Of all the most memorable moments of the latest boom in the token space, perhaps the most bizarre of all of them was a community-run campaign to acquire a physical copy of the US Constitution. “ConstitutionDAO” raised over $45 million in an Ethereum crowdfunding campaign but was ultimately unsuccessful in bidding for the rare manuscript in a Sotheby’s auction. Nonetheless, the headline-grabbing story highlighted one of the most promising innovations in the token space: Decentralised Autonomous Organisations.
Ethereum adoption and the rise of DAOs
Over the last few years, the Ethereum network has welcomed many new adopters. We’ve seen many promising Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (otherwise known as DAOs) like ConstitutionDAO form. DAOs are decentralised communities that gather on the Internet around a core set of values, and their rules are immutably embedded in code on the blockchain. This means that DAOs can offer a higher degree of transparency over traditional organisations like companies.
DAOs typically use tokens to represent membership, and those tokens can be used to vote in key decisions related to the organisation. In many cases, members can receive token payments for contributions they make to the DAO. The earliest examples of successful DAOs took off within Ethereum’s decentralised finance ecosystem, with token holders voting on how protocols should evolve.
Limitless potential
However, in more recent years, DAOs have formed around all kinds of interests and causes. Some of my personal favourites include SquiggleDAO, whose members need to hold a Chromie Squiggle NFT or the DAO’s token. I’m also a fan of PleasrDAO, the group established to acquire a piece by popular crypto artist pplpleasr. PleasrDAO bought a copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” showing that DAOs can manifest all kinds of wild ideas.
The DAOs of the Future Collection
As DAOs typically use tokens, they support token.com’s thesis of a tokenized future. We’re building for a world where people can freely invest in their interests and the world around them. As the token ecosystem evolves, people will form DAOs according to their interests—and the world have millions of tokens. In fact, the huge promise of the DAO space was fundamental to our development of token.com. That’s why we curated a Collection dedicated to The DAOs of the Future, including Aave, Ethereum Name Service, and more.
“DAOs could upend the crowdfunding space altogether.”
When we start to think about tokenized incentives, we can see that DAOs could be incredibly powerful. They’ll do more than gather to buy old transcripts or unite art fans. DAOs could upend the crowdfunding space altogether with a more open alternative—and it may not stop there. If tokenization fulfils its potential, DAO-like structures could replace many traditional hierarchical structures. That could lead to a more equal society that empowers individuals shape their communities. It’s part of the reason we’re all here working on bringing tokenization to mass adoption today.
Mel Gelderman, CEO of token.com
Read more via CoinTelegraph here.
Please note: Investing in cryptoassets is risky. Due to the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, investors run the risk of losing their funds when they make an investment. Returns from cryptoasset investing are not guaranteed, therefore users should always be aware of the risks.
