In a significant strategic pivot, ENS Labs has officially scrapped its plans to launch Namechain, a dedicated Layer 2 rollup for the Ethereum Name Service. Instead, the team will deploy the upcoming ENSv2 upgrade directly on the Ethereum mainnet. This decision stems from dramatic improvements in Ethereum's base-layer scalability, which have rendered the original justification for a separate chain obsolete.
ENS lead developer nick.eth explained that recent network upgrades, including the Fusaka update, have expanded mainnet capacity faster than anticipated. The most tangible result is a 99% reduction in gas fees for domain registrations compared to the previous year. With the mainnet now offering cheap and secure transactions, building and maintaining a complex new chain was deemed unnecessary.
The move aligns with recent commentary from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who suggested that many current Layer 2 designs could become obsolete as base-layer scaling matures. Buterin's view implies that rollups which offer nothing unique beyond scaling are essentially just "another L1 with a pretty bridge and marketing."
For ENS users, this means they can manage their domains on the Ethereum mainnet while enjoying fees typically associated with Layer 2s, without the need to bridge assets to a new network. The ENSv2 upgrade will focus on a new registry architecture offering improved ownership models and flexibility. Engineering efforts are now 80% focused on core ENSv2 features rather than maintaining a custom blockchain.
ENS has confirmed the protocol will remain highly interoperable with existing major Layer 2s like Optimism and Arbitrum, ensuring broad ecosystem support. This development signals a potential trend reversal, challenging the long-held narrative that all applications must migrate to Layer 2 to survive, and underscores that Ethereum's mainnet scaling is finally catching up to demand.
