Crypto: How to set up a .eth domain

Interest in ENS domain names has escalated since amazon.eth received a purchase bid for $1m (£824,790) this month. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to follow in the footsteps of Jimmy Fallon and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and register a .eth domain.

After the Amazon.eth (AMZN) bid ENS domains has been trending on Twitter (TWTR). Many commentators see a .eth suffix appreciating in price in the same way that .com domain names increased in value in the early days of the internet.

People see ENS domains as the new affordable NFTS, and an asymmetric that could be as lucrative as buying a CryptoPunks in 2018.

The ENS system is not registered in the same way as the legacy DNS internet system, but it works in a similar way by helping users find websites via names rather than numbers.

Read more: Web3: Is .eth the new .com?

Yahoo Finance spoke to one of the core developers behind ENS, Makoto Inoue, and asked why people should register an ENS name. He said: "If you are interested in the world of Crypto, Web3, and NFT, you should definitely have ENS name. ENS is one of the most affordable NFTs with real utility. Once you register, you can look up your Ethereum address (which is tied into your wallet) via your ENS name on web3 sites and wallets like OpenSea, Etherscan, and Metamask."

In this article, you'll receive a step-by-step guide on how to set up your .eth domain name using Ethereum Name Service (ENS).

But before you begin the ENS developer has two tips, "the first is to make sure to register multiple years rather than a single year to avoid paying gas to renew every year, as well as forgetting to renew. The second tip is to always have more than enough ether in your wallet. Even if the website says you need $30 worth of ether, the ether gas price may fluctuate".

1. Create a MetaMask wallet

MetaMask is not just an Ethereum Browser and Ether wallet, it can also hold cryptocurrencies and NFTs from other blockchains, such as the Binance Smart Chain and the Kucoin Community Chain.

A MetaMask wallet add-on can be installed on a mobile phone or on a PC via Chrome, Firefox, or Opera browsers.

Once the Metamask wallet add-on has been downloaded, click on add to Chrome, to install the MetaMask plugin.

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After installing, click on the MetaMask icon on the top right corner of the Google Chrome browser.

2. Create a Metamask password

Metamask will ask you to enter a password, confirm the password, and then click 'create' for a new Ethereum account.

Your new Ethereum (USD-ETH) address on your MetaMask wallet will be used to send ether from Coinbase to purchase your .eth name and it will also be the digital wallet address that will be linked to your .eth name.

This account allows users to send and receive cryptocurrencies, it also allows you to store NFTs, such as a .eth domain name.

An ENS Domain, the Ethereum Name Service, is a distributed blockchain-based naming system based on the Ethereum network.

You will use the ENS Domain register to facilitate the creation of your Ethereum name (.eth).

3. Create a Coinbase account

Next, you will have to set up a Coinbase account to add ether to your MetaMask wallet to pay the registration fee and the gas fees for your .eth name.

To do this you'll need to be at least 18 years old, have a government-issued photo ID as proof and have access to a computer or smartphone connected to the internet.

The Coinbase set-up will ask for your personal information and to identify your identity through a 2-step verification app and link a payment method to add fiat currency, such as pounds or dollars, to your account.

4. Fund your Coinbase account

On Coinbase you must now fund your account, to cover both registration for one year on ENS and the gas fees on the Ethereum network, you should fund your Coinbase account to at least $35, $5 for one year's ENS registration and $30 for the gas fees.

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Once you have purchased ethereum on Coinbase (COIN), you must then send your ethereum to your MetaMask wallet.

5. Send ether to your MetaMask wallet

To send your ethereum from Coinbase to your MetaMask wallet you will be asked to input a receiving address in Coinbase, at this point you must enter your MetMask wallet address.

You’re MetaMask address can be found by clicking on the three little black dots within your MetaMask plugin on Chrome, and by clicking on 'Copy Address to clipboard'.

Paste this address into the 'receive funds' input in your Coinbase account and send over an amount to the value of $35.

6. Log into ENS Manager

In your browser, go to manager.ens.domains. This website will ask if it can connect to MetaMask, to allow this you must enter your MetaMask password.

7. Search for your desired .eth name

Type into the 'Search names' field the .ETH name you’d like to migrate (including the '.ETH' ending), and click the 'Search' button.

If the name is already registered by someone else, you will see a page with information about the name’s ENS records and you may have to go onto a secondary market such as OpenSea to purchase the name.

8. Register your .eth name for a time period

If the name is available, you will be asked how long you’d like to register the name, one year will cost approximately $5 worth of ether.

When you have selected the time scale you can then Click the blue 'Request To Register' button on the bottom right of the screen.

A box should pop up from MetaMask asking you to confirm the transaction, click the 'Confirm' button to confirm it.

You will then see your transaction asking to be confirmed on your MetaMask wallet, showing the amount for your name registration, and the cost of the gas fees to settle the transaction.

This process should take less than one minute, a green bar in the middle of the screen will slowly advance across the screen to show that time is passing.

9. Final register and confirm the transaction on MetaMask

You will then see orange text stating, 'Click register to move to the 3rd step', click the blue button next to this statement that says 'Register'.

This will cause another MetaM––ask box to pop up, asking you to confirm another transaction that will finalise your name and pay your registration fee.

Click the 'Confirm; button and once the transaction is confirmed, your name is registered!

You now follow in the footsteps of talk show host Jimmy Fallon, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and brands such as Budweiser (BUD) and Puma with your new .ETH domain name.

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