Immediate and complete decentralization is not only difficult to execute well, it is also impractical for most projects. Without a doubt, centralization at early stages of growth makes it easier to coordinate, launch, and rapidly iterate toward product-market fit. As a result, many projects seek a “Progressive Decentralization”, the process of relinquishing centralized control of a resource, system, or organization over time, in phases.
What Is The Purpose Of Progressive Decentralization In DAOs?
The primary purpose of Progressive Decentralization is to test, stress, break, and then rebuild components of the DAO governance framework such that code can be secured against malicious attacks, whether they be external or internal. A perfect example of a project with a technically complex and innovative ecosystem that required, planned, communicated, and then executed on a mission of Progressive Decentalization is Maker DAO. Maker took six years to realize its vision of a completely decentralized and sustainable ecosystem! In the announcement “MakerDAO Has Come Full Circle”, Maker DAO co-founder Rune Christensen said:
“Maker has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. It’s gone from a DAO, created by myself and a few passionate developers, to a Foundation tasked with bootstrapping an amazing project, and back to a DAO… The global Maker community is now responsible for every aspect of the Maker Protocol and the DAO.”
Progressive Decentralization Visualized
DAOs, whether they plan a Progressive Decentralization or not, typically exist on a spectrum between centralization and decentralization. And, unfortunately, increasing decentralization does often result in an increase in disorganization, a disorganization that results in low-impact resources – those resources that are not used to their fullest capacity and value.
Progressive Decentralization Playbook
The Progressive Decentralization Playbook below gives some advice for DAOs in early, mid, and late stages of growth.
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