Ethereum Name Service- one of the most successful apps on the Ethereum blockchain. Is experiencing a price surge for its new decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) governance token. The soar follows a widely anticipated airdrop that was valued over $500 million.
Ethereum Name Service is an app that issues NFTs that can represent Ethereum addresses as well as web domains. The app released an airdrop for its ENS token last night. Airdrops are a way of distributing tokens to Ethereum addresses that fulfil certain criteria, such as having purchased an NFT.
ENS NFT holders are currently eligible to claim tokens and many users have reported rewards of $20,000. The project’s circulating market cap currently sits at $500 million. On Twitter, Adam Davidson said, “Holy crap that ENS airdrop was amazing! I made $18,000 by accident.”
The airdrop required a number of governance steps prior to claiming tokens. The overnight price surge has led investors to make predictions in the tens of billions.
The ENS claims process began on Monday at 7pm ET. Ethereum Name Service domain holders’ eligibility and allocation were determined using a formula that considered both the amount of time an address held an ENS domain as well as the duration of its future registration.
In order to claim their allocated tokens, uders had to vote on four articles of a foundational ENS governance constitution. These articles covered ensuring governance cannot revoke ENS ownership, allowing governance to alter registration prices and allowing governance control over a grants program.
Those eligible were then required to delegate their token voting power before receiving their tokens. Applications for delegates were open last week and included some of crypto’s most powerful organisations. The new token already has support from Coinbase, which is the largest delegate.
The smooth rollout, along with the requirement to vote and delegate voting power, has been praised. Many have referred to this as one of the most successful airdrops in history. According to Ethereum Name Service director of operations Brantly Millegan, “ENS is for the people.”
