The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a decentralized naming system built on Ethereum that transforms complex hexadecimal addresses into human-readable names like "vitalik.eth".

.eth names are ERC-721 NFTs, so each registered name has an owner and can be transferred. Beyond address mapping, ENS can also store profile data like avatars, social links, email, and more.

This makes ENS a powerful identity layer for Web3, enabling users to build portable, decentralized profiles that work across applications.