The ENS Foundation

About the Foundation

The ENS Foundation is the legal entity behind the ENS DAO. This page sets out its history, its mandate, its board, and the documents it is governed by.

History

  1. Incorporated in the Cayman Islands as a foundation company limited by guarantee.

  2. The ENS DAO’s “Next Era of ENS DAO” executable, which took effect around 11 August 2026, expanded the Foundation’s mandate and restructured the board to five seats.

Seven responsibilities

Mandate

Since August 2026 the DAO has charged the Foundation with these responsibilities.

Trademarks and intellectual property
Holds and licenses the ENS trademarks and intellectual property.
Legal counterparty
Serves as the legal counterparty for the DAO.

Policy & standards

Standards bodies
Represents ENS at ICANN, the IETF, and the W3C.
The .ens top-level domain
Pursues .ens as a top-level domain.
Regulators
Engages with regulators.

Funding & oversight

Grants
Runs grants and takes over former working-group grant functions. The Service Provider Program (SPP) is absorbed into the Foundation’s Grants program once SPP3 winds down.
The Endowment
Acts as the oversight body for the ENS Endowment.

Board

The board has five seats: a founder seat, the Executive Director, and three independent directors.

  • Nick Johnson

    Founder seat

  • Alexander Urbelis

    Executive Director

  • Kartik Talwar

    Independent Director

  • Brett Sun

    Independent Director

  • Anthony Leutenegger

    Independent Director

Governing documents

Supervisor: DS Limited.