A .eth name is yours for the time you pay for. After expiry it doesn't disappear — it runs through a 90-day Grace Period and then a 21-day Temporary Premium window before returning to normal availability. What you can do at each stage depends on which window the name is in.
Lifecycle at a glance
Stage | Length | Who can act | What it costs |
Registered | The duration you paid for | The owner controls records; anyone can extend | Standard fee + gas |
Expired | The moment registration ends | Anyone can extend at the standard price | Standard renewal fee + gas |
Grace Period | 90 days after expiry | Anyone can extend; nobody else can register | Standard renewal fee + gas |
Temporary Premium | 21 days after Grace Period | Anyone can register; no priority for the previous owner | Standard fee + decaying premium ($100M → $0) |
Available again | Indefinitely, after Temporary Premium | Anyone can register | Standard fee + gas |
Registered
You own the name and control its records — ETH Address, text records, subnames — until the registration expires.
Good to know
A
.ethname can't be burned, destroyed, or released before its expiry date.The expiry date can't be made shorter.
Anyone can extend any
.ethname at any time. Extending doesn't change ownership.
What you can do: Change records, transfer the name, set a Primary Name, create subnames. Extend the registration at any time to push the expiry date forward — see How do I extend my .eth name?
Expired
The registration's end date has passed. The name still points at its records, so apps that resolve it still work — but the name is frozen. You can't change the ETH Address, set records, transfer the name, or list it on a marketplace.
What you can do: Extend the registration to unfreeze the name. The name is now in Grace Period — see the next stage for the rules during that window.
Grace Period (90 days after expiry)
A .eth name stays in Grace Period for 90 days after expiry. During that window the original owner can still extend it at the standard renewal price — nobody else can register it. Anyone can extend any .eth name; extending doesn't change ownership.
Important: When you extend a name in Grace Period, the added time runs from the original expiry date, not from today. If a name expired 60 days ago and you extend by 30 days, it's still in Grace Period for another 30 days. To fully exit Grace Period, extend by more than the time already past expiry.
What you can do:
Extend the name at the standard renewal price to bring it back to Registered. See How do I extend my .eth name?
Do nothing and lose the name when the 90 days run out — at which point it enters Temporary Premium and has to be registered as new.
For the deeper Grace Period guide, see What is a Grace Period?
Temporary Premium (21 days after Grace Period)
After Grace Period ends, the name enters Temporary Premium and has to be registered as new — not extended. The previous owner has no priority. Anyone can register the name by paying the current premium plus the standard annual registration fee.
The premium starts at $100 million and decays to $0 over 21 days. You can watch the price drop in real time in the ENS App.
What you can do:
Register now at the current premium price. The name is yours.
Wait for the price to drop, knowing anyone can register at any point — waiting carries the risk that someone else registers first.
For the full guide, see What is a Temporary Premium?
Available again
If nobody registers the name during the 21-day window, the premium drops to $0 and the name returns to normal availability — the same as any other open name. Register it at the standard fee: 3-character names $640/yr · 4-character $160/yr · 5+ character $5/yr. See full pricing.
Common questions
Does extending a name in Grace Period transfer ownership?
No. Anyone can extend any .eth name; extending doesn't change ownership. If a different wallet extends the name during Grace Period, the name stays with its current owner — the payer just pushes the expiry date forward as a courtesy.
Can I extend a name that's in Temporary Premium?
No. Once Grace Period ends, the name has to be registered as new — not extended. The previous owner has no priority over anyone else trying to register it.
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