According to Blockworks, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Labs has reached a $300,000 settlement with Manifold Finance to resolve their dispute over the eth.link domain. ENS is a domain name service for Ethereum wallet addresses, providing names instead of long strings of letters and numbers. The disagreement began when the GoDaddy domain registration for eth.link could not be transferred away from imprisoned former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith. ENS domains are not recognized by the traditional Domain Name System (DNS) that underpins the internet, so ENS uses its eth.link domain as a bridge through two key functionalities: EthDNS and EthLink.
In the summer of 2022, the eth.link domain was set to expire while Griffith was serving a prison sentence. GoDaddy allowed the domain to expire rather than renew it on Griffith's behalf. Manifold Finance acquired eth.link on the auction site Dynadot on September 3, 2022, meaning ENS no longer owned the domain. ENS filed an injunction in Arizona district court to prevent the domain from being transferred and succeeded after GoDaddy, Manifold, and Dynadot failed to appear at the hearing. In July 2023, a district judge ordered Dynadot to unlock the domain so ENS could transfer its ownership to someone other than Griffith.
Manifold requested $300,000 plus confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses for the case to be dismissed and ENS Labs to retain ownership of eth.link. The DAO vote concluded on Sunday night, with approximately 88% and 84% in favor of paying Manifold $300,000 and reimbursing ENS Labs the $750,000 in legal expenses, respectively.
