The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has announced a major strategic pivot, confirming that its upcoming ENSv2 upgrade will be deployed directly on the Ethereum mainnet (L1), abandoning development of its previously planned custom Layer-2 solution, Namechain. The decision marks a reversal from the original plan to build a dedicated L2 to handle name registrations and reduce user costs.
The core reason for the shift is the dramatic improvement in Ethereum's base-layer scalability and cost efficiency. The ENS team stated that Ethereum's gas limit increased from 30 million to 60 million in 2025 via the Fusaka upgrade, drastically reducing transaction fees. This rendered the primary justification for a standalone L2—cost reduction—largely obsolete. The team noted that ENS registration fees have fallen by approximately 99% due to these L1 scaling gains.
ENS had been developing Namechain as part of the ENSv2 rollout, with the goal of processing name registrations off-chain to boost scalability and lower costs when Ethereum's mainnet was considered too expensive for everyday interactions. The team explained that at the time of the initial L2 plan, Ethereum's roadmap did not include major L1 upgrades, and the industry consensus was that L2s were the necessary path forward.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly supported the move to L1, commenting that ENS names and records represent a high-value state that benefits from being directly accessible on Ethereum's most secure and decentralized layer. He described ENS as a "semi-financial application with high network importance" that is well-suited for L1 settlement.
The ENS team assured users that pausing Namechain development will not delay the ENSv2 rollout. All planned features for ENSv2 remain intact, including single-step registration, the ability to purchase names with stablecoins from any chain, a new registry design, and upgraded multi-chain support. The team has already released public alpha versions of the ENS App and ENS Explorer for users to test the new simplified registration flow and improved name management.
The decision underscores a broader trend of confidence in Ethereum's L1 scaling trajectory. Core developers are reportedly already targeting a gas limit of 200 million for the next year, ahead of anticipated gains from zero-knowledge (ZK) technology. The ENS team concluded that Ethereum L1 now offers "unmatched security, decentralization, and reliability" that L2s cannot fully replicate, making it the strongest infrastructure choice.
While committing to L1, the team emphasized that insights from Namechain development will inform future work on L2 interoperability. ENSv2's design is intended to enhance interoperability with a wide range of Layer-2 networks, and ENS currently supports resolution for over 60 chains, including Bitcoin, Solana, and Celo.
