How to Create a DAO

A common form of governance for DApps, initiatives, and crypto investment funds is a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO for short. These entities are collectively owned and operated through computer code. DAOs are well-liked for their decentralization, openness, and ability to work with self-executing smart contracts.

With some basic technical knowledge and pointers to the right resources, creating a DAO is relatively easy. In this article, we will show you how to create a DAO, what to consider before creating one, and more.

What is a DAO?

You need to understand what a DAO is in order to learn how to design one. As mentioned earlier, a DAO is an entity managed by smart contracts. It allows users of the network to cast their votes on important matters affecting a project from anywhere in the world.

A DAO does away with conventional governance systems, which are often hierarchical arrangements that promote the centralization of power.

As a result, a DAO can be considered the blockchain version of democracy. Moreover, it maintains this democratic framework by empowering users to make more specific decisions. Even issues that in the past were considered too “small” or unimportant to be addressed by the community can now be regularly discussed in forums.

Additionally, in a DAO, all participants can agree to make significant or minor changes to the protocol.

Why Should I Create a DAO?

DAOs have some important advantages for crypto initiatives. The model’s reliance on smart contracts is perhaps the most important factor. DAOs are less dependent on user input because these pieces of code are on the chain.

For example, the results of a proposal can be published on-chain and immediately lead to a requested change. Technically, votes cannot be manipulated. Members of the community can organize efficiently using a DAO’s technology that ensures integrity.

Since many projects involve global teams, it is also easier than setting up a traditional business or company. Finally, DAO is a practical and affordable solution for organizing individuals. It can be set up for free or for a small fee.

How to Create a DAO

A DAO can be created quite easily. Before launching a DAO, the governance structure must first be developed, which is then coded into the smart contracts. Next, the DAO initiative must raise funds to begin.

Typically, DAOs raise money by issuing DAO tokens. Members who own these tokens have voting rights in the DAO. Once this is all in order, the DAO operation is launched.

The blockchain is used to store everything. The community members have to vote on such changes when the DAO has to make a decision.

One of the most widely used platforms for decentralized autonomous groups is Aragon. You can create a DAO on Aragon by following the instructions described below.

1. First, you must purchase some ETH. You will then need to transfer your ETH to a wallet. If you are not familiar with web3 wallets, MetaMask is easy to use.

2. Visit the Aragon website and select the “create your DAO” link in the blue box. On the new page, click on “create an organization.” Select the DAO template that works best for your project.

3. Enter the name of your DAO and select a time limit for votes, then click “Next” Give a name to the native token of your DAO.

4. Click “launch your organization” once you are done. The last thing you need to do is sign a transaction through your wallet. Once this is done, your DAO will go live.

Examples of Successful DAOs

If you are looking for motivation to start your own DAO, check out some of the very successful DAOs discussed below:

Aragon

As mentioned earlier, Aragon is another well-known DAO that enables the deployment of DAOs on other platforms. Within a DAO infrastructure, Aragon allows its users to communicate with anyone anywhere in the world. There are now nearly 1500 decentralized autonomous organizations in Aragon.

MakerDAO

One of the oldest and most popular DAOs is MakerDAO. The company controls the DAI stablecoin with crypto collateral. They divided the proposals into “Executive Votes” for smart contract improvements and “Governance Polls” for non-technical decisions. Participants must hold MKR, the project’s governance DAO token.

Uniswap

Uniswap has influenced a number of DeFi initiatives. It is one of the largest decentralized exchanges, and UNI token holders have the opportunity to vote and submit proposals. Users must own at least 0.25% of the total supply of UNI to make a new proposal. There is a DAO governance forum where community members can discuss changes to encourage constructive dialogue.

What to Consider Before Creating a DAO

Now that we know what a DAO is and why we need it, there are some important factors to consider before creating a DAO. Every DAO needs to be aware of the following basic components:

Function

A decentralized, transparent, and secure method of allocating funding or monitoring a project is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Therefore, each DAO must have a strong, committed, and active foundational platform that regularly contributes.

Community

Without a community, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is worthless. The more people participate and interact with DAO, the stronger and more stable the decentralized ethos becomes.

Governance DAO Token

Once the voting structure is in place, you need a way for DAO users to prove their eligibility to participate. Typically, projects give asset owners control rights over a multi-utility token.

Are DAOs Regulated?

Because most jurisdictions do not recognize DAOs as legal entities, they face significant obstacles to being legally recognized. Without legal recognition, a DAO is exempt from state registration requirements and therefore is not entitled to the corporate benefits, such as limited liability, afforded to traditionally registered corporations.

The lack of legal personality of a DAO could make it unable to enter into certain business arrangements with other organizations or the government, in addition to the potential for unlimited liability. This limits the types of activities that DAO can engage in and may prevent DAOs from making the most money possible.

Is It Difficult to Create a DAO?

Demand for DAOs is fueled by the value-added benefits of decentralization and the promising future of web3 apps. Numerous DAO projects have been established through a variety of use cases, such as protocol governance or NFT ownership.

Although decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are easy to set up if you know what to do, you must exercise caution at every step of the process.