what is a dao?
DAO is short for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. DAOs are community governed organizations with no central authority.
Members of the DAO create proposals about the future operations of the protocol and then community members cast their vote on each proposal.
Unlike hierarchical organizations, under the DAO framework each member can participate in the decision making process, aligning individual and community incentives.
DAOs are fully autonomous and transparent, their rules are defined by smart contracts, which are programming code publicly available that can be audited.
MakerDAO
MakerDAO is a for profit organization created to allow people to lend and borrow money using cryptocurrencies.
BigGreenDAO
BigGreenDAO is a non profit DAO created by Elon Musk’s brother to disrupt the philanthropic hierarchies and reduce overhead spending.
FlamingoDAO
FlamingoDAO is an NFT focused DAO that collectively invests in the NFT space, it started functioning in October 2020 with an initial funding of $23.000. It’s now worth an estimated $1 billion. 215 CryptoPunks and 22 Bored Apes are part of its collection.
ConstitutionDAO
ConstitutionDAO was formed by a group that raised money to try to buy one of the original copies of the United States Constitution at an auction held by Sotheby’s.
The purpose and mission of DAOs can be as varied as the people that band together to create them.
For profit, charity, crowdfunding, litigation or investing, a DAO can be formed to pool together resources for any set of goals a group of people with a common vision can think of.
Need to create a DAO for an existing organization or a new project?
• What decisions need to be made?
• How can they be structured into governance proposals?
• What tools can be used to help govern?
• Should financial incentives be used? What kind and why?
