Ethereum Name Service has approved a major governance and operating restructure that changes how responsibilities are split between its DAO, foundation and core development team. On Aug. 11, ENS said its “Next Era of ENS DAO” proposal passed through governance with roughly 70% support and has already been executed on-chain.

The plan turns the ENS Foundation into a more independent operating body with full-time leadership, staff and a five-member board, while moving several non-technical functions out of the DAO’s direct remit. It also gives the foundation control of the protocol’s roughly $65 million endowment and oversight of protocol revenue.

Foundation takes on broader operating role

Under the approved plan, the ENS Foundation will be recast as an independent organization responsible for work that sits outside core protocol engineering. ENS said that includes engagement with external bodies such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, along with trademark protection and policy development.

The new structure also formalizes the foundation’s internal setup. It will have a full-time executive director, dedicated staff and a board made up of five members. Token holders will retain a direct governance lever by being able to appoint or remove foundation directors.

ENS Labs shifts focus to protocol development

As the foundation assumes more of the operational and external-facing workload, ENS Labs is expected to concentrate on technical execution. ENS said the team will focus on core technology development, including ENSv2, which it described as the next-generation version of the protocol.

The division of responsibilities is part of a broader revamp of how ENS is operated. Rather than keeping off-chain administration and protocol engineering under the same umbrella, the approved proposal separates those functions between the foundation and ENS Labs.

Endowment and revenue oversight move to the foundation

One of the most significant changes in the approved package is financial control. The ENS Foundation will take charge of the ENS Endowment, a fund of roughly $65 million that was built from .eth domain registration fees.

The foundation will also assume oversight of protocol revenue. At the same time, ENS DAO will continue to manage its existing token holdings, which ENS said represent about 54.6% of the total ENS supply.

Board composition and immediate funding changes

ENS said the inaugural board will include founder Nick Johnson, Executive Director Alexander Urbelis and three independent directors. That gives the foundation a defined initial leadership group as the new governance model begins operating.

The DAO will also make a one-time transfer of 1 million ENS tokens to the foundation to fund employee compensation. The vote approving the overhaul has already been executed on-chain, making the restructure an immediate operational change rather than a longer-term proposal awaiting implementation.

Source: en.bloomingbit.io