Expirations

What happens when a .ETH name expires if it is not renewed?

When a name expires, it enters a 90-day grace period where the original owner of the name has the exclusive right to reclaim the name. If the name is not renewed within the 90-day grace period the domain enters the 21-day premium period where anyone can register the name by paying the temporary premium.

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Grace Period

Once a name expires, a 90-day grace period is started, during which the original owner still has the exclusive right to renew and keep the name. If the original owner does not renew it before the end of the 90-day grace period, the name then becomes available for someone else to register during the premium period. You will have to extend the registration up to the current date to remove a name from its grace period. For example, on the very last day of the grace period, the name would have to be renewed for a minimum of 90 days to remove it from the grace period.

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Premium Period

After the 90-day grace period ends, the name becomes available for registration by anyone with a temporary premium that decreases over the course of 21 days. The released name will continue to resolve your ETH address until it is overwritten by the new owner. The premium beyond the normal registration price for any name starts at $100,000,000 the moment the name exits the grace period and decreases exponentially to $0 over a period of 21 days. So after 21 days the cost to register is the normal price of registration (e.g. $5/year for 5+ character names).