Introduction

The Optimism Foundation created a RFP for scaling ENS to Optimism in 2024. Now, Blockful and Unruggable are each working on scaling the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to the Optimism network, with Blockful receiving a grant of 40,000 OP tokens and Unruggable requesting 60,000 OP. The projects aim to enhance user experience, reduce gas costs, and facilitate the management of ENS subnames through dedicated services and tools on Optimism.

This article provides an overview and resources about each of these projects, as well as a comparison of each at the bottoms.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Optimism Foundation RFP
• Blockful ENS Project
• Video Overview
• Project Overview
• Unruggable ENS Project
• Project Overview:
• Comparison between Blockful and Unruggable
• Related Project

Optimism Foundation RFP

Here is the original RFP from Optimism on GitHub

Blockful ENS Project

https://app.charmverse.io/op-grants/scale-ens-to-op-blockful-official-ens-service-provider-6112748728814419

Blockful received a grant of 40,000 OP tokens from the Optimism Grants Council during Cycle 19 to scale the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to the Optimism network. This initiative aimed to establish a dedicated, production-ready gateway service on Optimism, develop comprehensive documentation and sample code for setting up ENS subname registrars, and provide ongoing support for developers. The project's goal was to facilitate the registration and management of ENS subnames on Optimism, thereby reducing gas costs and enhancing user experience.

• Scale ENS to OP | Blockful – Official ENS Service Provider:
• ENS v2 Design Doc
• Blockful-io Github repo
• Nameful is still in development but is already deployed in sepolia, you can register domains both on-chain and off-chain.

Video Overview

Recording:vme-ovto-jcn (2024-08-13 20:02 GMT+2)

Project Overview

• Name: Blockful – Scale ENS to OP

• Team Lead: Alex T. Netto (alextnetto.eth)

• Trust Tier: Ember

• Contact: alex@blockful.io

• Website: blockful.io

• GitHub: github.com/blockful-io

• Discord: Blockful Community

🧩 Team & Experience

• Blockful specializes in building blockchain public goods and DAO-focused applications.

• Team includes top ENS delegate Alex T. Netto, experienced smart contract engineers, and multiple hackathon winners.

🛠️ Past Work

• Helped evolve ENS protocol (e.g., NameWrapper, PublicResolver).

• Collaborated with Balancer + Aztec for private token swaps.

• Core contributors to open-source ENS infrastructure and tooling.

🎯 Project Goal

• Make ENS affordable and scalable on Optimism, especially for setting up records (e.g., avatars, Twitter handles) and subdomains.

• Address current limitations of projects like optinames.xyz, which lack decentralization, scalability, and open-source access.

🚀 Unique Value Proposition

• Build a trustless Merkle-tree-based resolver gateway using Optimism and the Superchain.

• Reduce ENS record transaction fees using L2.

• Use part of the grant to subsidize onboarding costs (e.g., cover gas fees for first-time users).

• Position Optimism as the first L2 to fully embrace ENS, increasing sequencer activity.

📊 Success Metrics

• Growth in ENS adoption on Optimism (from a 3M+ ENS user base).

• Increased transaction volume for ENS-related activity.

• Number of dApps integrating ENS on Optimism and Superchain.

🌱 Long-Term Vision

• Strengthen Optimism governance with technical expertise.

• Build ENS-focused public goods infrastructure.

• Run server infrastructure and gateway services beyond the grant scope.

🧪 Critical Milestones

1. Write ENS records on Optimism

2. Build relayer to subsidize user fees

3. Read ENS records from Optimism

4. Launch full domain management dApp

Unruggable ENS Project

https://app.charmverse.io/op-grants/unruggable-scale-ens-to-op-5406472169146335

Project Overview:

• Name: Unruggable - Scale ENS to OP

• Lead: Prem Makeig

• Grant Requested: 60,000 OP (from a 150,000 OP pool)

• Trust Tier: Fledgling

• Contact: premm@unruggable.com | Website | GitHub

• Demo App: optimism-demo.unruggablenames.com

🎯 Mission Goal:

To enable Optimism communities to easily create and manage ENS subnames using a custom L2 gateway service and audited tools.

✅ Core Deliverables (Milestones):

1. Optimism ENS Gateway Service (fully production-ready, with free tier)

2. Audited Demo Code & Documentation for easy deployment (even during a hackathon)

3. Community Support via Discord & hackathon participation

4. “Testimonials” milestone added to show real-world adoption

👥 Team Strengths:

• Prem: ENS smart contract contributor (e.g., NameWrapper), Ethereum developer since 2021

• Thomas: Experienced in Web2 domains, contributor since the original ENS auction in 2017, currently building Labelhash.com

🔗 What They’ve Built:

• ENS Chain prototype on Optimism

• PublicResolver + NameWrapper contributions

• Demo ENS subname registrar

• ENS Service Provider recognition from ENS DAO

🧪 Implementation Plan:

• Help communities like tina.opcommunity.eth create subnames

• Provide offchain gateway services for Optimism L2 name resolution via CCIP-Read

• Make ENS setup accessible for hackathon teams

🗓️ Launch Notes:

• DEV token for Scout Game (related project) is launching April 21

• Application initially submitted as an Indication of Interest; still under evaluation with public milestones not yet completed.

Comparison between Blockful and Unruggable

Related Project

Integrate Optimism Fractal with ENS (Ethereum Name Service)

Another option to research: 3ND on Optimism