Key Insights:
- Ethereum now underpins ENSv2 entirely, reflecting confidence in base-layer scalability, reduced costs, and stronger infrastructure guarantees.
- ENS dropped Namechain after gas fees fell sharply, making custom Layer 2 operations economically unnecessary.
- ENSv2 will still enhance cross-chain usability while prioritizing security, simplicity, and long-term decentralization.
Ethereum continues to redefine its infrastructure role as the Ethereum Name Service confirms ENSv2 will launch exclusively on the main network. The decision marks a strategic retreat from Namechain, a self-developed Layer 2 network once planned to support cheaper registrations. ENS developers concluded that recent base-layer scaling has eliminated the need for maintaining a separate rollup environment.
Namechain had been pursued by the naming protocol, which is popular because of mapping readable identities to wallet addresses.This assumption was altered when network upgrades lowered the costs by a large margin and increased the throughput in excess of the estimates made before.The primary chain, according to ENS Labs, has become large enough to conduct registration, renewal, and name management operations.
Ethereum Scaling Reshapes ENSv2 Infrastructure Decisions
Rising scalability on the base network fundamentally altered the technical and economic assumptions behind Namechain’s original development roadmap.During 2025, gas limits doubled from 30m units to 60m, significantly lowering average registration expenses.Developers now view these improvements as durable enough to support long-term growth without sacrificing decentralization.
The continued utilization of a custom rollup provided overheads in its operations and the chance of centralization inappropriate to keep investing any further.ENSLabs said that it would be cheaper to subsidize the mainnet usage than to have its own Layer 2 infrastructure.Using the same implementation of execution also eases the resolution logic and minimizes latency to the end users.
Ethereum Security Guarantees Drive Strategic Course Correction
ENS leadership emphasized that base-layer security remains unmatched when compared with alternative scaling environments or bespoke rollups.Early planning assumed most name resolutions would rely on CCIP-Read gateways, adding architectural complexity across execution layers.Shifting fully to the main network allows resolution queries to complete faster while depending on one settlement source.
The company took into consideration social and reputational expenses related to the abandonment of the long-established technical course.It however held that resilience, neutrality and censorship resistance was more attractive than the call to save sunk development efforts.EN S compared the decision to historical projects where course corrections ultimately protected long-term sustainability.
ENSv2 Progress Continues Without Namechain Deployment
Even after stopping Namechain, ENS Labs proved that development of ENSv2 marked no functional improvements.Supported chains will be able to provide users with single-step registrations, stablecoin payments, and better ownership models.A redesigned registry structure assigns each name greater flexibility while improving future extensibility.
Previews of the revised ENS application and explorer, released publicly already, demonstrate refined workflows and support of multi-chains.In spite of the fact that deployment is tied to the core network, ENS still serves over 60 external blockchains.The lessons learned during rollup experimentation will now be used in enhanced interoperability with existing ecosystems of Layer 2.
Future Direction
The rapid scaling advancements of Ethereum have undermined old notions about blockchain infrastructure, which ENS Labs is reassessing its technical approach. By dedicating ENSv2 to the Ethereum mainnet, the team is eliminating security, decentralization, and operability ease in favor of having a separate rollup. The reduction of the gas costs to an all-time low as well as the growth in capacity has once again given Layer 1 a chance to be used in the process of everyday naming.
The ruling highlights a larger industry trend, in which any advances at the base layer minimise usage of fragmented scaling solutions. Namechain will not be proceeding, but given its development, ENSv2 has improved its architecture and prospects of interoperability. The ENSv2 is set to provide a more predictable and efficient naming service without affecting the underlying network guarantees as Ethereum is scaled to larger gas limits.
