im pretty bearish on ENS long-term

imo any sufficiently popular cryptosocial product will generate native demand for their own namespace, and be able to charge rent for identities. it'll be more profitable than co-opting ENS

the only truly canonical, interoperable identity is an ethereum address

Sure, but as more web3 social apps come online why wouldn’t namespace rent get commoditized to 0 (as it’s just a barrier to onboarding). I imagine apps will find more lucrative and differentiated ways to monetize that leverage new incentive models with tokenization, etc.

Crypto. Prev. Product at ConsenSys, Intuit

1. I actually don't think it is a barrier to onboarding. One of the most exciting parts about joining a new platform is picking your name

2. only the most popular platforms will be able to charge high rent. others will get driven to zero

1. It can be. I was just referring to paying for a name as the barrier

2. Yeah, it will likely be variable. Namespace will be less costly or free in the beginning and then will become more valuable as the platform and ecosystem of compatible products grows around it over time