The Three Stages After Expiry
When an ENS name expires, nothing dramatic happens immediately. There are three distinct phases, and understanding them changes how you should think about renewal timing.
Stage 1 — Expired but Protected (90 Days)
The day your registration ends, the name enters a grace period that lasts 90 days. During this window:
- You still own the name. No one else can register it.
- You can renew at the standard annual price, same as any normal renewal.
- Your name still resolves. If you have set a primary name or wallet records, those records remain active.
Most holders who miss their renewal date get a second chance here. The grace period exists precisely because people forget. Set a calendar reminder for 30 days before expiry — or use a tool like ENS's own notification system.
Stage 2 — Temporary Premium (21 Days)
If you do not renew during the grace period, the name becomes available to anyone. But not at the standard price.
ENS applies a temporary premium via a Dutch auction that starts at 100 ETH and decays exponentially over 21 days, eventually reaching $0 above the standard registration fee. The math looks like this in practice:
- Day 1 of availability: ~100 ETH premium (only worth it for extremely high-value names)
- Day 7: premium is down to a few ETH
- Day 14: under 0.1 ETH above standard price
- Day 21: effectively standard price
The premium is designed to prevent sniping bots from immediately grabbing expired names at the lowest possible cost. It gives the original owner one last expensive window, and it gives everyone a fair shot as the premium decays.
Stage 3 — Standard Registration
After 21 days, the name registers at the normal annual price. First come, first served.
What Happens to Your Records When a Name Expires
Your resolver records do not get wiped. But they become orphaned — the name no longer points anywhere for resolution purposes because ownership has lapsed. If someone new registers the name, they start with a blank slate and can set new records. Your old IPFS content hash or wallet address association is gone from that name's perspective.
The Most Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Confusing expiry date with grace period end. If your ENS dashboard shows an expiry date, that is when Stage 1 begins — not when you lose the name. You have 90 more days from that date.
Mistake 2: Renewing too late in the grace period. Renewal transactions take time to confirm. Do not wait until hour 23 of day 90.
Mistake 3: Not setting up notifications. The ENS manager at app.ens.domains lets you connect an email or push notification for upcoming expirations. Use it.
Bulk Renewal
If you hold multiple ENS names, renewing them one at a time is expensive in gas. ENS supports bulk renewal through their official interface, which batches all renewals into a single transaction.
You can also check expiry dates for all your names at once using a bulk checker — which is exactly what this tool does. Paste in the names you hold, and you will see both availability status and expiry dates for anything that is registered.