A Fresh Look At DAOs – The New (Digital) Family Offices - GCR

Given their operating expenses are denominated in USD/fiat, another sustained bear market might force DAOs to sell native tokens at “fire-sale” prices to finance their normal operations. DAOs therefore ought to generate multiple income streams (i.e., protocol revenue and yield from investments) that can cover these operating expenses; but since the... See more

Most protocol DAOs currently only hold their native protocol token on their balance sheets. Given the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, this could mean that DAOs are forced to sell their native tokens during extended bear markets (and therefore at inopportune prices) to finance ongoing operations. Consequently, DAOs should first ensure that they... See more

When DAOs are needed The growth of DAOs in general and the massive success of some of the most innovative ones inevitably result in the perception that the route to growth and robust network participation requires a DAO structure. In times of ebullience, market forces make it easy to assume that every organization, community, or project needs a DAO... See more

Currently, even some of the largest protocols are unable to generate enough revenue to cover operational expenses (audits, salaries/payments to contributors, marketing, etc.). Yearn, for instance, operates at a loss even after accounting for non-operating income from yield farming. As such, retaining protocol revenue alone is likely to be insuffici... See more

Collective asset management DAOs are seeded with some initial capital in the form of governance tokens and assets used to buy governance tokens. The initial treasury of a DAO consists of 500 governance tokens and 100 ETH if it mints 1,000 governance tokens and sells 500 for 100 ETH to genesis members. When a DAO grows in terms of users or cash flow... See more

Currently, only overcollateralized debt has become commonplace in DeFi. Despite this, the vast majority of DAOs cannot simply go on Compound/Aave/Maker and open a debt position — even if a DAO’s native token can be found on e.g., CREAM or Unit Protocol, the borrow capacity/debt ceiling for the token likely will be insufficient for the DAO’s needs. ... See more

How will DAOs convert revenue generated from character IP off-chain back into the on-chain treasury? The sale of NFTs enables an easy way to fund an on-chain treasury that can be managed by token holders. But DAOs may need third-party administrators that can provide payments and contract services at the direction of the DAO to bridge off-chain (e.g... See more