ENS opens ENSv2 activation vote as reviewers flag remaining control risks

Ethereum Name Service has opened an on-chain vote to activate ENSv2, a registry overhaul that would pause new .eth registrations during the transition and change how existing names are renewed and managed.

ENS founder Nick Johnson confirmed that the proposal was live for voting on October 18. The Tally governance page still showed an active vote on Monday. Approval and execution would begin the migration process; the opening of the vote has not itself switched the service to ENSv2.

The proposal bundles 15 contract calls into one transaction. Those calls would stop new registrations on the existing registrar, preserve renewals for names that have not migrated and prepare the switch in name resolution. ENS Labs would then synchronize the remaining records, enable the new system and hand its administrative roles to the DAO.

For someone who already owns a name, the proposal says it will keep resolving and can still be renewed. Migration would be optional, without a deadline, but irreversible once completed. New registrations would pause on both versions while the final records are synchronized, a step Labs expects to take a few hours.

A technical review from Blockful, posted on the governance forum early Monday, adds questions for delegates considering that transition. The team said it reconstructed all 15 calls and found they matched the submitted on-chain proposal. Four of its eight findings had been resolved, including a problem with who would ultimately control the .eth token.

Other findings remain open or await promised changes. Blockful said a single upgrade key behind the service used for one-signature registration accounts could, if compromised or misused, affect remaining v1 names belonging to users who had approved the migration helper. Its review says nobody is exposed to that proposed change before execution. According to Blockful, Rhinestone plans to make that service unchangeable in the fourth quarter of 2026 or first quarter of 2027. The review left the identity of the interim key holder unresolved.

Blockful also flagged fixes merged after the published audits and requested auditor review or sign-off before execution.

The proposed payment change would reach owners who choose to stay on the older system, too. The proposal specifies USDC or DAI for renewals under the approved v2 pricing once it executes. Blockful said ETH-only renewal tools would need changes, with ETH payment support planned for later. That makes the eventual execution date consequential even for owners who have no immediate plans to migrate.