It’s a term you’ve probably heard of if you’re interested in cryptocurrencies. But what exactly is a DAO? We have prepared a short guide that details everything there is to know about these decentralized autonomous organizations.

Defining a CAD

What does DAO mean? 

In English, it stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. In French, this is translated as Decentralized Autonomous Organization, a self-managed community without a central authority. And who says decentralization says blockchain? On which blockchain does CAD work? To operate a DAO, you need intelligent contracts, which will ensure the functioning of the community according to the rules that have been defined. Many DAOs use the Ethereum blockchain, but other blockchains can be used, such as Solana or Celo.

The characteristics of a DAO:

• Decentralization: a DAO is characterized by its decentralization and its democratic aspect since improvements are submitted to its members’ votes without a hierarchy. It cannot be closed by an outside authority.
• Accessibility: Anyone from anywhere worldwide can join a DAO by holding the tokens necessary to participate in its governance.
• Autonomy: the intelligent contract governs the project’s governance in an immutable way.
• Transparency: its transparency is total; anyone can see the community’s entire history. It is, therefore, easily auditable.
• Community: Joining a DAO means being part of a community, often relying on discussion tools like Discord.

Anyone can create a DAO to bring together enthusiasts around a common subject. We will be back soon with a guide detailing the creation of a CAD!

The DAO, the genesis of the DAO

The idea was brilliant, and the project was a runaway success. Indeed, The DAO was launched in April 2016 on the Ethereum blockchain to become a decentralized investment fund without a central authority. In less than a month, The DAO had raised the equivalent of $150 million in ETH. Its objective was to allow creators to present their projects to investors, allowing the latter to invest in them without providing proof of identity.

What ended The DAO adventure is a problem feared throughout the crypto-sphere, whether it is DeFi or not: a vulnerability in the code. It is how a technical flaw in a smart contract allowed a hacker to steal the equivalent of $ 50 million in ETH. The rest, you know it: Ethereum has decided to do a rollback, thereby erasing the theft, to return their money to the aggrieved investors. This event is linked to the split of the Ethereum community with the creation of Ethereum Classic, where rollback never took place.

CAD and Security

The moral of this story is that security is paramount in any crypto project. Unfortunately, the example of The DAO hack is not the only one: DAO Maker, Bagder DAO, and most recently, QiDAO have paid the price. Before investing, always check the team’s seriousness and the code’s technical audits, if there are any! Remember that while decentralization has many advantages, the flip side is the risk of capital loss.

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The different types of CAD

There is not one DAO but several! First, you should know that entry into a decentralized community can be done in several ways: buying the token used within the project or acquiring shares.

What is a CAD for?

 There are plenty of projects belonging to the Decentralized Autonomous Organization class.

Here are some examples of CAD types:

• Uniswap, Aave, Balancer, Curve Finance, Compound and Maker are DeFi protocols that rely on a CAD protocol.
• Flamingo, PleasrDAO, BeetsDAO, herstoryDAO and Fingerprints DAO are decentralized communities that revolve around NFTs.
• Gitcoin, Moloch, Compound Grants, Aave Grants and Uniswap Grants aim to subsidize projects in the development phase.
• BitDAO, The LAO, Stacker Ventures and MetaCartel are investment-oriented DAOs.
• COMMIT, rekt, BanklessDAO, PubDAO, and Forefront are examples of media.
• Yam Finance, Dada, PartyDAO, MetaFactory and UniWhales offer various services.
• Aragon, Colony, PrimeDAO and Syndicate are platforms that help those who wish to create their DAO.
• Endaoment, Big Green DAO and Charity DAO are charitable community organizations.

Of course, the small world of decentralized communities continues since there are many, sometimes very original, initiatives such as Friends with Benefits, a select social club, or Saint Fame, a fashion-oriented project.

CommitDAO is an autonomous and decentralized organization that brings together journalists, writers, filmmakers and public relations specialists. COMMIT works the same way as any traditional company, except the whole structure is decentralized, and each participant works autonomously.

Web3 and CAD

In opposition to Web 2.0, the term Web3 is fashionable. It refers to a new evolution of the Internet, aiming at decentralizing the Web3: DeFi, DAO, NFT, metaverse… Web3 is still in its infancy and could have many other surprises for us!

In short:

• A DAO is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization governed by smart contracts via a blockchain.
• Joining a CAD is an opportunity to be part of a community of enthusiasts (NFT, metaverse, gaming…) or specialists (investment, marketing…).
• As always, integrating or creating a CAD must be done with a critical mind by integrating the risks potentially related, such as the fall of the token, and the hazards related to a hack if the contracts have been poorly audited.