The Rise And Recognition Of The DAO

"Blockchains" have been hyped as the most important technological revolution since the internet. As of the writing of this article, cryptocurrencies and NFTs are valued at over $1 trillion, despite the continued volatility in their value. While cryptocurrencies are the first thing most think of when they hear "blockchain," one of the most interesting applications for blockchain technologies is not the next initial coin offering. Instead, it's decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), which offer a new structure for managing organizations and large projects.

The Rise of the DAO

DAOs revolutionize organization management by putting computer code at the center of the organizational structure. While the finer points of the technology behind DAOs are beyond the scope of this article, the general idea is that they are organizations with rules set as smart contracts on a public blockchain.¹ These smart contracts, once programmed, are public and