ENS tokenholders approve a restructured Foundation with a full-time board and staff

The Ethereum Name Service has crossed a significant governance milestone. According to the official ENS blog, the "Next Era of ENS DAO" proposal passed a tokenholder vote on August 11, with the related onchain execution completed shortly after. The vote gives @ensdomains Foundation a formal structure it previously lacked: a five-member board, an executive director, and full-time staff.

What the Foundation Can Now Do

Before the vote, the DAO structure carried real operational limitations. The protocol had no legal entity capable of signing contracts, enforcing trademarks, or hiring employees directly. That changes with the restructured Foundation, which can now hold ENS trademarks and brand assets, pursue action against scams and impersonation, and engage regulators and policymakers directly on issues affecting decentralized naming.

Crucially, the Foundation will also formally represent ENS at the organisations that shape the architecture of the internet. The Foundation can participate actively in ICANN, IETF, W3C, and adjacent forums, pursue recognition and stewardship of the .ens TLD, and coordinate with SEAL and the DNS infrastructure community. ICANN oversees the global domain name system, while the IETF and W3C set the technical standards that underpin how the internet and web operate.

Tokenholder Protections Remain in Place

The restructuring does not strip the DAO of its assets or authority. The DAO's $ENS tokens, representing 54.6% of total $ENS supply, remain with the DAO and fully under tokenholder control, with one approved exception: a one-time transfer of 1 million $ENS to fund employee compensation at the Foundation.

Tokenholders retain the authority to appoint or remove Foundation directors. The Foundation handles the offchain work needed to support the protocol, while its board oversees operations and ensures that ecosystem contributors, including ENS Labs, are funded sustainably.

On the security side, endowment transactions will now pass through a nine-day timelock that the Security Council retains the power to cancel, preserving a meaningful check on large capital movements.

The vote resolves months of turbulent debate inside the ENS community. Restructuring was driven by delegate fatigue, limited accountability from grant recipients, and the DAO's challenges in executing long-term capital strategy through token voting alone. Critics had argued earlier drafts of the proposal risked centralising power away from tokenholders, though the final executable appears to have secured sufficient community support to pass onchain.

ENS said the DAO structure alone had limits in carrying out off-chain work such as signing contracts, hiring employees, protecting trademarks, and participating in regulatory discussions , framing the restructuring as a necessary evolution rather than a retreat from decentralisation.

Sources:
ENS Blog: Introducing the Evolved ENS Foundation
Crypto Briefing: ENS DAO Governance Proposal Analysis
Bloomingbit: ENS DAO Approves Foundation Restructuring