ENSv2^™

📖 How to Use This Guide

Pricing an ENS name is not guesswork — it follows a logic based on what the name does, who needs it, and how much leverage it gives the person who controls it. This guide uses a 1–20 scoring system that spreads names across 20 distinct value tiers, from novelty lifestyle names to category-monopoly infrastructure primitives.

Work through the five questions, assign a score, and the lease rate follows automatically.

Step 1 — Understand How the Scorer Works

Every name in the registry is scored by a rule-based engine that evaluates what the name actually is — not what vertical it belongs to. The engine parses each name into its component words and evaluates three things in sequence.

The Three Scoring Layers

The Root Noun Doctrine

The most important rule: the same word scores differently depending on its position in the name.

Scores 16–20 Require Both Root AND Qualifier

The elite tiers (16–20) have a strict gate: both a root noun boost AND a qualifier boost must fire. A name with only a strong root noun is capped at 15. This prevents generic single-word names from reaching the top tiers regardless of how important the word is.

Five Questions to Ask Before Scoring

🧠 The Method Behind the Madness

Most ENS marketplaces price names by gut feel, hype, or what someone paid last. We don't do that. Every name in this registry has a score — a number derived from a rule-based engine that evaluates what the name actually is, not what vertical it belongs to or how long it is.

The core insight is simple: a name's value comes from function + scarcity. A name that defines an entire infrastructure function and has no synonym is worth more than a name that describes a product. A name that controls a layer is worth more than one that participates in it.

Why "What It Is" Matters More Than "What It's In"

Two names can sit in the same vertical and score completely differently. sequencerprotocol.eth and rollupnode.eth are both in CHAIN. But one names the standard for a thing. The other names an instance of a thing. The first is worth ten times the second. The scorer knows the difference.

The Root Noun Doctrine

The engine parses every name into its component words and asks: what is the last meaningful word — the root noun? That root tells you what the name fundamentally IS. The words before it are modifiers that tell you what KIND of that thing it is.

The same word scores differently depending on its position:

• sequencerlayer.eth — layer is the ROOT. This name IS a layer. Score: 19. It defines infrastructure.
• layer2bot.eth — layer is the MODIFIER. This name is a bot that works with L2. Score: 7. It participates in infrastructure.
• complianceprotocol.eth — protocol is the ROOT. This IS the protocol standard for compliance. Score: 16.
• protocolrouter.eth — protocol is the MODIFIER. This is a router that handles protocols. Score: 11.

Same words. Completely different value. The root noun doctrine is what separates this system from every other pricing model in the ENS space.

Why Scores 16–20 Require Both Root AND Qualifier

The elite tiers have a strict gate: to score 16 or above, a name must have both a strong root noun AND a meaningful qualifier. This prevents single-word names — no matter how important the word — from automatically reaching the top. orchestrator.eth is a powerful word, but it's a single noun. complianceorchestrator.eth is a compliance orchestrator — the orchestration layer for an entire compliance stack. That compound earns score 20.

The gate exists because real infrastructure primitives are almost always compound names. They describe a specific function in a specific domain. Generic single words are valuable, but they're not canonical primitives.

Why Scarcity Is Not the Point

ENS names are technically unlimited — anyone can register anything for $5/year. Scarcity in the traditional domain sense doesn't apply. What creates value here is semantic scarcity: the number of names that actually describe a foundational infrastructure function is very small. There are only a handful of ways to name the sequencer layer for Ethereum L2. We own the best ones. A developer building on that layer doesn't want a name that sounds like the thing — they want the name that IS the thing.

Why Pricing Is Fixed by Tier

We don't negotiate on individual names. The price is the score, and the score is the function. This is how AWS prices EC2 instances and how Infura prices API calls — fixed tiers based on what the thing actually does, not on who's asking. It removes speculation from the equation entirely and lets builders budget with confidence.

Step 2 — Score → Tier → Annual Lease

Match your score to the annual lease rate. Every name in the same score tier leases at the same rate. No guesswork, no exceptions.

⚡ What ENSv2 Changes About Subdomain Leasing

ENSv2 deploys directly on Ethereum Layer 1 — not a separate Layer 2. ENS Labs scrapped its planned Namechain L2 in February 2026 after Ethereum L1 gas costs fell 99% in one year (from ~$5 to under $0.05 per registration). Ethereum L1 is scaling faster than anyone predicted, making a dedicated rollup unnecessary.

This changes the economics of every name in the portfolio:

• Each .eth parent name gets its own smart contract registry, enabling true subdomain ownership with flexible terms
• L1 gas costs for ENS dropped 99% — registration now costs under $0.05, making leasing viable at smaller transaction sizes and opening the market to SMBs and individual developers
• A single well-positioned parent name can issue hundreds of subdomains, turning one name into a recurring revenue platform
• Names that score 9 or higher on the scoring framework become subdomain infrastructure plays, not just individual names

💡 What Makes a Name Valuable for Leasing

When evaluating any name, the core questions are always the same:

• Function — What does this name enable? What does it do?
• Category control — Does it define or anchor an entire vertical?
• Enterprise relevance — Would a serious business pay to lease this identity?
• Developer demand — Is this a namespace developers actually need?
• Infrastructure potential — Can this name power real systems at scale?
• Commercial value — What is the realistic multi-year leasing revenue?

🏗️ Example Use Cases by Tier

🗂️ The 15-Vertical, 170+ Segment Schema

Every name in the portfolio is assigned to a single primary vertical segment using dot-notation. Vertical assignment directly drives the base score. Core Protocol Infrastructure segments carry higher base scores than consumer or lifestyle segments.

⬇ Hold any vertical to reveal its segments — release to collapse

Browse the Portfolio

All 2,677 names in our portfolio are scored, assigned to a vertical segment, and priced using this exact framework. Every listing shows the ETH valuation and annual lease rate.