DAO Governance: The Evolution of Distributed Collaborative Systems

In the physical world we are familiar with, various types of governance are usually decided by one or more centers, characterized by a strict hierarchy and clear levels. However, with the birth and development of Bitcoin, a brand new idea has gradually emerged - a collaborative system that everyone can participate in.

The concept of DAO(, or Decentralized Autonomous Organization, originally originated from the Ethereum network. About two years ago, during the ICO boom, people envisioned a new form of social organization. Through smart contracts, anyone can raise funds and issue tokens on the network. Participants holding tokens can participate equally in project governance without permission, where code is law. This is the germination of DAO governance ideas. Although most initial attempts failed, after two years of exploration and practice, this new organizational form has gradually improved.

DAO is an abbreviation for Decentralized Autonomous Organization, which is an organizational form derived from collaborative behaviors of a group with a common vision, spontaneously formed based on the core concept of blockchain. It is the product of solving trust issues between people through blockchain and represents a revolutionary evolution in the history of human collaboration. Bitcoin, as the first decentralized distributed protocol, is widely regarded as the first complete DAO. DAO requires initial programming, but once the rules are established, it operates automatically, fulfilling its functions without external interference.

In an ideal DAO system, management is codified, programmed, and automated. "Code is law", the organization is distributed rather than hierarchical, power is decentralized rather than centralized, and management is replaced by community self-governance instead of bureaucracy, with highly autonomous communities replacing traditional companies. Following the principles of equality, voluntariness, reciprocity, and mutual benefit, each node collaborates effectively based on its own advantages and talents, producing a powerful synergy under the incentive of tokens.

However, DAO governance faces significant challenges. It is not just a simple majority voting system. Human nature, social dynamics, and the game of interests make achieving balance extremely difficult. In reality, only a small number of core stakeholders often participate in decision-making. Currently, there is no perfect DAO governance solution in the blockchain field. Some governance tools provide a public and transparent governance space for many applications, uploading information to IPFS via wallet signatures without incurring gas fees.

In the face of this revolutionary new form of social organization, we must view this ideology with a developmental perspective in order to make more concrete refinements and deeper explorations. Although the reality is harsh, this exploration and development is an inevitable process.