Puma Purchases ENS-Based Domain, Rebrands As PUMA.eth On X

On February 21, 2022, the global sports brand Puma marked its Web3 commitment and joined the ranks of major brands by securing its own .ETH domain.

welcome PUMA.eth (@PUMA) 🤝 https://t.co/BuPplzfJgR

— ens.eth (@ensdomains) February 21, 2022

ENS domains are Web3’s version of usernames stored on the blockchain to point toward personal websites and profile information. Similar to the concept of email addresses or social media handles, these names are issued as on-chain assets to associate a specific identity with digital wallets and other on-chain data.

According to blockchain data, the brand received the ENS name on the secondary market from an account named ApedBore on February 11, 2022. In an audit of the asset’s historical transactions, ApedBore first received the Puma.eth domain in December 2021 – with two other domains for a total of 9.99 ETH. Such activity is akin to the early days of the Web when individuals “parked” common words as domain names and then sold them on the secondary market to large enterprises for a profit. For example, according to Wikipedia, the voice.com domain sold for US$30 million in 2019.

Taking its domain purchase one step further, Puma rebranded its account name on X (previously Twitter) from Puma to Puma.eth. This is becoming a relatively common practice across various Web3 brands to show ownership of a dot-ETH name while gaining some publicity for their blockchain holdings.

This action has enabled users to more easily observe Puma’s new and historical NFT holdings, which include the investment in multiple feline-themed collections like Cool Cats NFT, Lazy Lions, Gutter Cat Gang, and CatBlox.

By registering Puma.eth through the ENS, Puma has positioned itself alongside other forward-thinking brands like Nike, Gucci, and Budweiser (an Anheuser-Busch InBev brand), which have all also adopted their own .ETH domains.