DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. That might include any organization seeking profit for its work services. However, such an organization has to have no strict hierarchy or management system. Decisions are not supposed to be made just by managers or bosses, but instead, every single opinion is taken into account. And you may ask, who is the most important player? Well, that’s just good old computer code. It has received such an honorary title since it allows for reaching any goal set.
The process of decision-making looks like that: first of all, investors, that is, the organization’s members suggest all possible ideas regardless of their status or of how many tokens they hold. Then there’s a vote on said ideas; the result will be implemented via, of course, smart contracts.
There are still actual employees. However, their recruitment requirements, pay, working conditions, and other rights and obligations are directly written into lines of code. DAOs have become the gates to the future due to completely innovating both management and decision-making. After all, what could sound better than the complete lack of offices, bosses, long meetings, and everything else we hate so much about the corporate world? Right, absolutely nothing.
How about cryptocurrencies?
DAOs have gained ground in every single field you might think of. This includes but is not limited to:
- Investment DAOs where crypto-rich buyers team together to back projects by investing and facilitating cryptocurrency transactions.
- There’s also a direct link between DAOs and the world of NFTs. Not only do such systems allow collectors to find what they are looking for but also ease the process of communication between the buyer and the seller. For example, Rarible, a decentralized NFT marketplace and minting platform, has been able to bridge the gap between digital artists and their audiences through the creation of its own DAO.
- Next we would like to introduce DAOs for… DAOs. Such organizations have collected all tools necessary for building DAOs from the ground up, including smart contracts, networks, and algorithms.
- Blockchain actors are usually found through DAOs too — such organizations will help you find developers, architects, regulators, operators, analysts, membership services, etc.
- Then there are educational DAOs such as Odyssey DAO that allow all interested persons to learn about web3.
- And last but not least, production and trade. In the not-too-distant future when DAOs overtake the world, there will be no managers or bosses, just actors performing tasks described in smart contracts.
Pros and cons
Let’s do a quick recap. DAOs’ advantages are:
- the inclusivity during voting
- saying no to hierarchies, yes to implementing a flexible workplace
- accessibility to every possible resource for everyone
Now to cons:
- possible cyber attacks
- a complicated relationship with authorities due to the lack of regulation
- slower decision-making speed
Despite the fact that DAOs’ disadvantages seem to be quite serious, it’s important to note that this idea is still relatively young. But it will surely mature and grow into a beautiful system since DAOs are already showing promising results.