DAOs are socio-tech networks in which people interact, coordinate, and collaborate with one another to find, archive, publish, consume, and/or reuse data of all types in order to foster innovation, create value, support new businesses, improve social trust, enhance political life, establish digital sovereignty, and more.
We can’t predict what properties DAOs will have in the future, but we can predict that DAOs will reshape local economies and politics by creating quasi-markets governed by polycentric systems, not only changing the ways in which we make individual and group decisions, but the very meaning of those decisions, as well. As our voices begin to have a direct impact on how we earn, distribute, and utilize resources and wealth of all kinds, from digital to physical, societies will find their most pervasive problems solved.
115 Great Resources For Your DAO DYOR
Note that the below articles, blog posts, papers, videos, and other media are listed in alphabetical order by title. Enjoy!
2/2 DAOs: a new organizational and governance paradigm – https://medium.com/@LuigiGrx/2-2-daos-a-new-organizational-and-governance-paradigm-93e889df1b39
8 Principles for Managing a DAO – https://www.onthecommons.org/magazine/elinor-ostroms-8-principles-managing-commmons/
A beginner’s guide to DAOs – https://linda.mirror.xyz/Vh8K4leCGEO06_qSGx-vS5lvgUqhqkCz9ut81WwCP2o
A DAC is a Sovereign Co-op – https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=45307737804b2a1403def563cdb5ba15&topic=4340.msg54700#msg54700
A Manipulator Can Aid Prediction Market Accuracy – https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/biashelp.pdf
A Deep Dive into Futarchy: What National Governments and Private Organisations can learn from a Blockchain Governance Model (Part 1) – https://medium.com/coinmonks/a-deep-dive-into-futarchy-what-national-governments-and-private-organisations-can-learn-from-a-9408aa2fb887
A Deep Dive into Futarchy: What National Governments and Private Organisations can learn from a Blockchain Governance Model (Part 2) – https://medium.com/coinmonks/a-deep-dive-into-futarchy-what-national-governments-and-private-organisations-can-learn-from-a-e3fb02d66c4f
Against on-chain governance – https://medium.com/@Vlad_Zamfir/against-on-chain-governance-a4ceacd040ca
An Introduction to Futarchy – https://blog.ethereum.org/2014/08/21/introduction-futarchy
An Open Letter (from The DAO Attacker) – https://pastebin.com/CcGUBgDG
An Introduction to Polycentricity and Governance – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337824322_An_Introduction_to_Polycentricity_and_Governance
A Legal Framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations – https://api.a16zcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/dao-legal-framework-part-1.pdf
Authority (Centralized or Decentralized) – https://essif-lab.github.io/framework/docs/terms/authority
Beyond the Holacracy Hype – https://hbr.org/2016/07/beyond-the-holacracy-hype
Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems by Elinor Ostrom – https://web.pdx.edu/~nwallace/EHP/OstromPolyGov.pdf
Blockchain Governance: Programming Our Future – https://medium.com/@FEhrsam/blockchain-governance-programming-our-future-c3bfe30f2d74
Blockchain technology : toward a decentralized governance of digital platforms? – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LhnbRRDDbdNs-LvBeVHeASfvhNvLNAD0KJT0y1mJy0g/edit
Blockchain Technology and Decentralized Governance: Is the State Still Necessary? – https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2709713
BOOTSTRAPPING A DECENTRALIZED AUTONOMOUS CORPORATION: PART I – https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/bootstrapping-a-decentralized-autonomous-corporation-part-i-1379644274
BOOTSTRAPPING AN AUTONOMOUS DECENTRALIZED CORPORATION, PART 2: INTERACTING WITH THE WORLD – https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/bootstrapping-an-autonomous-decentralized-corporation-part-2-interacting-with-the-world-1379808279
BOOTSTRAPPING A DECENTRALIZED AUTONOMOUS CORPORATION, PART 3: IDENTITY CORP – https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/bootstrapping-a-decentralized-autonomous-corporation-part-3-identity-corp-1380073003
Convex and Concave Dispositions – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2020/11/08/concave.html
Cooperatives: An Ownership Model for Digital Networks – https://media.orrick.com/Media%20Library/public/files/insights/2023/cooperatives-path-to-compliance-for-web3.pdf
Coordination, Good and Bad – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2020/09/11/coordination.html
Crypto Commons – https://medium.com/@m2jr/crypto-commons-da602fb98138
DAOs are not corporations: where decentralization in autonomous organizations matters – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2022/09/20/daos.html
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs): How Companies Become Alive – http://defipicks.com/2020/03/03/dao-decentralized-autonomous-organizations/
DAOs, Democracy and Governance – https://ralphmerkle.com/papers/DAOdemocracyDraft.pdf
DAOs, DACs, DAs and More: An Incomplete Terminology Guide – https://blog.ethereum.org/2014/05/06/daos-dacs-das-and-more-an-incomplete-terminology-guide
DAO Data Tracker – https://deepdao.io/organizations
DAO Landscape – https://coopahtroopa.mirror.xyz/_EDyn4cs9tDoOxNGZLfKL7JjLo5rGkkEfRa_a-6VEWw
DAO Nation – https://clay.mirror.xyz/DwJ60O0R1IyRiPAZFBw4L05L3fd8PPxWnzDNedKtOas
DAO overview – https://square1-hello.gitbook.io/square-1/decentralized-autonomous-organizations/spectrum-of-decentralized-organizations
DAOs are not corporations: where decentralization in autonomous organizations matters – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2022/09/20/daos.html
DAO Voting Mechanisms Explained – https://limechain.tech/blog/dao-voting-mechanisms-explained/
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) – https://ethereum.org/en/dao/
Defining Digital Trust Ecosystems – https://trustoverip.org/wp-content/uploads/ToIP-Ecosystem-Defining-Digital-Trust-Ecosystem-V1.0-2022-10-13.pdf
Disrupting governance: The new institutional economics of distributed ledger technology – https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2811995
Economic governance: the organization of cooperation – https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/popular-economicsciences2009.pdf
Elinor Ostrom’s 8 Principles for Managing A Commmons – https://www.onthecommons.org/magazine/elinor-ostroms-8-principles-managing-commmons/
Elinor Ostrom and the Bloomington School of Political Economy: A Compendium of Key Statements, Collaborations, and Reactions – https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/doc/teaching/intros-4-lexington-vols-owpapers-2015-2018.pdf
Enhancing Traditional Corporate Governance With DAOs – https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2022/03/31/enhancing-traditional-corporate-governance-with-daos/?sh=503532516256
Ethereum Classic (ETC): A Rift in the Blockchain Community – https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/ethereum-classic-etc-vs-eth
Examining Governance Models for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations – https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/09/10/examining-governance-models-for-decentralized-autonomous-organizations/
From Government Decentralization to Decentralized Governance – https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/decentralizinggovernance_chapter.pdf
FUTARCHY CONSIDERED RETARDED – https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2009/05/futarchy-considered-retarded/
Futarchy: Vote Values, But Bet Beliefs – https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/futarchy.html
Game Theory Applied to Mining Pools, Token Offering, Dao, and Consensus Protocols – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IybadmGPtM
GOVERNING THE COMMONS The evolution of institutions for collective action by ELINOR OSTROM – https://www.actu-environnement.com/media/pdf/ostrom_1990.pdf
Governance, Part 2: Plutocracy Is Still Bad – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2018/03/28/plutocracy.html
House of DAOs – https://wiki.metagame.wtf/great-houses/house-of-daos
How The DAO Hack Changed Ethereum and Crypto – https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/05/09/coindesk-turns-10-how-the-dao-hack-changed-ethereum-and-crypto/
How we make decentralized decisions – https://medium.com/the-caring-network-company/how-we-make-decentralized-decisions-ad869417b772
Is It Enough to Provide Incentives? – https://torontopm.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/is-it-enough-to-provide-incentives/
Information Aggregation and Manipulation in an Experimental Market – https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/biastest.pdf
Know Thy Enemy: Coordination Failures – https://www.bankless.com/know-thy-enemy-coordination-failures
Logarithmic Market Scoring Rules for Modular Combinatorial Information Aggregation – https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/mktscore.pdf
MEDITATIONS ON MOLOCH – https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
Money, blockchains, and social scalability – https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html
Moving beyond coin voting governance – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2021/08/16/voting3.html
Network Society and Future Scenarios for a Collaborative Economy – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311295591_Network_Society_and_Future_Scenarios_for_a_Collaborative_Economy
Notes on blockchain governance – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2017/12/17/voting.html
On-Chain Vote Buying and the Rise of Dark DAOs – https://hackingdistributed.com/2018/07/02/on-chain-vote-buying/
OPEN-SOURCE GOVERNMENT: How can we fix our political system? – https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/BBCFocus-Aug09.html
Optimal autonomous organizations – https://graymirror.substack.com/p/optimal-autonomous-organizations
Past, Present, Future: From Co-ops to Cryptonetworks – https://variant.fund/articles/past-present-future-from-co-ops-to-cryptonetworks/
Peer to Peer: The Commons Manifesto – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311295591_Network_Society_and_Future_Scenarios_for_a_Collaborative_Economy
Policy Evaluation in Polycentric Governance Systems – https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/evaluation-of-polycentric-climate-governance/policy-evaluation-in-polycentric-governance-systems/59B95E5556E5FB42475EA30FD5C743E8
Polycentric Governance in Theory and Practice: Dimensions of Aspiration and Practical Limitations – https://mcginnis.pages.iu.edu/polycentric%20governance%20theory%20and%20practice%20Feb%202016.pdf
PLATFORM COOPERATIVISM – https://rosalux.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/scholz_platformcooperativism_2016.pdf
Principles & Models of Web3 Decentralization – https://a16z.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/principles-and-models-of-decentralization_miles-jennings_a16zcrypto.pdf
Progressive decentralization: a high-level framework – https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/progressive-decentralization-a-high-level-framework/
Progressive Decentralization: A Playbook for Building Crypto Applications – https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/progressive-decentralization-crypto-product-management/
Publications by Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom – https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/library/bibliographies/ostrom-elinor.html
Publications by Vincent Ostrom – https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/library/bibliographies/ostrom-vincent.html
Quadratic Payments: A Primer – https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2019/12/07/quadratic.html
Quadratic Voting: How Mechanism Design Can Radicalize Democracy – https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2003531
Reply to Moldbug – https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/reply-to-moldbughtml
Remembering Vincent Ostrom: unhorsing a dominant paradigm – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11127-012-0053-7
Robin Hanson and Mencius Moldbug: “Futarchy Debate” at Foresight 2010 Conference – https://vimeo.com/9262193
Routledge Handbook of the Study of the Commons – https://www.academia.edu/86121922/Routledge_Handbook_of_the_Study_of_the_Commons?uc-sb-sw=61103578
Shall We Vote on Values, But Bet on Beliefs? – https://mason.gmu.edu/~rhanson/futarchy2013.pdf
Sufficient Decentralization: A Playbook for web3 Builders and Lawyers – https://variant.fund/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Sufficient-Decentralization-by-Marc-Boiron.docx.pdf
STARFISH AND THE SPIDER – THE UNSTOPPABLE POWER OF LEADERLESS ORGANIZATIONS – https://archive.org/details/StarfishAndTheSpider-TheUnstoppablePowerOfLeadearlessOrganizations
Sufficient Decentralization for Social Networks – https://www.varunsrinivasan.com/2022/01/11/sufficient-decentralization-for-social-networks#:~:text=A%20social%20network%20achieves%20sufficient,many%20clients%20on%20the%20network
Sustaining the Commons – https://sustainingthecommons.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Sustaining-the-Commons-v101.pdf
The Cooperation Economy – https://www.notboring.co/p/the-cooperation-economy-
The DAO Controversy: The Case for a New Species of Corporate Governance? – https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2020.00025/full
The Dao of DAOs – https://www.notboring.co/p/the-dao-of-daos
The Environmental Optimism of Elinor Ostrom – https://www.thecgo.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-Environmental-Optimism-of-Elinor-Ostrom.pdf
The Future of Work – https://www.bankless.com/the-future-of-work
The Future of Futarchy – https://torontopm.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/the-future-of-futarchy/
The Handbook of Handbooks for Decentralised Organising – https://hackmd.io/@yHk1snI9T9SNpiFu2o17oA/Skh_dXNbE?type=view
The History of BitShares as laid out by Stan Larimer – https://how.bitshares.works/en/master/technology/history_bitshares.html#december-s-innovation-tapos-and-the-end-of-mining
The New Frontier of Belonging – https://fakepixels.substack.com/p/fkpxls-the-new-frontier-of-belonging
The sharing economy (pdf) – http://pinguet.free.fr/sundararajan.pdf
THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS – https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
ToIP Governance Metamodel Specification – https://wiki.trustoverip.org/display/HOME/ToIP+Governance+Metamodel+Specification
ToIP Governance Metamodel Specification Companion Guide – https://trustoverip.org/wp-content/uploads/ToIP-Governance-Metamodel-Specification-Companion-Guide-V1.0-2021-12-21.pdf
Types of DAO Governance Models – https://blog.commonwealth.im/dagmi-2/
Understanding The DAO Attack – https://www.coindesk.com/learn/understanding-the-dao-attack/
UNDERSTANDING INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY by Elinor Ostrom – https://wtf.tw/ref/ostrom_2005.pdf
Understanding a Revolutionary and Flawed Grand Experiment in Blockchain: The DAO Attack – https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3014782
Use and Abuse of Public Policy Prediction Markets – https://torontopm.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/use-and-abuse-of-public-policy-prediction-markets/
What are the governance and voting structures of DAOs? – https://blokk.studio/blog/governance-and-voting-mechanism-models-of-dao
What is a DAO? – https://blog.aragon.org/what-is-a-dao/
What is a DAO community? – https://aragon.org/how-to/build-manage-and-grow-your-dao-community
What is a DAO and What is it For? – https://daohaus.substack.com/p/-what-is-a-dao-and-what-is-it-for
What is a DAO? – https://ethereum.org/en/dao/
What is a DAO? (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) – https://www.kraken.com/learn/what-is-decentralized-autonomous-organization-dao
What Is Progressive Decentralization? – https://eawosika.com/what-is-progressive-decentralization-web3
What Was The DAO? – https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/the-dao-hack-makerdao
Who Watches the Watchmen? A Review of Subjective Approaches for Sybil-resistance in Proof of Personhood Protocols – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2008.05300
Whole Crypto Catalog: Progressive Decentralization – https://variant.fund/articles/whole-crypto-catalog-progressive-decentralization/
Why Open Source Finance Will Win – https://medium.com/balance-io/why-open-source-finance-will-win-a1f3a61544c2
Thanks for reading!