Understanding DAO Ecosystem in One Article

What is DAO?

The DAO (Data Access Object) we are familiar with is an object-oriented database interface. However, when the industry discusses digital currency or blockchain, DAO has a new interpretation.

They are the "Distributed Autonomous Organization" DAO (Distributed Autonomous Organization) and the project name DAO based on the Ethereum blockchain; DAO (Distributed Autonomous Organization) is a form of organizational structure based on the blockchain. The latter DAO is just the name of a project based on the Ethereum blockchain. In order to distinguish between the two DAOs, the second DAO is generally called "the DAO", referring to a specific thing.

"Distributed Autonomous Organization" DAO is sometimes also called DAC (Distributed Autonomous Corporation), which means "Distributed Autonomous Corporation". It has a similar meaning to DAO, and both refer to a group that runs distributed autonomous rules. Both DAO and DAC refer to an organizational form that can run autonomously without human intervention and management through a series of open and fair rules. It is one of the important rules for the current blockchain to ensure decentralization, but it must be said that this is not absolute.

Bitcoin and Ethereum are typical DAOs, but the business model of DAO is obviously more like the stock of a specific institution rather than a single currency. The form of DAO is very broad. It can be a digital currency, a system or institution, or even a driverless car. DAO provides valuable services to customers. This service can be currency transmission (such as Bitcoin), application platform (Ethereum), domain name management system (Namecoin), or any other business model.

How to join a DAO

Understanding the DAO ecosystem

There are many types of DAOs, such as social DAOs, protocol DAOs, and project DAOs. New DAOs may be created every day, and there is no systematic list that can fully list these DAOs. Therefore, before joining a DAO, you must have a certain understanding of the DAO ecosystem through some resources such as @Cooopahtroopa's "DAO Panorama", @kinjal's "DAO Resource List", and "Top DAOs" from token market cap.

Choosing the right DAO

It’s hard to really understand a DAO unless you join one, most DAOs operate through Discord, so you can search through Twitter to find out how to join. Additionally, some DAOs have publicly accessible websites or repositories, so check out their social media and online resources for guides and useful links to learn more.

The core of DAO is the community. Unlike traditional working models, DAO is very flexible and the switching cost between DAOs is very low, so you can slowly understand and always find a place that can happily reflect the values ​​you hold. But there are also many things to do in DAO. As you participate more and more, there will be more and more activities. You may even find that DAO takes up a lot of time and energy without realizing it, and you will start a full-time job as a DAO, so don't join various DAOs hastily!

Choose the right way to contribute

The DAO has a range of activities, mostly in Discord. Keeping up with every stream would be exhausting. The best way to get started is to find a place where you can provide value. Pick one thing to start, whether it's taking notes for a meeting or jumping into a channel to brainstorm with other members. Start small, and as long as you're down to earth, keep yourself involved, and you'll be exposed to more information and find more valuable things to do between work and communication.

It is important to get into a project as soon as possible, based on a flexible mechanism, read the channel content, sit in on some meetings, and then you can make your own judgment on investment, projects, or do nothing. Ask other members for help and advice at any time, so that you can get started quickly.

Contribute to governance

With the corresponding on-chain rewards, it is time to participate in governance as a senior DAO member. You can participate in governance by purchasing a certain number of governance tokens directly or obtaining some governance tokens through on-chain rewards to obtain the right to vote. All contributions made to the DAO will be rewarded with tokens, so the more work you put in, the faster you will become a voting member and contribute to governance.

What to watch out for

1. Joining a DAO does not necessarily require payment or purchase of governance tokens at the beginning. Whether this is necessary depends on different DAO strategies. Some DAOs allow users to enter their communities for free, so that users can get some information in a read-only form first to better judge whether to participate; while others require the purchase of tokens, which usually means the existence of an access rights system and more valuable information.

2. The integrity of a DAO requires people with a wide variety of skills and knowledge bases . For example, many DAOs have a demand for writers, graphic designers, marketers, software developers, translators, artists, videographers, community leaders, etc., so everyone can try to participate without everyone having to become a crypto expert or developer.

3. For people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, it is almost impossible to read all the messages and keep up with every workflow like traditional social media. This is very torturous. However, the advantage of open source projects built by grassroots communities is that you can flexibly arrange your contribution time according to your needs. Even if you only contribute 2 hours a week, you are still a beneficial DAO member and will eventually receive corresponding on-chain rewards.