ENS DAO Proposal Launch News: 1 Million ENS Tokens and New Board Plan

ENS DAO Proposal News: New Foundation Plan and ENS Token Allocation

ENS DAO has introduced a fresh governance proposal titled "Empowering the ENS Foundation." 

The plan calls for a full-time operating foundation guided by a five-person board to manage the Endowment fund. It also proposes allocating 1 million tokens toward employee compensation. 

Importantly, tokenholders keep authority over the protocol, DAO-held tokens, the operational wallet, and board appointments, marking a major step for the project's governance structure.

ENS Foundation Proposal at a Glance

ENS DAO Launches New Proposal to Empower The Ecosystem

On July 31, 2026, delegate katherine.eth submitted a draft executable proposal building on a temp check first posted June 19. 

This ENS DAO new proposal launch outlines the next phase of governance: turning the Foundation into a genuine operating body, complete with a full-time Executive Director and dedicated staff. 

It responds directly to community feedback gathered during the temp check discussion, tightening provisions around treasury control, wallet custody, and tokenholder oversight. 

The goal is to separate day-to-day operational work — budgeting, grants administration, staffing, and vendor management — from constitutional matters that remain with onchain tokenholder governance.

Source: ENSDAO ETH X Post

ENS Foundation to Operate With a Five-Member Board

Under the proposal, the Board will hold five voting seats: one for Founder Nick Johnson (with succession to an ENS Labs representative if he departs), one for the Executive Director, and three for independent directors. 

The proposed inaugural slate names Alexander Urbelis as Executive Director, alongside Nick Johnson, Kartik Talwar, Brett Sun, and Anthony Leutenegger as directors. 

Independent directors would serve renewable two-year terms and receive 40,000 USDC annually, redirectable to a public good if declined.

Token holders Will Retain Protocol and Governance Control

A central theme of the proposal is preserving tokenholder authority. Protocol-level matters — smart contract upgrades, ENS token pricing and fee structures, root key and registry control, and constitutional amendments — stay entirely with tokenholders, and the Foundation has no say in these decisions. 

Tokenholders also retain power to appoint and remove directors, with a new documented petition process making removals transparent without weakening that authority. A formal removal vote under the Foundation's Articles remains effective regardless of whether this process was followed.

Source: Discuss_ens domains Website

1 Million ENS Tokens Proposed for Foundation Employee Compensation

The DAO currently holds roughly 54.6 million tokens, and this proposal carves out a single exception to tokenholder control: a one-time transfer of 1,000,000 tokens earmarked strictly for Foundation employee compensation. 

These tokens would follow a Board-approved framework featuring multi-year vesting, independent-director approval for grants to the Executive Director or any director, annual public reporting, and automatic reversion to the DAO treasury for anything ungranted. 

Until distributed, the tokens cannot be voted, delegated, lent, or used to pay Labs personnel, and any other use of DAO-held tokens would require a separate DAO vote.

ENS Endowment Gets New Treasury Oversight and Security Controls

The Endowment Safe, holding approximately $65 million in ETH and stablecoins as of July 2026, would shift to administrative control by the Foundation Board through approved signers. No funds move under this proposal — assets stay at the same address. 

A timelock applies to all Endowment transactions by default, and the Security Council retains the ability to cancel any timelocked transaction as a safeguard against unauthorized or erroneous transfers. 

The DAO's operational wallet, holding roughly $16 million, stays exactly where it is. The funding is capped at $500,000 for stand-up costs until a full budget is published, with the first annual budget due within 60 days of adoption.

ENS to Handle Grants, Policy and Ecosystem Operations

Beyond treasury matters, it would consolidate grant-making under a single Grants program supporting public goods and core infrastructure. 

It would also represent in policy circles such as ICANN, IETF, and W3C, and pursue stewardship recognition for the .ens_domain. The Labs remains a fully separate Singapore-based entity, licensing trademarks. 

The Service Provider Program will be folded into the Grants program, with existing streams honored through their natural conclusion.

Source: Website

What Happens Next?

This draft still needs its executable stage completed, including onchain transaction details for the Endowment safe control change, timelock module, and permission updates. 

From there, it proceeds through standard DAO governance — forum discussion, a Snapshot vote, and tokenholder approval — before the Foundation structure can take effect.

Timeline

• June 19, 2026: temp check posted 

• July 31, 2026: New executable proposal launched 

• Next stage: Onchain transactions and executable details finalized

• After approval: It begins operational setup, subject to governance conditions

Conclusion

This marks a significant governance evolution, aiming to professionalize operations while keeping core protocol authority firmly with tokenholders. 

If approved, it would establish clearer accountability structures, stronger treasury safeguards, and a defined path for ENS's long-term institutional growth.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Always conduct your own research before making decisions.