Author: ENS Foundation
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Deep Tide Introduction: ENS token holders have approved a governance proposal, formally establishing the Foundation as a legal entity capable of representing ENS in regulatory matters, standards organizations, and top-level domain negotiations. This addresses a long-standing weakness of the DAO, which previously lacked the ability to handle institutional affairs, while preserving token holders' ultimate control over the protocol and the Foundation's personnel. For those focused on ENS's infrastructure status and governance boundaries, this is a crucial step.
ENS token holders have approved the "Next Era for the ENS DAO" proposal, and the relevant executable content has been completed on-chain. The ENS Foundation is now a fully operational organization with a full-time Executive Director, staff, and a five-member board of directors. This article explains the motivation behind this structure, what the Foundation can now do, and how it allows token holders to retain control over the protocol and the Foundation itself.
Why ENS Needs an Institution-Facing Foundation
Over the past decade, ENS has evolved into core infrastructure: hosting millions of domain names, integrated across wallets, applications, and L2s, with other systems relying on it for resolution. ENS has also engaged with policymakers and institutions like ICANN, which are responsible for coordinating the stable and secure operation of internet naming infrastructure. In 2021, the core team at ENS Labs launched the ENS DAO to safeguard the protocol. Specifically, the DAO placed the protocol's core contracts, pricing, and treasury under the control of token holders. These funds are used to finance public goods, service providers, and community projects within the ecosystem.
By itself, the DAO lacks the legal and operational capacity to act in many of the arenas this infrastructure now needs to represent. It cannot advocate for recognition and management rights of the .ens top-level domain at ICANN. It cannot sign agreements required to participate in standards work at IETF and W3C, cannot hire full-time employees, cannot enforce trademark rights against phishing campaigns impersonating ENS, cannot respond to legal proceedings, and cannot represent ENS in regulatory discussions concerning decentralized naming.
For years, some of this work went undone, while some informally fell to ENS Labs. ENS Labs is an engineering organization never authorized to act as the protocol's representative at the institutional level. Naming policies are being shaped within ICANN, standards bodies, and global regulatory discussions. Until now, ENS has lacked a formal entity to represent it in these settings.
The Foundation is that entity. Specifically, it can now:
- Represent ENS where naming standards are made. The Foundation can actively participate in ICANN, IETF, W3C, and related forums; pursue recognition and management rights for the .ens top-level domain; and coordinate with the SEAL and DNS infrastructure communities.
- Engage in policy work. As a legal entity, the Foundation can directly meet with regulators and legislators to discuss issues affecting ENS and decentralized naming.
- Hold and defend the brand. ENS's trademarks, brand assets, and other intellectual property will be consolidated within the Foundation, enabling it to take action against scams and impersonation.
- Hire people accountable to the mission. The Foundation can hire full-time staff to manage operations, grants, and endowment fund management, supervised by a board of directors appointed and removable by token holders.
- Act as the protocol's institutional counterparty. Courts, registries, standards organizations, and other entities will have a clear entity to engage with on behalf of ENS.
This also clarifies the role of ENS Labs. Previously, Labs implicitly shouldered some institutional work while also focusing on core tasks like developing the protocol and applications and supporting the integration of ENS standards across the crypto ecosystem. With the Foundation operational, Labs can focus on product and engineering work, including ENSv2 and the infrastructure supporting the protocol.
Three Institutions, One Protocol
This vote creates a system where the different parts of ENS reinforce each other. ENS Labs, the ENS Foundation, and the broader community and token holders (including service providers and public goods beneficiaries) acting through the ENS DAO are all aligned around one thing: protecting and expanding the ENS protocol for decades to come.
To be clear, under the new proposal, the assets of the endowment fund, funded by .eth domain registration fee revenue, remain in place, and related transactions are now subject to a 9-day timelock, during which the ENS Security Council can cancel any transactions exceeding the Foundation's mandate. The Foundation will only spend according to a public, board-approved budget and will provide transparent reporting through annual audited financial statements and quarterly grant updates.
The ENS tokens held by the DAO (54.6% of the total ENS supply) remain untouched, continuing to be held by the DAO under the full control of token holders, with one approved exception: a one-time transfer of 1 million ENS tokens to the Foundation, exclusively for employee compensation under a public framework.
Furthermore, the ENS Foundation and ENS Labs are separate legal and operational entities, each with its own management and board. The Foundation does not own Labs. Labs has no governance rights over the Foundation, the endowment fund, the DAO-held ENS tokens, or the protocol. Its only presence in Foundation governance is the founder's seat among the five board seats, which will recuse itself from decisions involving funding support for ENS Labs.
ENS Labs continues to lead core development of the ENS protocol, which is governed by token holders. Token holders also oversee the institutions representing them, including through the power to appoint or remove Foundation directors. The Foundation handles the off-chain work necessary to support the protocol, with its board responsible for overseeing operations and ensuring sustainable funding for ecosystem contributors, including ENS Labs. ENS Labs, the DAO, and the Foundation play different but complementary roles, aligned around the long-term stewardship of ENS. This symbiotic relationship makes ENS stronger while helping the on-chain protocol remain credibly neutral.
Foundation Board of Directors
The inaugural five-member board of the Foundation consists of:
- Alexander Urbelis, Executive Director. Career spans cybersecurity law, DNS threat intelligence, and policy: former General Counsel & Chief Information Security Officer at ENS Labs, former Chief Information Security Officer at the NFL, former Chief Compliance Officer at Richemont.
- Nick Johnson, Director. Founder of ENS, CEO of ENS Labs, previously at the Ethereum Foundation and Google.
- Kartik Talwar, Independent Director. General Partner at A.Capital Ventures, Co-founder of ETHGlobal.
- Brett Sun, Independent Director. Co-founder of Prelude, previously led technical work at Aragon, including early ENS integration AragonID.
- Anthony Leutenegger, Independent Director. CEO of Aragon, a key ENS integrator, and also a delegate for Lido and Morpho.
Independent directors serve two-year terms, renewable by token holders. Each director brings distinct experience needed by ENS in this first term.
What Happens Next
Existing commitments will continue according to their agreed terms: stewards, active funding streams, grants, and current term commitments will persist. The Foundation will work with relevant parties to develop transition plans for grant programs, SPP3, and the current working group structure. Foundation positions will be publicly posted as staffing needs become clear.
With the proposal executed, the Foundation can begin fulfilling its approved operational, financial, policy, and institutional responsibilities. ENS Labs will continue to operate under its own management and governance, building ENSv2 and the products and infrastructure supporting the ENS protocol, while token holders retain control over protocol decisions and oversight of Foundation directors.
ENS aims to demonstrate that critical internet infrastructure can be credibly neutral, publicly governed, and outlast any single company. The complete governance record can be viewed in the executable proposal, on-chain votes, and execution transactions.
