A Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) is an organisation governed by code rather than traditional management hierarchies. Members hold governance tokens and vote on proposals — from treasury spending to protocol changes. DAOs manage billions in assets across DeFi, investment, and protocol governance.
2016
The DAO raises $150M — largest crowdfund in history at the time
2016
The DAO hacked — $60M drained via reentrancy exploit
2020
MakerDAO, Compound, Uniswap establish modern DAO governance
2021
ConstitutionDAO raises $47M in days to bid on a copy of the US Constitution
2023
Tornado Cash DAO members prosecuted for the first time
Protocol governance, investment clubs, grant allocation, community treasury management
💡 Did You Know
The first major DAO raised $150M in 28 days in 2016 — only to be hacked for $60M shortly after, forcing Ethereum to hard fork
⚠ Controversies & Red Flags
DAOs often suffer from low voter turnout and plutocratic governance — large token holders dominate decisions. Many proposals pass with under 5% of eligible tokens voting.