Remember that classic song about Jenny and her number on the bathroom wall? Eight six seven five three oh niiiiine! Jenny, I’ve got your number. I need to make you mine!
Tommy Tutone would’ve been SOL had Jenny’s number looked anything like what we’re dealing with in the Ethereum space today.
You want to message me on Status? Just find me at 0x04d6d9f89df553eaf338dbd66ffd8c256c4f45042ee5460be28d9d77933ad6d59b6f1554e2075f5b130d556e1957715a03b8447bfacad951910184243a96a9a8b8
That’s a whopping two lines in my current text editor.
Goodbye to the hexadecimal hash
It’s no secret that the lack of of human readable names is a pain point for people in our community.
Enter the Ethereum Name Service. The decentralized answer to DNS and brainchild of Nick Johnson, ENS allows us to represent complicated hashes with readable names, like Jenny.eth.
Similar to a traditional domain name, like jenny.com, an ENS name is unique and can only be owned by one individual.
Unlike DNS names, ENS names are a bit more multi-purpose. Yes, if you’re a DApp developer, you can point your DApp to an ENS address for users to visit using compatible browsers.
But you can also think of ENS addresses like usernames. Jenny.eth can point to my personal account, enabling others to send me tokens or find me on Status chat much more easily.
Over the past months, we’ve built support for all of these cases in Status.
You can look up .eth addresses in Status chat, wallet and browser. Try it: Start new chat and enter my ENS name, rachel.stateofus.eth, to tell me what you think!
So how do you register a name of your own? This is the best part.
ENS, the long way
Anyone can bid on a .eth address via auction by following these instructions. It’s a five day process, involving some cost and multiple time-sensitive steps.
To secure a name you’ve bid on, you must reveal your bid 72 hours after starting the auction, using information given to you at the beginning of the process.
This auction format disincentivizes spamming and encourages registration of names only for real use. That said, it’s complex and requires time and focus.
The shortcut
Open Status. Visit names.statusnet.eth. Register a name for 10 SNT.
You’re done!
Tell me more
The proverbial fine print will tell you the following:
Once you reserve a name, your SNT is locked into the registry contract for 1 year. After the year is up, you can release the name to get your tokens back—or take no action to hold on to it.
The registry contract is located here, for your inspection. You can rest assured that no person can access the SNT that is locked up in this contract. For more insight into the contract security, read about our audit by Sigma Prime.
What’s next?
As a wallet and messenger, connecting people is at the heart of what we do at Status.
We’re incredibly excited to bring to life one of the initial use cases laid out in our white paper with this launch. This is just phase one of the project.
In the future, we imagine ENS names becoming a cornerstone of your identity within Status. For instance, your stateofus.eth name can eventually be used for display in public chats.
I’m not saying you should write it on a bathroom stall, but if you give me your ENS name, I won’t be too shy to use it.
Install Status and get started
iOS
If you don’t currently have Status installed, access via TestFlight here https://testflight.apple.com/join/J8EuJmey
Android
You can find Status.im in the PlayStore and click ‘Update’
For more information, please join us in Status
