Ethereum News: ENSv2 Drops Namechain as Ethereum Scaling Changes the Math

Key Insights:

• As per the latest Ethereum news, ENSv2 will deploy fully on Ethereum L1 as scaling cuts gas costs and removes the need for Namechain.
• A 99% drop in ENS registration fees reshaped the cost-benefit case for running a dedicated L2.
• ENSv2 keeps its roadmap and multi-chain support while aligning identity data with Ethereum’s core layer.

Ethereum news updates around the Ethereum Name Service are reshaping how on-chain identity infrastructure will evolve. ENS has confirmed that ENSv2 will deploy exclusively on Ethereum’s base layer, ending development of its planned Namechain layer-2 network.

The decision aligns with recent changes in Ethereum’s scaling model and a reduction in transaction costs, according to statements from ENS contributors and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

The update marks a shift from plans announced roughly two years ago, when high gas fees made Ethereum L1 impractical for frequent ENS activity. At that time, ENS contributors viewed a dedicated L2 as the most viable path forward. Recent network upgrades have since altered that assessment.

Ethereum News: ENSv2 Deployment Moves Fully to L1

ENS core contributor Katherine Wu said ENSv2 will still launch as planned, but without Namechain. Instead of deploying on an independent L2 stack, the protocol upgrade will live directly on Ethereum L1. Wu emphasized that ENSv2 remains an upgrade to the existing ENS protocol and does not alter its purpose as Ethereum’s identity layer.

Wu explained that ENSv2 was designed to function on either L1 or L2 from the outset. As a result, the roadmap remains intact despite the infrastructure change. She added that deploying on L1 allows users to resolve names by querying a single chain rather than relying on cross-chain mechanisms.

Source: X

The decision was mainstreamed by the recent Ethereum upgrades. The Ethereum news reported that the Fusaka upgrade raised the gas limit to 60 million in 2025, twice the previous limit.

Now, Ethereum developers aim to reach the 200-million-gas limit in 2026, as Wu writes. These rises were accompanied by an estimated 99% drop in ENS registration gas costs last year.

According to ENS contributors, the average gas cost of registering a name has dropped to less than $0.05, down from almost $5 last year. This economic burden decreased the economic justification of running an independent L2 network.

Cost Structure and Operational Tradeoffs

Ethereum news overview of the ENS decision brings out cost and complexity as decisive factors. Wu noted that subsidizing every ENS transaction in 2025 would have cost roughly $10,000 at current gas prices. Even at peak post-Fusaka fees, the estimate rises to about $250,000. Those figures remain below the projected cost of maintaining a dedicated L2.

By comparison, running Namechain would have introduced ongoing operational overhead. ENS contributors also cited additional trust assumptions tied to L2 infrastructure. They include upgradeability and the presence of centralized components involved in block production.

Under the original Namechain plan, most ENS names would have relied on CCIP-Read gateways for resolution. That approach would have added a dependency on external gateway infrastructure. According to ENS contributors, staying on L1 avoids introducing that bottleneck for millions of existing and future names.

Ethereum Name Service contributors stated that aligning ENSv2 with Ethereum L1 provides the same security and liveness guarantees that underpin on-chain finance activity across the network.

Ethereum News: Scaling Shifts ENS Architecture

Vitalik Buterin supported the decision, describing ENS names and records as high-value state central to the Ethereum ecosystem. He noted that ENS functions as a semi-financial application, given the cost of acquiring and holding names and their potential value.

Buterin said Ethereum’s expanded scaling roadmap makes L1 suitable for identity-related systems that benefit from global accessibility. He added that per-user account and profile data fit well on L1, while simpler, purpose-built L2s can handle user actions elsewhere.

ENS contributors stressed that dropping Namechain does not signal a retreat from multi-chain support. As per Ethereum news, ENSv2 will continue to support resolution across more than 60 blockchains, including Bitcoin and Solana. Wu also noted that upcoming updates will allow users to register .eth names from any EVM chain through a single process, without manual bridging.

The post Ethereum News: ENSv2 Drops Namechain as Ethereum Scaling Changes the Math appeared first on The Coin Republic.