interoperable across the entire Ethereum ecosystem of Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks.

A Technological Partnership Powered by an Alignment on Core Decentralization Values

The ENS team’s selection of Linea as the technological backbone for Namechain follows an extensive evaluation of the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem, and builds upon an already successful history of cooperation between Linea and ENS–including Linea's implementation of CCIP-Read (ERC-3668), the registration of over 400,000 Linea.eth subnames, and the development of the first EVM Gateway for zkEVMs.

This selection of Linea was driven by Linea's deep technical and social integration within the Ethereum ecosystem. Linea's engineering team includes the largest concentration of Ethereum core developers among L2 solutions, and is the only L2 that works out of the box with all Ethereum compilers, tools, and clients to achieve 100% bytecode compatibility with the standard EVM. In addition, both ENS and Linea share a commitment to decentralization, in line with Ethereum’s scaling roadmap.

“During our technical evaluation, Linea's capabilities were impressive, but what truly distinguished them was their shared vision for Ethereum's future. Their commitment to collaborating on decentralized sequencing and their contributions to Ethereum core development make them an ideal partner as we push the values of Ethereum to the forefront of the scaling conversation,” said Nick Johnson, lead developer at ENS.

This engineering partnership will address ENS’s unique scalability and performance needs:

• Scalability and Cost Efficiency: Linea’s zkEVM enables ENS to scale effectively while reducing costs for registering, renewing, and updating names.

• Quick Finality and Low Latency: zkEVM cryptographic proofs ensure near-instant finality and low latency, enhancing ENS’s read-heavy workflows and user trust.

• Robust Security: zkEVM provides strong cryptographic proofs to meet ENS’s security needs.

• Shared Decentralization Vision: ENS and Linea align on advancing open, decentralized infrastructure through co-building and co-funding efforts.

• Open-Source Commitment: Adopting the Linea stack reflects a joint dedication to open-source innovation, empowering community-driven development for Namechain and ENSv2.

• Cross-Team Collaboration: ENS and Linea teams co-develop technologies, fostering decentralized innovation across technical and governance structures.

• Ethereum Interoperability: Linea’s EVM compatibility ensures seamless integration with Ethereum’s ecosystem, aligning ENS and Linea’s vision for culturally and technologically consistent Layer 2 solutions.

As an additional outcome of this partnership, ENS joins Status as external contributors to Linea’s open-source development, advancing its progress towards becoming a stage 2 rollup.

A Major Step Toward Improving User’s Experience

This partnership will minimize the complexity of L2 interactions, simplifying the transition to ENSv2 and Namechain for both technical and non-technical users. These improvements pave the way for scalable, interoperable solutions. With adoption expected to grow significantly, ENS names could become a universal standard for digital identities across various platforms, bridging the gap between blockchain technologies and mainstream users.

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Media Contacts:

Consensys - PR@consensys.io

ENS
Imogen Searra - imogen@yapglobal.com

About ENS / Ethereum Name Service

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a distributed, open, and extensible naming system based on the Ethereum blockchain. ENS addresses allow anyone to register a .eth domain which they can then connect to multiple wallets, and use across all of web3. Founded with an Ethereum grant in 2017 by Nick Johnson, ENS quickly grew as the most widely used permissionless domain name protocol in the world. With over 2.5 million onchain ".eth" names and 20 million offchain names, the protocol aims to become the neutral naming protocol for all.

About The Linea Association

The Linea Association is an independent Swiss non-profit organization, dedicated to the development of Linea’s open-source technology and ecosystem, as well as its canonical instance, Linea Mainnet—a zkEVM Layer-2 built to scale Ethereum while preserving its security and decentralization. With a mission to grow Linea, the home network for the world, as an inclusive ecosystem, the Linea Association champions initiatives that drive network decentralization, community-led governance, and elevation of onchain experience for everyone.