Decentralized Autonomous Organization

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is an internet-native collective governed by rules encoded in smart contracts on a blockchain, rather than by a centralized management hierarchy. Members hold governance tokens and participate in collective decisions — such as funding allocations and protocol changes — by voting on-chain. DAOs represent a model for accessible participatory governance at scale: members can vote from anywhere using only an internet connection, removing geographic and mobility barriers. However, DAO voting systems vary widely in their security, privacy, and coercion resistance, with most lacking the formal security guarantees of government-grade internet voting protocols.