“There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.” – Idowu Koyenikan
As non-fungible tokens revolutionized art and decentralized finance revolutionized the world of finance, DAOs are revolutionizing organizational structure. The increasing popularity of DAOs led to 2022 being termed as the Year of the DAO, not just in the world of Web3, but for wider audiences. DAOs even garnered a spot at SXSW, an interactive festival at the intersection of arts and technology.
MetaMask Institutional (MMI) has also been paying attention to this increasing popularity of DAOs. In what we’re calling the ‘Month of DAO’, MMI along with DAO strategists from the ConsenSys Cryptoeconomic Research team will explore topics such as DAO funding, regulation and tooling. Let’s begin with a refresher on DAOs and their different types.
What are DAOs?
A DAO, or “Decentralized Autonomous Organization,” is a community-led entity with no central authority. It is fully autonomous and transparent: smart contracts lay the foundational rules, execute the agreed upon decisions, and at any point, proposals, voting, and even the very code itself can be publicly audited.
Types of DAOs include, but are not limited to:
- Protocol DAOs – these DAOs, such as MakerDAO, focus on governance of decentralized protocols
- Investment or Grant DAOs – Investment or Grant DAOs such as MetaCartel or Moloch DAO allow members to invest funds as a group.
- Collector DAOs – a Collector DAO allows for members to pool funds, and collect, sell, and issue NFTs.
- Social DAOs – these are communities built around a shared common interest or purpose.
In 2022, there has been an explosion in the number of DAOs. The number of DAOs increased to more than 6000 in June 2022, from only 700 in May 2021. DAOs have truly entered the public lexicon, and hence, the year of the DAO.
Yet as the Web3 ecosystem continues to grow and mature, there are issues DAOs face as they look to scale. We explored some of these concerns in our most recent workshop at MCON and brainstormed with the attendees the different paths forward for DAOs.
What we’re exploring in the Month of DAO
In the Month of DAO, MMI, and our DAO strategists will be looking into following areas that are concerning DAOs.
- Governance: Is DAO governance failing? We say no, but join us as we delve into decentralization and governance.
- Security: What are common themes when talking about DAO security? We speak with some of our favorite DAOs to get their views.
- DAO Tooling: What are some different tools currently out there and how do they benefit DAOs? These will be the first of many that will continue well past our Month of DAO.
- How DAOs are Funded: What are different ways DAOs are funded? Token sales, NFT issuances, and more!
- Taxation and Regulation: What are some uncertainties surrounding taxation and regulation of DAOs? Our DAO experts explore.
- Treasury Management: What is your hierarchy of needs? Why DAOs should spend time on treasury management and making those tough decisions.
And most importantly, we want to hear from you! Join us for an online workshop to discuss together challenges your DAO is currently facing and ideate on ways forward. Sign up for your spot here!
Keep an eye out for more things to come!
MetaMask Institutional offers DAOs the unrivaled reach of MetaMask along with multi-sig approval capabilities. Find out more here.
