If you registered a .eth name in ENS's 2017 auction and never withdrew your deposit, you can still reclaim it at reclaim.ens.domains. On 2 August 2020, nearly 280,000 names from the 2017 auction were released and their deposits became available — as of the V0-stated figures, over 130,000 deeds remain unclaimed and around 20,000 ETH is still waiting to be withdrawn.
Important: Only the original deed owner can reclaim a deposit. The tool looks up historical ownership from 2017, not current ENS ownership. If you've moved wallets, you'll need to reclaim from the original wallet.
Good to know
A deed is the deposit you placed when you registered a name in the 2017 auction. It's separate from the current ENS NFT — reclaiming the deed doesn't affect any name you currently own.
You receive the second-highest bid amount, not the amount you bid (see "How much will I get back?" below).
Reclaiming is one transaction per deed — they can't be batched. Needs ETH on Ethereum Mainnet for gas — no other cost.
Check if you have an unclaimed deposit
Go to reclaim.ens.domains.
Search by Ethereum address or
.ethname.Read the result:
No results found — no deed available to reclaim.
Exact match — a name with a reclaimable deposit.
Address search — every deed still tied to that address.
How much will I get back?
You'll receive the second-highest bid amount from the original auction, not the amount you bid.
ENS's 2017 auction used a sealed-bid mechanism: every bidder locked up their bid amount as a deposit, but the winner only paid what the second-highest bidder bid. The difference was refunded when you finalised the auction. What's left in the deed is the second-highest bid.
You bid | Second-highest bid | You got back at finalisation | Reclaimable now |
1 ETH | 0.1 ETH | 0.9 ETH | 0.1 ETH |
Withdraw the ETH
Connect your wallet. The tool reads your address and shows any unclaimed deposits.
Click Prepare on the deed you want to reclaim.
Approve in your wallet. The deposit lands in the connected wallet.
Repeat for each deed — reclaims can't be batched into a single transaction.
Common Questions
Can I reclaim someone else's deed?
No. The contract only releases the deposit to the original 2017 deed owner — the address that placed the bid. There's no transfer or delegation option.
What if my original 2017 wallet is lost?
If you no longer have access to the wallet that placed the original bid, you can't reclaim the deed. The deposit stays in the contract.
Does reclaiming affect the .eth name itself?
No. Reclaiming returns the locked deposit. The current ENS NFT for that name (if any) is separate — it's not touched by the reclaim transaction.
For developers
The reclaim subgraph is public — query deed ownership and amounts directly: ENS Deed Reclaim Subgraph.
What's next?