Types of DAO

DAOs are usually created with a singular and shared goal, formed by like-minded individuals.

Think of it as a hivemind, a collective of humans working in unison for one objective.

Several DAOs has sprouted and is still evolving in function to this day.

Here are some type of DAOs that you’ll encounter in the digital asset space.

Venture (For Profit)

A type of DAO with the purpose of financing crypto projects and earning in the process.

Metacartel Ventures is a “for-profit DAO created by the MetaCartel community for the purposes of making investments into early-stage Decentralized Applications (DApps). It embodies a community-oriented membership structure and offers radical flexibility in participation in a manner that is unparalleled by traditional “venture capital fund” models.”

Here are some of the most inclusive DAOs that specifically empower women-run projects.

• The HerStory DAO collects and funds projects by Black women and non-binary artists.
• The Komorebi Collective DAO funds women and non-binary crypto founders.

Protocol DAOs

Protocol DAOs are the most common form of DAO that manages the operations of a project.

MakerDAO is one of the first DAO in the DeFi space to manage the stablecoin DAI and the monetary policy of the Maker Protocol. It was an alternative stablecoin to the Tether and is soft-backed by the US dollar through algorithm and deposits of different crypto assets into the vault of the protocol.

The DAI stablecoin in circulation is currently at $10 Billion.

Uniswap is another organization that is autonomously managed by its token holders to enact policy changes to the protocol of the Decentralized Exchange, which may include rules, fees, commissions, etc.

Uniswap (v3) is the top DEX by trading volume with a current market share of 1/3 of the whole DEX market.

Grants or Charities

Grant DAOs are DAOs that grant funds to public goods, or goods and services with a social purpose.

Gitcoin is a platform for funding projects using donations from the wider community. The platform itself is managed by the community and for the community.

MolochDAO pioneered one of the most robust frameworks for forming DAOs and was also giving grants to the projects that decide to build upon the code.

UkraineDAO was established on February 21, 2022, to use the power of web3 and raise funds for the humanitarian efforts in the Russian-Ukraine War.

Collection

Organizations that are meant for collecting NFTs, where the members collectively own the assets via fractionalized ownership.

The PleasrDAO collects various NFTs and invests in other assets. The DAO currently owns the original NFT picture of Kabosu, the origin of the doge memes. The NFT meme was valued at $4 million after the auction.

Gaming DAO

These are organizations that are meant for managing gaming, metaverse projects, and even guilds playing these games.

Star Atlas is an upcoming strategy game and the open universe with space exploration, conquest, and the integration of NFT assets within the game. The managing of the economy and other gaming policies is handled by the Star Atlas DAO using the POLIS token.

Star Atlas launched via an IEO that has seen its market cap at $270M at the peak.

Yield Guild Games or YGG is a play-to-earn gaming guild that manages and brings the players to earn together while playing blockchain-based games and metaverses.