ENS Official Domain Has Expired And The Developer Is in Jail

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  • The ENS domain has expired as the developer is in Jail.
  • He was arrested for helping North Korean hackers.
  • Two million names have been created on Ethereum Name Service (ENS).

Currently, the eth.link domain belonging to the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) DAO is redirecting users to an empty page with a green domain expiry notification banner at the top. While the only person who has the ability to renew the name, Virgil Griffith, is currently serving a jail term for allegedly assisting North Koreans in evading sanctions via the usage of cryptocurrency, the domain can’t be renewed at the moment and is going to be up for sale next month.

The first arrest of Griffith took place in November 2019. He was charged with conspiracy to violate The International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He was suspected of assisting North Koreans in learning how to utilize cryptocurrencies to escape sanctions imposed by the United States.

In September 2021, as part of an agreement with the federal prosecutors, Griffith entered a guilty plea to the sole charge of conspiracy. His sentence, which was slightly over five years, was on the lower end of the parameters. The maximum amount of time he could have gotten was six and a half years.

Users are able to connect a human-readable domain that ends in “.eth” to their wallets by using the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) addresses. Domains like “Jai.eth” may be used to transport crypto assets across suitable chains; eliminating the need for QR codes or public addresses that are difficult to remember.

In related developments, ENS has accomplished a significant new milestone by minting 2 million “.eth” addresses. The milestone was attained just three and a half months after the service reached one million different addresses.