The Eightfold Path to DAOism
DAOs grew rapidly in 2021, but there has been little clarity on what these new organizations are. Here's our framework on the eight properties that make up a DAO.
DAOs, decentralized autonomous organizations, have recently regained the attention of the crypto community. A new DAO seems to popup everyday—from collective NFT buyers to syndicate DAO frameworks. Not only has consumer excitement for DAOs exploded, organizations of different shapes and sizes are increasingly eager to begin their journey to decentralization.
Yet, throughout this DAO boom, there has been little clarity on what these new organizations really are. Formal definitions are a good place to start when things are new, but there does not seem to be one for DAO—even though many attempts have been made. What makes a DAO, a DAO? Why is it that we, as end-users, can so freely join and cooperate with new frens in the DAOs we love? And what could be useful tools for DAOs to optimize for cooperation and coordination?
In this article, we will walk through how we think about these topics at Orca Protocol—starting from the basics.