We’re pleased to announce the launch of $ENS, the governance token of ENS.

Here’s what you need to know.

ENS Token & Claim Site

The claim site is now open: claim.ens.domains.

The ENS token contract is token.ensdao.eth: 0xC18360217D8F7Ab5e7c516566761Ea12Ce7F9D72

Double check the website URL and contract address to avoid scams.

Users have until May 4th, 2022 to claim their tokens, after which any remaining tokens will be sent to the DAO treasury.

The snapshot for all allocations - airdrop, contributors, Discord users, etc - took place on October 31, 2021. While we encourage you to continue to use ENS and participate in the community, nothing you do now will change your token allocation.

During the first week, anyone claiming their tokens will also vote on the proposed ENS Constitution, a set of rules for the DAO. If you wish to have a say on the Constitution, be sure to visit the claim site and cast your votes (which are off-chain and gasless) during the first week; you can still come back later and complete the process to claim your tokens (which requires gas) at any time before May 4, 2022.

Here is a YouTube video walking through the token claim app:

DAO Overview

The core components of ENS are decentralized and self-running (e.g., no one can take away another person’s .ETH name), but there are a few things that require some human discretion.

In its first act as a DAO, $ENS token holders will vote to formally request from the ENS root keyholders the ability to:

• govern protocol parameters, like pricing, the price oracle, and more
• control funds from the existing community treasury, as well as receive future revenue.

For more detail on the DAO, its goals, and the token distribution, see this earlier Mirror post.

Get Involved

If you’ve ever owned an ENS name, you’re eligible to receive $ENS governance tokens. Head over to claim.ens.domains to claim your tokens and vote on the ENS Constitution.

In the claim process, you will be encouraged to delegate your voting power to one of the delegates that have nominated themselves to help with ENS governance. If you don’t plan on being an active governance participant, this is a great way to ensure the protocol continues to grow and develop in the right direction.

There are many more ways to be involved in ENS governance other than being a delegate. To get more involved with ENS governance, join the ENS Discord and visit the ENS governance forum to weigh in on proposals or draft your own.

Let’s build the future of the Internet together.