A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), sometimes called a decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC), is an organization constructed by rules encoded as a computer program that is often transparent, controlled by the organization’s members and not influenced by a central government. In general terms, DAOs are member-owned communities without centralized leadership. A DAO’s financial transaction records and program rules are maintained on a blockchain. The precise legal status of this type of business organization is unclear. A well-known example, intended for venture capital funding, was The DAO, which amassed 3.6 million ether (ETH)—Ethereum’s mining reward—then worth more than US$70 million in May 2016, and was hacked and drained of US$50 million in … Continue reading Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)