What is a DAO
As the blockchain and Web3 bleed further into the mainstream, new acronyms are tossed around regularly, including DAO. A DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization, an internet-native entity that operates without hierarchies or managers in exchange for native tokens. Unlike traditional companies and organizations, which are held together by legal contracts and layers of management, DAOs operate by code that is fully transparent, verifiable, and self-executing.
DAOs are built to address what is known as the principal-agent problem. This is the inherent conflict between a person or group (the principal) and those making decisions and acting on their behalf (the agent). In order to solve this problem, DAOs provide incentives for people to act in ways that benefit the community as a whole. This can be done through a mechanism that is commonly referred to as “skin in the game.” Basically, a DAOs requires participants to hold some cryptocurrency or digital assets as a way of incentivizing them to make decisions that benefit the DAO as a whole.
Another way DAOs are being used is to help fund or support other blockchain-based projects. The idea is that users can invest in a DAO to get involved with other projects and in turn receive a share of the profits or success of those projects. This is a very popular method of funding and supporting early-stage startups and other decentralized projects.
What is a DAO and How Does it Function?
The rules that govern a DAO are established via smart contracts that are fully visible, transparent, and verified. Once these smart contracts are created, the DAO is then deployed onto the blockchain and its operation begins. Once a DAO is up and running, its creators no longer have any control over it other than to ensure that the smart contracts continue to work as intended. Any changes to the structure of a DAO must be proposed through proposals and voted upon, with the winning proposal then being implemented automatically.
Depending on the structure, a DAO may require members to contribute money or labor in exchange for voting rights. This can be done either through direct cryptocurrency contributions or a form of crowdsourcing. For example, some DAOs allow people to participate in environmental monitoring through sensors by contributing their data and reward them for this service using the DAO’s own tokens.
In addition to voting, many DAOs also have an incentive system for users. For example, the Uniswap DAO lets its token holders vote on how to distribute the protocol fees it collects amongst themselves and other stakeholders.
While DAOs have been very successful in solving problems like the principal-agent problem and providing an alternative to traditional companies, they are still not without their own set of challenges. One significant challenge is security, as DAOs are vulnerable to hackers and crypto heists are becoming more commonplace. For this reason, DAOs need to be backed by a secure and robust infrastructure that will prevent these kinds of attacks from occurring. This means ensuring that the DAO’s code is designed and written properly, as well as creating a strong community that will protect it from cyberattacks.