Proposal for ENS DAO to Launch an Official Marketplace Dedicated for Trading ENS Domains

It is highly unlikely that the DAO will undertake any proposition of a centralised DAO-run exchange for ENS names since running an exchange requires licensing in each country and ENS DAO doesn’t have the legal capacity for it at the moment. However, the community is free to build a decentralised marketplace and I can imagine the DAO funding it in some form, but it sure won’t be running it in any capacity. The same DMCA notices that led to several names taken down from OpenSea “apply” to all centralised marketplaces irrespective of where they are legally founded; ENS DAO is legally residing in Caymans and Caymans is not unreachable. For instance, if ENS is served with a DMCA to take down a name on its imaginary marketplace, it will very likely do it because not doing it just makes it worse to continue operating. The best way forward is not an ENS-run marketplace, unfortunately. I am obviously severely understating the issues in running a centralised exchange; DMCA is only one of many issues standing in the way, e.g. GDPR in EU.

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