Ethereum domain name service provider ENS has canceled plans to launch Layer 2 as part of the ENSv2 update, opting instead to run the improved protocol directly on Ethereum.
In a blog post on Friday, ENS lead developer nick.eth explained that the decision was due in part to “a 99% reduction in ENS registration gas costs over the past year” due to a number of major upgrades to the Ethereum network.
“Put simply: Ethereum L1 is scaling, and it’s scaling faster than almost anyone predicted two years ago. The recent Fusaka update raised the gas cap to 60 million, a twofold increase from early 2025,” nick.eth said, adding:
“Currently, Ethereum core developers are targeting a 200 million gas cap goal in 2026, a 3x increase from today, and that’s before any ZK updates land.”
The Fusaka update, one of Ethereum’s latest updates that rolled out in early December, has helped Ethereum lower its gas fees due to its significant scalability for both the L1 ecosystem and the L2 ecosystem.
ENS initially announced its L2 name chain in November 2024, stating that it would make it easier for users to register domain names through bulk packs.
Nick.eth emphasized that the context has changed dramatically and that it is now cost-effective to build directly on L1, rather than opting for full-fledged L2 to reduce costs.
“L1’s massive scalability was not part of Ethereum’s roadmap, and the message was clear that L2 was the solution. We needed to meet our users where the ecosystem was going, and that meant building Namechain,” he said.
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With plans for Namechain now gone, ENS’ lead developer noted that the project is still working on significant performance and usability improvements via ENSv2, while the protocol will remain highly interoperable with L2.
“The vast majority of our engineering efforts went into ENSv2 itself: the new registry architecture, improved ownership model, better handling of name expiration, and the flexibility of giving each name its own registry,” he said, adding:
“The decision to stay on L1 does not mean we are completely closing the door on L2. The flexibility of the ENSv2 architecture makes L2 names more interoperable. Our new registration flow eliminates the complexity of cross-chain transactions.”
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