Crypto domain tool Ethereum Name Service may have only just launched its native ENS governance token on Monday, but already the tokens have hit a fully diluted market capitalization of $5.4 billion, according to crypto data aggregator CoinGecko.

“Fully diluted” refers to the market capitalization if the total supply of ENS tokens were in circulation. ENS has a maximum supply of 100,000,000 tokens, of which only a tenth are currently in circulation. 

In the last few minutes alone, the price of ENS has surged to hit a high of $53.58. It’s currently ranked the 176th largest crypto in the world, with a market capitalization of $586 million. 

Often with emerging technologies, we need to look back in order to look forward. In this case, we need to look back at the history of the Internet.  

ENS is the blockchain equivalent of the Domain Name System. 

In the time before domain names–back when the web was still in its embryonic phase–users had to enter IP addresses to get to the websites they wanted. These days, Internet users couldn't fathom doing the same, especially now that every browser has a handy integrated search bar that will often get you to your destination with a simple keyword. 

Like the Internet in the 1990s, crypto is still in its early days. To send anyone money, you need to have their wallet’s blockchain address, which is even longer and trickier than an IP address. Ethereum Name Service hopes to do away with this by enabling people to register their blockchain addresses as .eth domains. 

Ethereum Name Service was set up by Ethereum Foundation alumnae Nick Johnson and Alex Van de Sande, who received a $1 million grant from the Foundation to continue their research and development of ENS. 

It also looks like CoinbaseCoinbase is onboard. Eagle-eyed Ross Campbell, one of the core developers at crypto exchange SushiSwap, tweeted the news on Saturday that Coinbase was one of 1,013 candidates to apply to be an ENS DAO delegate. 

Coinbase applying as ENS DAO delegate is something I didn't expect https://t.co/6I1VrjG3W6

— ross (@r_ross_campbell) November 6, 2021

In Coinbase’s application, which you can view via Ross’s tweet, the organization stressed that it is in complete agreement with the proposed ENS constitution, and promises to “bring [its] deep collective expertise to the table with the goal of helping ENS and the crypto ecosystem flourish.”

There you have it. A crypto startup is flying today and one of the world’s foremost crypto exchanges is but a plucky candidate.