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What is a DAO?

DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. DAOs are a collective of users who make decisions about their organization through a bottom-up approach to governance. Unlike other organizations, DAOs have no central authority or governing body. Instead, anyone who holds a DAO's specified governance token can participate in the governance of the DAO and make decisions about the direction of the organization. DAOs created with Enterprise use blockchain smart contracts, or hard-coded directives, to specify the function of the DAO.

Enterprise allows you to create a Token DAO, an NFT DAO, or a Multisig DAO.

Multisig DAOs​

Multisig DAOs are based around the creation of multisig wallets. Multisig wallets are wallet accounts that require multiple parties to authorize a transaction. In order to transact the holdings of a multisig wallet, a minimum threshold number of multisig owners must sign the transaction. The threshold parameter is determined by a DAO’s configuration. Multisig wallets must be created with at least two members. Wallets in a multisig have weighted voting power. To learn more about multisig thresholds and weights, visit the Configurations and parameters section.

Enterprise allows you to create a new multisig wallet during the initiation of the DAO or to create a DAO around an existing multisig contract.

Token DAOs​

Token DAOs are built around a custom token. These tokens are used in the governance of the DAO. To participate in a Token DAO’s governance, you will need to stake your tokens. Unstaked tokens can be traded freely.

For more on staking and proposals, visit the Governance section.

When defining the parameters of a token DAO's configuration, users can specify the initial supply of the token and specific wallet adresses. Upon creation, the newly minted tokens will appear in the specified wallets.

Enterprise allows you to mint tokens during the initiation of a new DAO or to create a DAO around an existing token contract. Token DAOs use the CW20 Token contract to operate.

NFT DAOs​

NFT DAOs leverage NFTs as membership, giving NFT holders voting power to make decisions. NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are unique tokens that use the blockchain to certify ownership. They usually consist of a digital asset, such as an image. In an NFT DAO, members can stake their NFTs to vote on proposals. Staked NFTs act just like staked tokens in a Token DAO.

NFT DAOs require a separate NFT mint contract to be provided by the DAO creator. You can create a DAO around an NFT contract that has not yet minted NFTs, or you can create a DAO around an existing NFT project. NFT DAOs use the CW721 NFT Token contract to operate.