附近上门

If you鈥檙e into crypto, online communities, or American history, you鈥檝e probably heard of a DAO at this point.聽

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DAOs aren鈥檛 new, but they鈥檙e becoming more mainstream, so we thought we鈥檇 break down what they are, how they work and why they鈥檙e becoming more relevant.聽

How DAOs work

Shorthand for decentralized autonomous organization, a DAO is more or less an online community that鈥檚 owned and controlled by its members. It鈥檚 different from most organizations in that there isn鈥檛 a hierarchy–members have equal power and vote as a group to make decisions.

DAOs are governed by their smart contract, , which lays out the group鈥檚 rules and can鈥檛 be changed without a group vote. DAOs operate on blockchain technology, so transactions and the group鈥檚 rules are recorded on the ledger.聽聽

Because of the transparent nature of DAOs, they鈥檝e been used to organize strangers on the internet and crowdfund toward a common cause.聽

How is it related to crypto?

DAOs run on blockchain tech, and funds raised by DAOs are part of a 鈥渟hared crypto wallet,鈥� . The money raised by DAOs are often in some form of cryptocurrency.

Why is everyone talking about them?

DAOs aren鈥檛 new, but they gained more mainstream attention last week after a group organized to raise money to bid on a copy of the United States Constitution, which was up for auction at . According to a from ConstitutionDAO, the group raised more than $40 million from more than 17,000 people to bid on the copy. While ConstitutionDAO didn鈥檛 win the auction ( CEO Ken Griffin was the highest bidder and paid more than $43 million for the copy of the Constitution), it did bring together thousands of people for a common cause, and marked the first time 厂辞迟丑别产测鈥檚 worked with a DAO.

Another example of a DAO working toward buying a collectible was when the group PleasrDAO raised $4 million to buy the only existing copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album last summer.聽

What鈥檚 next?

As more businesses start accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment and digital collectibles become more popular, it鈥檚 likely that DAOs will continue to form and raise money to buy digital and physical goods. Most recently, , raising more than $1.7 million so far.

So whether it鈥檚 bidding on the Constitution, buying a Wu-Tang Clan album or attempting to acquire an NBA Team, it seems anything is possible in an economy where DAOs are a thing.

Illustration: Dom Guzman