What is a DAO?
A DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation) is a group that makes decisions and manages a shared treasury through smart contracts, with members voting by token or membership rights. Approved decisions can be carried out by the contract itself.
Also called: decentralised autonomous organisation
Why it matters
A DAO suits communities and protocols where no single owner should control funds or rules alone, such as a grants programme or an open-source project. It does not replace company law: decide with a lawyer whether a legal entity should sit behind it. Choose the voting model before launch, because it decides who really holds power.
1Voting modelsOne token one vote, one member one vote, or delegated voting; each spreads power differently.
2On-chain or off-chainVotes can be recorded on-chain, or gathered off-chain with signed messages and carried out by a multisig wallet.
3Rules in KazakhstanThe Law on Digital Assets has no separate regime for DAOs, and a governance token may count as a digital asset: a lawyer should check the structure.
ExampleAn international community of open-source developers awards grants for new libraries. The shared fund sits in a smart contract, members propose projects and vote with non-transferable membership tokens, and approved payouts go through a multisig wallet. Every vote is visible to all members.
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Related terms
Smart contractA program stored on a blockchain that runs automatically when its conditions are met.Web3Online services built on blockchains, where users hold their own assets and identity in a wallet.DeFiFinancial services such as exchange, lending and borrowing, run by smart contracts instead of banks.Crypto walletAn app or device that holds the keys to crypto assets and uses them to sign transactions.
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