Good to know
You must be the current owner to transfer your name, and you'll need ETH for gas fees.
ENS cannot undo transactions or restore access to hacked wallets.
No ENS administrator can change your name's ownership for you.
You cannot transfer ownership during the Grace Period after expiration.
When you re-register after the Grace Period ends, you get a new NFT—the old one is destroyed.
How can I save my .eth name from a compromised wallet?
Ownership Recovery Basics
To transfer your .eth name (like bob.eth), the current owner must sign an on-chain transaction. Your compromised wallet needs ETH to cover gas fees for the transfer.
A Common Mix up
First, check if your name expired and someone else registered it—this is different from a hack. You can confirm this by viewing the latest registration date in the Ownership tab.
Understanding Compromised Wallets
Once a wallet’s seed phrase is compromised, there is no way to reverse it - it should be abandoned permanently.
Hackers typically drain compromised wallets within minutes.
Hackers use sweeper bots that steal any ETH or NFTs you send to the compromised wallet instantly.
Your .eth name is an NFT. Whoever controls the wallet holding this NFT controls the name, its records, and settings.
You can only transfer ownership while your name is actively registered—not during Grace Period or after release.
Method 1 - Waiting for Sweeper Bots to go Inactive
Sweeper bots sometimes stop running after weeks or months, giving you a window to recover your name. However:
Sending ETH might wake the bot up, and it could steal your funds before your transfer completes.
Warning: Waiting risks losing your name forever.
Method 2 - Waiting for Expiry & Re-Registration
Waiting for expiration and re-registering carries these risks:
The hacker transfers your name to themselves before it expires.
Anyone extends the registration (any wallet can renew a name, not just the owner).
Someone else registers your name during the Dutch auction or standard registration.
Method 3 - Using Flashbots to Attempt Recovery
You can recover your name if you're still the registered owner. Advanced users can try these open-source Flashbots tools to rescue assets from compromised wallets:
FlashbotsBundlerUI – React app for building Flashbots bundles.
flashbots-ens-rescue – tool for ENS recovery.
⚠ ENS does not support these community-built tools, and they may not be actively maintained.
Best Practices to Avoid Future Issues
Store names in a cold wallet, while using it across warm and hot wallets. See Protect Your ENS Name with Multi-Wallet Security
Use a hardware wallet
Use multi-signature wallets
Stay vigilant and always verify you're on official Apps before connecting your wallet.