The developer of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is getting ready to end its dispute with Manifold Finance over the ownership of the eth.link domain name, following the DAO’s approval of a $300,000 deal with Manifold. The settlement was approved by approximately 88% in the ENS DAO’s vote that ended on February 26th.
Noteworthy Decision from the DAO
In light of these developments, 84% of the DAO approved a $750,000 reimbursement for ENS Labs‘ legal expenses. The approved settlement concludes an 18-month process initiated by ENS Labs to sue Manifold and domain registrars GoDaddy and Dynadot in the Arizona District Court to prevent the transfer of the domain name out of their ownership.
ENS founder Nick Johnson stated in the ENS DAO forum on February 13th that Manifold demanded $300,000 from ENS Labs along with confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses as part of the settlement terms. Johnson commented on the matter:
“In return, they are offering a settlement that will result in the dismissal of the lawsuit and ENS Labs retaining the eth.link domain name.”
ENS is a blockchain platform equivalent to the Domain Name System (DNS), which converts domain names like coin-turk.com into IP addresses for browsers to locate. The two systems are not compatible, hence ENS uses the eth.link domain name to ensure the operation of .eth ENS-based domain names.
What’s Happening on the ENS Front?
The domain name’s control ended in July 2022 when the initial participant Virgil Griffith failed to renew it three months before being sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to help North Korea evade sanctions. GoDaddy, where eth.link was registered, allowed the domain to expire, enabling Manifold to purchase the domain at an auction on Dynadot in September 2022.
During the same period, ENS sued the three companies and, following their failure to appear in court, won a court order to halt the transfer of the domain name. After months of legal disputes, in July 2023, Arizona District Judge John Tuchi ordered Dynadot to unlock eth.link, thus allowing ENS to transfer the domain name.
ENS and GoDaddy seem to have resolved the issue since then, and earlier this month, they collaborated to offer .eth ENS domain name owners the ability to link their domain with a traditional domain name for free.
