How to Create a DAO? (Complete guide)

DAO is marketed as the next technology revolution in fields such as banking or business. Such decentralized autonomous organizations are member-only groups that use blockchain technology to achieve common goals. They have no centralized authority.

There are numerous advantages to implementing a decentralized organizational model over a standard organizational model, as DAOs profit from decentralization, community-powered decision-making, and democratic voting to achieve the interests shared by all of its members.

You can also read: What Is a Smart Contract Security Audit?

A DAO, like any other crypto organization, relies on smart contracts to maintain the transparency and efficiency of all transactions. You’ve arrived at the right place if you want to build a DAO because you appreciate how they operate. At first, working with blockchain could seem scary, but today we’ll show you how to easily start your first DAO.

It only takes a few minutes to finish the technical side of things with the aid of an easy-to-use DAO construction platform, a mission, and the appropriate community.

What is a DAO?

For all sorts of corporate entities, regulations specify what is and is not allowed. These governance guidelines could be found in private agreements between firm owners, much like shareholder contracts. Since companies historically have only been able to operate through individuals or other corporate entities, the law may also require the enforcement of such agreements.

The parties do not always abide by the rules, and prior consent is not always obtained before the execution of such regulations. As a result, the enforcement of rules results in two fundamental problems. So, who is most affected?

Stakeholders who have little to no influence over governance decisions or who lack the authority to identify issues are more likely to mismanage their finances and lose money. Is there a fix for this issue?

There is a solution for the aforementioned problems, and it is called decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). But what are decentralized autonomous organizations used for?

Transparency, a solution to the Principal-Agent dilemma, is one of the advantages of DAOs. But what exactly is DAO?

At the core of the DAO ecosystem are the distributed ledger technology known as blockchain and smart contracts, which allow members to supervise contributed funds without the need for a third party and write, automate, and enforce governance rules.

To participate in a DAO, users must first buy the DAO’s native coin. Examples of decentralized autonomous organizations include virtual worlds like Decentraland, Augur, DASH, and MakerDAO. The first prosperous DAO was BitShares, a virtual e-commerce network.

In addition, Slock. It created the DAO (investor-operated venture capital business) in 2016 as the first decentralized autonomous organization on the Ethereum blockchain. However, the crypto DAO was compromised because of a coding error that was found, and the attacker stole $70 million in Ethereum as a result (ETH).

Why should I create a DAO?

DAOs are superior to traditional organizations in a number of ways since they were born on the internet. The lack of trust required between two parties is a key benefit of DAOs. With DAOs, just the code needs to be trusted, unlike traditional organizations that demand a lot of faith in the individuals running them, particularly on the part of investors.

Trusting that code is simpler because it is available to the public and can be thoroughly checked before launch. Following launch, every decision made by a DAO is subject to community approval and is fully public and verifiable.

An organization of this type lacks a hierarchical structure. It may still carry out duties and develop while being managed by stakeholders via its native token. Because there is no hierarchy, any stakeholder can provide an original concept, which the entire group will review and enhance. According to the pre-written regulations in the smart contract, internal issues are frequently quickly resolved through the voting process.

DAOs enable investors the opportunity to pool their resources and invest in early-stage enterprises and decentralized projects while splitting the risk and potential rewards.

What does a DAO need?

A successful DAO should cover at least the following five points, among other things:

1. A DAO requires a goal. DAOs are merely a method of allocating funding or managing tasks. Your DAO won’t be able to function if it doesn’t have a solid foundational project and purpose.
2. A voting system is necessary for a DAO. This is the main method by which users communicate with and modify the DAO. There are various approaches to doing this. You could design your own voting system or, as we’ll cover later, employ a third-party supplier. You need to start with something, even though your DAO may later decide to change the procedure.
3. A governance token or share system is necessary for a DAO. How will persons establish their DAO opinion-holding eligibility? A governance token is highly prevalent, and it frequently doubles as a utility token. Funds where users deposit cryptocurrency with the DAO for investment typically operate under a shares structure.
4. Four. A DAO requires a community. As more people join and participate in the administration of your DAO, decentralization becomes stronger. In this manner, more stakeholders share in the power.
5. A DAO needs a system for handling its finances. Most crypto DAOs will have access to some form of crowdfunding or a treasury. This is typically kept in a multi-signature wallet that can only be used with the consent of all important parties.

How do I create my DAO?

You’ll need a system for processing votes and proposals on the technical side. There are other open-source options that can be used. One well-liked option for the Ethereum blockchain is Aragon. Another that operates across many blockchains is snapshot. However, the methods through which they each give that structure can vary. Some DAO systems use off-chain polling while others use on-chain polling. Your DAO’s priorities will determine which specific option you should select.

When deploying your DAO to a blockchain, don’t forget to have enough cryptocurrency on hand to cover your transaction fees.

Aragon

You can establish a DAO organization on Ethereum, Polygon, Andromeda, or Harmony using Aragon. Through the Aragon client, the project offers open-source software that enables the development of customized DAOs. Additionally, the project is managed by a DAO, and it has a non-profit corporation to oversee the cash raised by Aragon.

It’s easy to build an Aragon-based DAO. You’ll require:

1. Have a domain with the Ethereum Name Service.
2. Ensure you have sufficient cryptocurrency to cover the DAO creation charge (0.2 ETH plus gas fees).
3. Establish a company that is connected to the ENS domain via the Aragon DApp. You can employ a variety of pre-built organizational structures.
4. Set your preferences, including the number of votes to be cast and the required percentage of support, and then start the DAO.

Snapshot

A customizable off-chain voting system is called Snapshot. Based on a snapshot of token owners, it casts votes using digital signatures via wallets. All token holders and/or stakers have their holdings recorded, and a certain block is picked. This prevents users from buying additional tokens to sway an open vote. For multi-chain projects where users have governance tokens spread across numerous blockchains, keeping voting off-chain works well.

You must: in order to establish your voting system on Snapshot.

1. Have a domain with ENS. No matter which blockchain your project uses, this must be on the Ethereum mainnet.
2. Integrate your ENS domain with Snapshot.
3. Change the settings for your space, such as the administrators, voting methods, and terms.
4. Double-check your area. This entails demonstrating ownership of the relevant project and having at least 1,000 members.

DAOstack Alchemy

A tool for building DAOs on Ethereum and Gnosis Chain is called DAOstack Alchemy. You can make a pretty simple DAO, add DAO members, and open your organization through their user interface. Creating a DAO on Ethereum now costs around 0.2 ether (ETH), however, you are not required to have an ENS.

Connect your wallet to DAOstack’s DApp, follow the four steps, and pay your fee to form a crypto dao. For the DAO to be effectively deployed, you will need about 0.2 ETH.

Examples of successful DAOs

Over the past few years, decentralized autonomous organizations have gained popularity and are now completely integrated into many blockchain initiatives. DAO cryptos are used in the decentralized finance (DeFi) field to enable applications to become completely decentralized, for instance.

Some claim that the Bitcoin (BTC) network is the oldest existing example of a DAO. Despite the fact that the majority of network participants have never met, the network grows through community consensus. Additionally, it lacks a formalized governance system; instead, miners and nodes must communicate support.

However, by today’s standards, Bitcoin is not regarded as a DAO. According to current standards, Dash would be the first real DAO because it features a governance structure that enables stakeholders to decide how to use the project’s money.

Stablecoins backed by cryptocurrencies are introduced by other, more sophisticated DAOs, such as decentralized networks constructed on top of the Ethereum blockchain. In some instances, the companies who first started these DAOs gradually relinquish control of the undertaking in order to one day become irrelevant. The hiring of new contributors, the addition of new tokens as collateral for existing tokens, and changes to other parameters can all be voted on by token holders.

2020 saw the launch of a DeFi lending system that distributed its own governance token via a liquidity mining mechanism. In essence, tokens would be awarded to everybody who interacted with the protocol. Since then, the model has been imitated and modified by other projects.

In conclusion

Demand for DAOs is fueled by the value-adding benefits of decentralization as well as the promising future for enabling web3 apps. Numerous DAO crypto projects have established themselves through a variety of use cases, such as protocol governance or common NFT ownership.

You must exercise caution at every level of the process, beginning with the assessment of the requirement for a DAO and ending with the choice of the appropriate tools for a DAO implementation. Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are simple to construct if you have a clear notion of where to go and what you need.