Crypto DAOs Still Not Mainstream Despite Reports They Grew Nearly 9%

A recent survey by FTX revealed that most people, whether invested in cryptocurrency or not, do not know of or understand what a DAO is.

The decentralized finance world holds tremendous potential for creating a more equitable and accessible global economy through digital structures like cryptocurrency and blockchain networks. DAOs are a big step in this process because they make equitable, transparent, and democratic digital communities for investors to have greater control over their crypto and the future of the token. Here’s more information on DAOs and their impact on the finance world.

What is a DAO?

What is a DAO in the crypto world? A decentralized autonomous organization is essentially a digital community of users governed by a set of code rather than a group of individuals. Traditional digital communities such as digital bulletin boards, forums, and social media platforms are all governed by central entities that create and execute the community's rules. Through platforms like these, ideas can be shared but are not always heard, and not everyone within the community is always treated equitably. DAOs attempt to bring equity and decentralization to digital communities and give the decision-making power back to the community's members rather than just a few. Here are a few benefits and challenges that face DAOs today.

Benefits and Key Characteristics

A DAO has three key components: decentralization, token-based membership, and transparent governance. As mentioned, DAOs are decentralized entities, meaning there is no centralized legal entity that manages or governs the rules of the community. Instead, DAOs are governed by lines of code that execute the community’s rules when certain conditions are met. Smart contracts are encrypted on the blockchain network with governance mechanisms such as dispute resolutions or financial management structures. An encrypted, automated rules structure allows for fair moderation and equity of ideas across the platform. There are no hierarchical structures, so all community members are treated fairly.

To join a DAO, users must buy into the community by purchasing the DAOs native token. By holding that particular token, you will gain access to the organization’s resources and be given the right to vote within the DAO. Further, because DAOs are built with transparent governance in mind, every decision made by the organization is viewable and accessible by anyone in the network.

Challenges Facing DAOs

Though DAOs are slowly gaining popularity as more traders become invested in the benefits of decentralized financial structures, there are still several challenges that DAOs are working to overcome. The first of these challenges is security. The first DAO project created was on the Ethereum blockchain, but because of a code flaw, hackers could steal around $60 million worth of ETH from the DAO in 2016. Since this incident, security has been an important area of improvement for any DAO project. Along with security considerations are scalability issues. Because DAOs are built on blockchain networks, they can only grow within the parameters of their network, which means during periods of high activity, the network may slow down significantly. Finally, the legalities of DAOs are still in a gray area regarding how laws and regulations can apply to such a community today. Despite these challenges, groups like FTX are building their DAOs to minimize any risks posed by these problems and create a more efficient and beneficial, decentralized online community.

DAOs are a great way to gain greater control over your investments and influence the future of the crypto world. DAOs will continue to grow in popularity as more blockchain projects attempt to bring decentralized governance to online crypto communities. You can learn more about DAOs through FTX and join your new community today.