Categories
Last updated
Last updated
The 79,720 Prepunk ENS domains are not monolithic; they encompass a diverse range of name types and characteristics reflecting the early experimentation and usage of the Ethereum Name Service. Understanding these subcategories adds depth to the historical context.
Here are some notable subcategories often discussed within the Prepunk community:
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Definition: Refers to the first 1,000 or 10,000 ENS domains ever registered, based on their finalization timestamp and corresponding row_number in historical databases.
Significance: These represent the absolute earliest adopters and often include foundational or highly desirable names. The cut-off for Top 1k is around May 13, 2017, and for Top 10k around May 20, 2017. This two categories are also available seperately on Vision.io
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Definition: Prepunk domains that consist entirely of numerical digits (e.g., 7770777.eth, 0000000.eth).
Significance: Numeric domains hold a special appeal in many naming systems, and these represent the first wave of purely numerical identities on ENS.
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Definition: 31 Prepunk domains containing one or more emoji characters.
Significance: These are among the very first instances of emojis being used as part of onchain digital identity, showcasing the flexibility of the early ENS protocol.
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Definition: Prepunk names that read the same forwards and backward (e.g., ).
Significance: Palindromes have a novelty appeal, and finding them within the Prepunk set highlights unique linguistic patterns among early registrations.
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Definition: Prepunks using characters outside the standard English alphabet (e.g., Cyrillic, Chinese, Arabic). (e.g., ).
Significance: Demonstrates the global reach and technical capability of ENS from its inception.
Malformed / Case-Sensitive Names:
Definition: Prepunks with unusual capitalization (e.g., ) and special characters that might not be easily normalized.
Significance: These are artifacts of the early system's flexibility; registered through direct smart contract interaction; bypassing UI and normalizations set in place by ENS and can sometimes be harder to interact with or verify if case is not handled correctly by tools.
Blank Spaces / Lost Names:
Definition: Prepunks whose original names were lost during ENS contract migrations, leaving only their hash in the records.
Significance: These are particularly unique historical artifacts. Some have been "recovered" by guessing the original name that produces the known hash. (See "Blank Spaces" section).
These categories often overlap (e.g., a Top 1k domain could also be an Prepunk Digit). Exploring these subcategories provides a richer understanding of the diversity and historical depth within the Prepunk collection.