DAO Research Collective

Journey of a DAO

Our Story

Our Mission

The DAO Research Collective (DRC) accelerates DAO functionality by procuring and open-sourcing research foundational to effective DAO operation, and we make the process more efficient by pooling capital and data from multiple DAO stakeholders.

After identifying some of the most pressing challenges for DAOs, we organized and sponsored the articles and events linked below to help address those challenges.

We’re just getting started: we’ll be releasing new research and running new initiatives for DAO operators and researchers every month.

About Us

Our team includes Connor Spelliscy, Tony Douglas Jr., Jacob Robinson, and David Kerr, and we are supported by Fellows including Andy Hall (Stanford), Derek Hsue (Reverie), Jonathan Dotan (Stanford), Larry Sukernik (Reverie), Maria Gomez (Interchain), Marc Boiron (dydx), Sam Hart (Interchain), Scott Moore (Gitcoin), Sina Habibian (Zeitgeist), and Shreyas Hariharan (Llama).

Thanks to the Ethereum Foundation, Uni Grants Program, Aave Grants DAO, and Compound Grants for funding our work.

Learnings

Articles

The research linked below was sponsored and/or edited by the DRC.

01 Metagovernance in Crypto

Exploring a meta-metagovernance strategy employed by the FEI Protocol and a discussion of its implications… Read More or TL;DR

02 What the History of Democracy Can Teach Us About Blockchain Governance (The Defiant)

DAOs can reshape society by bringing democratic control to important economic and social activities previously governed through more hierarchical means… Read More

03 Solving the Riddle of the DAO with Colorado’s Cooperative Laws (The Defiant)

Absent the adoption of a new legal entity structure that serves the novel needs of DAOs, we discuss why we believe, at present, the Limited Cooperative Association (LCA) provides the most ideologically aligned legal framework for DAOs.… Read More

04 Imagining Human-Machine Futures: Blockchain-based “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations”

This piece explores autonomy in blockchain-based DAOs to investigate visions of algorithmic assemblages. Kelsie Nabben, the author of this paper, is a DAO Research Collective grant recipient… Read More

05 A Legal Framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

An exploration of the Unincorporated Non-Profit structure and its possible use to help DAOs with liability, taxes, contracting, and other critical legal issues. David Kerr, a co-author of this paper, is a DAO Research Collective Fellow and grant recipient… Read More or TL;DR

06 A Call to Action: How to Mobilize and Save the Crypto Movement (The Defiant) [Part II]

In Part 2 of this Defiant Essay, Connor Spelliscy and Holmes Wilson issue a call to action and lay out a primer for mobilizing the community to rescue the movement from regulation that could significantly impede, or even cripple, the crypto industry… Read More or TL;DR

07 Crypto Endangered: Confronting An Existential Threat (The Defiant) [Part I]

In Part 1 of this Defiant Essay, Connor Spelliscy and Holmes Wilson argue that the cryptocurrency industry is confronting an existential crisis. The cause: regulation that could thwart the promise of the crypto movement… Read More or TL;DR

08 Scaling DAOs Won’t Be Easy: Five Major Challenges to Overcome (The Defiant)

We gathered together some of the leading DAO founders, operators, and investors at the DAO Summit. We then separately interviewed more than 20 other brilliant DAO stakeholders, and asked them what they needed most. And here it is: a list of five of the most pressing questions for DAOs… Read More or TL;DR

Community

Events

The events linked below were organized by the DRC.

01 DAO Talks @ Unicode

The DAO Research Collective curated speakers for the DAO Talks at Unicode, the hackathon organized by Uniswap Grants Program and ETH Global. Our speakers included leading lawyers and researchers focused on DAO structuring and governance.. See Agenda or Video

02 Scaling DAOs Faster With Collective R&D (ETHOnline 2021)

Our presentation on the biggest challenges DAOs face and how they can be tackled more efficiently through collective R&D at the Ethereum Foundation’s biggest annual event… See More

03 DAO Summit (Bankless)

The DAO Research Collective organized a Virtual DAO Summit for leaders in crypto to identify the most pressing issues for DAOs and strategies for resolving those issues. We partnered with the Stanford Center for Blockchain Research, the Ethereum Foundation, and Bankless for the event… See Agenda or Video

Get In Touch

Contact Us

We’re looking for experienced researchers and operators working on solutions to the most pressing issues faced by DAOs. If that’s what you’re working on, we’d love to hear from you.

General Inquiries

If you are a reporter looking for information on media services please contact us at:

info@daocollective.xyz