The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) developer has reached a settlement with Manifold Finance regarding the ownership of the eth.link domain.
Approved by the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of ENS, the settlement entails a payment of $300,000 to Manifold, along with ENS retaining the rights to the domain name. Additionally, ENS Labs’ legal expenses of $750,000 will be reimbursed, as confirmed by a recent ENS DAO vote.
This resolution marks the end of an 18-month legal battle, during which ENS Labs filed a lawsuit against Manifold and domain registrars GoDaddy and Dynadot in an Arizona District Court. ENS Labs had obtained a court order preventing the transfer of the domain away from their ownership.
Manifold proposed settlement terms, including a payment of $300,000 from ENS Labs, along with confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses. In return, a settlement would be reached, leading to the dismissal of the case and ENS Labs retaining control of the eth.link domain name.
ENS serves as the blockchain equivalent of the traditional Domain Name System (DNS), facilitating the translation of domain names into IP addresses for browser accessibility. The eth.link domain enables .eth ENS-based domains to function properly.
Previously owned by Virgil Griffith, an early ENS contributor, the eth.link domain’s ownership expired in July 2022 due to his incarceration for assisting North Korea in evading sanctions. Manifold acquired the domain through an auction on Dynadot in September 2022 after it expired.
In July 2023, Arizona District Judge John Tuchi ordered Dynadot to unlock eth.link, enabling ENS to regain ownership.
ENS and GoDaddy have now reconciled and formed a partnership. As part of this collaboration, .eth ENS domain holders can link their domains with traditional domains free of charge.
Founder Nick Johnson raised concerns about Unstoppable Domains’ patent filings related to blockchain domain names. Johnson accused the company of appropriating ENS’ open-source developments through these patent applications, highlighting a specific patent granted to Unstoppable Domains, which he claims is entirely based on innovations developed by ENS.