We are still scratching the surface of the enormous possibilities DAOs hold, and many more industries will be disrupted starting this year.
The blockchain and cryptocurrency rave is not ending anytime soon. And as more people are being introduced to revolutionary technologies in the digital space, new improvements upon these technologies are also being introduced. In the last couple of years, the DeFi and NFT industries have experienced immense levels of growth and, currently, metaverses and Web3 are the technologies making the digital space light up.
It is not yet clear where these disruptive technologies will lead us, but we are sure that there will be much value up for grabs. At the convergence of Web3 and NFTs lie many platforms looking to leverage technology and infrastructure to make the NFT ecosystem more decentralized, structured and community-driven.
Using both social building and governance, the decentralized autonomous organization disruption is a notch higher. The DAO is one major invention that is challenging current systems of governance. Utilizing NFTs, DAOs are changing our perspective of how organizations and systems should be run, and they put further credence to the idea that the optimal form of governance does not have to do with hierarchical structures.
With the principal-agent problem limiting the growth of organizations and preventing agents from feeling like part of a team, you can see why the need for decentralized organizations fostering community-inclusion is paramount.
Is there something you would change about your current organization if given the chance? Leadership? Structure? Payment system? What if your current organization could help you feel like a more valid part of the team by reducing the disparity between the principals and staff? Or, better put: What if you get to be a part of your organization's governance? Sound interesting? This is what we’ll be discussing here.
Understanding DAOs
From its name alone, you can probably get an idea of what a decentralized autonomous organization is. A DAO is an organization that is focused on a specific mission, and its members work in coordination according to a shared set of rules encoded on a blockchain. The major purpose of the decentralized autonomous organization is to help eradicate a significant problem in many conventional organizations — the principal-agent problem.
As the popular English phrase goes, two’s company; three’s a crowd. Organizations need a more hands on deck. But with each new person joining the team, there is bound to be some divergence of interest, priorities and goals. This often results in parties making some selfish choices. DAOs avoid this problem by existing as a trustless system, removing the need for centralized leadership.
There are a few criteria that a company must meet before it can be considered a decentralized autonomous organization. The governing rules and policies need to be set up as a smart contract on a blockchain — this helps to remove the need for a central authority, and it also prevents any party from making decisions that are different from the organization's initial goal. The treasury of the organization must be accessible only with the consent of the whole group, or at least a predefined percentage.
A brief history of DAOs
The earliest application of DAOs did not go well simply because stakeholders did not put a standard precautionary measure in place. Created in early 2016, the first DAO was called, simply, The DAO. It was an open-source framework focused on venture capitalism. It became an instant success, raking in over $250 million worth of Ether (ETH) — note that ETH was priced at around $20 at this time.
This huge success did not last long, as a bug exploitation attack left The DAO reeling from a loss of roughly 3.6 million ETH in mid-2016. It didn't recover. Since then, several attempts have been made to run a successful DAO, and many more are being created at this very moment. (The Faith Tribe, discussed later in this article, is one of the closest to full decentralization.) The success of a DAO lies in the strength of its smart contract. And, as an investor, you should spend time looking through the smart contract’s open-source code to check for any red flags or abnormalities.
A token that can be spent within the system for rewards.
The smart contract holds the rules and nitty-gritty of the DAO, ranging from a roster of its members, the amount invested, who the majority stakeholders are, the workflow, and the reward mechanism. The other two aspects depend on this important facet, as a faulty smart contract puts the project at risk. Any upgrade would also need votes from all its members, so it is important to get it right from the start.
Encoded in the smart contract is a token. The token is useful in allocating rights and incentives to the organization members. The DAO involves everyone in its mission, but members have different levels of benefits based on different input values.
Notable advantages of using a DAO:
The autonomous structure of DAOs makes them open to transparency. The concept of decentralization has fostered the idea of trust and, with DAOs, you don't need to be worried about the people behind the organization and whether or not there's an ulterior motive. The template everyone is judged by is the smart contract, and every transaction is immutably recorded on the blockchain.
There is no long, arduous process required to accept innovations with no central authority. With DAOs, innovations do not need to pass through different hierarchies before they get to those with the authority to make decisions. Anyone can make a suggestion, and the fact that these suggestions come at a fee encourages more well-researched and thought-out ideas, not just random, vague ones.
DAOs solve the principal-agent problem. There is no power play as members see themselves as equally responsible for the organization's progress. Everyone is responsible for the organization's direction, and if there is to be a change in the trajectory, it has to come with the consent of everyone on board.
Disadvantages of using a DAO:
The major disadvantage of the DAO is that it needs everyone to be involved. (Wait! I know you're thinking: "Isn't that supposed to be an advantage?") Yes, there are times when the codes written for the smart contracts are buggy and have loopholes, and getting the whole organization to agree on how to rectify those issues becomes a time-consuming process. Knowing that hackers can operate more effectively given ample time, this can cause huge problems.
The legal terrain for DAOs is still subject to the regulatory frameworks of different nations. Since the DAO itself is not bound by borders, it comes with a high possibility of facing multiple lawsuits from different cities/countries. This is a hurdle that has not yet been surmounted.
Examples of and use cases of DAOs
Faith Tribe
Faith Tribe is an open-source design platform specially made to give fashion creatives a say both in the metaverse and physical world. It is the first fully decentralized platform for fashion creatives, and it is community-owned.
The general idea of NFTs relates to arts, so Faith Tribe is looking to change the fashion design narrative by contributing to the growth of Web3 while also building an economically viable ecosystem.
The global market for fashion apparel is roughly $3 trillion, and 15% of this is unbranded. With Millenials and Gen Z showing unflinching interest in fashion, Faith Tribe is looking to leverage their engagement with the metaverse in bringing more brands into the limelight without the help of an intermediary.
Gains Associates
Another great example of a DAO use case is Gains Associates. Gains Associates is a decentralized investment fund that utilizes a DAO in order to make investment in cryptocurrencies and projects in the blockchain space accessible to anyone — and in a transparent way. The organization does this by sharing news, insights and opinions with a like-minded community whose main goal is to develop a solid aptitude and knowledge with regard to investing in the industry.
Paragen
A fantastic example of a DAO being used as a project launchpads is Paragen. This is an organization that focuses on helping projects through the preparatory stages before they launch. From marketing to strategy, to in-depth technical development, Paragen offers comprehensive advisory support throughout a project's cycle.
Paragen also incubates projects by searching for talent. Upon the discovery of this talent, Paragen then works with the talent in an advisory capacity as an incubator. Finally, Paragen helps with the launching of projects. Through the DAO's rigorous screening process and sophisticated research papers, the community members have a portal to where they can access safe and secure projects in a single hub.
Tangible
Tangible is an interesting example of the types of problems that can be solved using the DAO model. Tangible custodies real world assets like fine wine, gold and real estate and mints NFTs that represent the physical asset. These NFTs will be tradable on their marketplace, which is set to launch in the near future. This enables deep instant liquidity for assets that have traditionally been cumbersome to trade.
Gaming and DAOs
In 2021, blockchain gaming took the world by surprise with a high rate of adoption and acceptance. It's great just being able to play a game and earn value from it on the blockchain, but playing a game that utilizes the benefits of a DAO for its community is even better.
One such platform to offer these games is Nest Arcade. Nest Arcade is a play-to-earn arcade application on the blockchain. The project's goal is to massively accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology through the help of a simple application that offers a variety of games its community members can select from and play. Think of this as a Netflix application, but for mini-to-medium scale games.
Using Nest Arcade, players will be able to own their in-game characters through the use of NFTs and playing with them in a variety of play-to-earn games. Players will earn rewards from playing on the Nest Arcade platform via Nest’s own SPL token ($NEST), which is the project's currency, as well as via Solana (the blockchain it is built on).
Even though the growth of DAOs has been overshadowed by NFTs and various play-to-earn models, they have been growing significantly in relative silence, and many of them have seen sizable venture capitalist involvement. Gaming DAOs are a major part of the DAO ecosystem that have received heavy investment from VC funds.
Despite their substantial funding, it is difficult to see how they will fare against less decentralized virtual world games, such as Roblox.
Why DAOs are the future
The stereotypical traditional organization has seen more flaws than imagined, and the COVID-19 pandemic has left us with many workers who are not willing to return to their former jobs because they feel used and without a say. It's unclear if the traditional systems will change or how soon they will, but DAOs have shown a clear path to better working conditions and staff management.
The two unique models for DAOs are the token-based membership and the share-based membership, and both of them have team-centric motives — not a sign of superiority complex.
Because of these reasons and many more, the concept of bringing decentralization into private and public governance has been birthed.
The decentralized autonomous organizations have been used in projects like Dash, Digix, and even BitShares. We have even seen torrents operate similar models and look to integrate blockchain inclusiveness into their future upgrades.
As Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, cited, most companies are likely to buy into the DAO system as it helps to reduce operational costs and improve the bottom line of these companies’ finances.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Evan Luthra is a tech entrepreneur and blockchain expert holding an honorary Ph.D. in decentralized and distributed systems. Evan has been featured in Influencive’s “The Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 Creating Life On Their Own Terms.” His companies, StartupStudio and Iyoko, invest in and help build the companies of tomorrow. Evan is a featured speaker at various universities and conferences around the globe.
Pharma industry reputation remains steady at a ‘new normal’ after Covid, Harris Poll finds
The pharma industry is hanging on to reputation gains notched during the Covid-19 pandemic. Positive perception of the pharma industry is steady at 45%…
The pharma industry is hanging on to reputation gains notched during the Covid-19 pandemic. Positive perception of the pharma industry is steady at 45% of US respondents in 2023, according to the latest Harris Poll data. That’s exactly the same as the previous year.
Pharma’s highest point was in February 2021 — as Covid vaccines began to roll out — with a 62% positive US perception, and helping the industry land at an average 55% positive sentiment at the end of the year in Harris’ 2021 annual assessment of industries. The pharma industry’s reputation hit its most recent low at 32% in 2019, but it had hovered around 30% for more than a decade prior.
Rob Jekielek
“Pharma has sustained a lot of the gains, now basically one and half times higher than pre-Covid,” said Harris Poll managing director Rob Jekielek. “There is a question mark around how sustained it will be, but right now it feels like a new normal.”
The Harris survey spans 11 global markets and covers 13 industries. Pharma perception is even better abroad, with an average 58% of respondents notching favorable sentiments in 2023, just a slight slip from 60% in each of the two previous years.
Pharma’s solid global reputation puts it in the middle of the pack among international industries, ranking higher than government at 37% positive, insurance at 48%, financial services at 51% and health insurance at 52%. Pharma ranks just behind automotive (62%), manufacturing (63%) and consumer products (63%), although it lags behind leading industries like tech at 75% positive in the first spot, followed by grocery at 67%.
The bright spotlight on the pharma industry during Covid vaccine and drug development boosted its reputation, but Jekielek said there’s maybe an argument to be made that pharma is continuing to develop innovative drugs outside that spotlight.
“When you look at pharma reputation during Covid, you have clear sense of a very dynamic industry working very quickly and getting therapies and products to market. If you’re looking at things happening now, you could argue that pharma still probably doesn’t get enough credit for its advances, for example, in oncology treatments,” he said.
The COVID pandemic transformed our lives in ways many of us are still experiencing, four years later. One of these changes was the significant uptake in gaming as a hobby, chief among them being “cosy games” like Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020).
Players sought comfort in these wholesome virtual worlds, many of which allowed them to socialise from the safety of their homes. Cosy games, with their comforting atmospheres, absence of winning or losing, simple gameplay, and often heartwarming storylines provided a perfect entry point for a new hobby. They also offered predictability and certainty at a time when there wasn’t much to go around.
Cosy games are often made by small, independent developers. “Indie games” have long been evangelised as the purest form of game development – something anyone can do, given enough perseverance. This means they can provide an entry point for creators who hadn’t made games before, but were nevertheless interested in it, enabling a new array of diverse voices and stories to be heard.
In May 2020, near the start of the pandemic, the small poetry game A Solitary Spacecraft, which was about its developer’s experience of their first few months in lockdown, was lauded as particularly poignant. Such games showcase a potential angle for effective cosy game development: a personal one.
Personal themes are often explored through cosy games. For instance, Chicory and Venba (both released in 2023) tackle difficult topics like depression and immigration, despite their gorgeous aesthetics. This showcases the diversity of experiences on display within the medium.
Historically, restructurings like these, or discontent with working conditions, have led talented laid-off developers to create their own companies and explore indie development. In the wake of the pandemic and the cosy game boom, these developers may have more personal stories to tell.
Making my own cosy game
I developed my own cosy and personal game during the pandemic and quickly discovered that creating these games in a post-lockdown landscape is no mean feat.
What We Take With Us (2023) merges reality and gameplay across various digital formats: a website, a Discord server that housed an online alternate reality game and a physical escape room. I created the game during the pandemic as a way to reflect on my journey through it, told through the videos of game character Ana Kirlitz.
The trailer for my game, What We Take With Us.
Players would follow in Ana’s footsteps by completing a series of ten tasks in their real-world space, all centred on improving wellbeing – something I and many others desperately needed during the pandemic.
But creating What We Take With Us was far from straightforward. There were pandemic hurdles like creating a physical space for an escape room amid social distancing guidelines. And, of course, the emotional difficulties of wrestling with my pandemic journey through the game’s narrative.
These struggles were starkly contrasted by the feedback I received from players who played the game, however.
This is a crucial lesson for indie developers: the creator’s journey and the player’s experience are often worlds apart. Cosy, personal games, as I discovered, can change the lives of those who play them, no matter how few they reach. They can fundamentally change the way we think about games, allow us to reconnect with old friends, or even inspire us to change careers – all real player stories.
Lessons in cosy game development
I learned so much about how cosy game development can be made more sustainable for creators navigating the precarious post-lockdown landscape. This is my advice for other creators.
First, collaboration is key. Even though many cosy or personal games (like Stardew Valley) are made by solo creators, having a team can help share the often emotional load. Making games can be taxing, so practising self-care and establishing team-wide support protocols is crucial. Share your successes and failures with other developers and players. Fostering a supportive community is key to success in the indie game landscape.
Second, remember that your game, however personal, is a product – not a reflection of you or your team. Making this distinction will help you manage expectations and cope with feedback.
Third, while deeply considering your audience may seem antithetical to personal projects, your game will ultimately be played by others. Understanding them will help you make better games.
The pandemic reignited the interest in cosy games, but subsequent industry-wide troubles may change games, and the way we make them, forever. Understanding how we make game creation more sustainable in a post-lockdown, post-layoff world is critical for developers and players alike.
For developers, it’s a reminder that their stories, no matter how harrowing, can still meaningfully connect with people. For players, it’s an invitation to embrace the potential for games to tell such stories, fostering empathy and understanding in a world that greatly needs it.
Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.
Adam Jerrett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The SNF Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research announces new advisory board
From identifying the influenza virus that caused the pandemic of 1918 to developing vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in…
From identifying the influenza virus that caused the pandemic of 1918 to developing vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in the 1970s, combating infectious disease has a rich history at Rockefeller. That tradition continues as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research at Rockefeller University (SNFiRU) caps a successful first year with the establishment of a new advisory board.
Credit: Lori Chertoff/The Rockefeller University
From identifying the influenza virus that caused the pandemic of 1918 to developing vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in the 1970s, combating infectious disease has a rich history at Rockefeller. That tradition continues as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research at Rockefeller University (SNFiRU) caps a successful first year with the establishment of a new advisory board.
This international advisory board was created in part to give guidance on how to best use SNFiRU’s resources, as well as bring forward innovative ideas concerning new avenues of research, public education, community engagement, and partnership projects.
SNFiRU was established to strengthen readiness for and response to future health crises, building on the scientific advances and international collaborations forged in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched with a $75 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of its Global Health Initiative (GHI), the institute provides a framework for international scientific collaboration to foster research innovations and turn them into practical health benefits.
SNFiRU’s mission is to better understand the agents that cause infectious disease and to lower barriers to treatment and prevention globally. To speed this work, the institute launched numerous initiatives in its inaugural year. For instance, SNFiRU awarded 31 research projects in 29 different Rockefeller laboratories for over $5 million to help get collaborative new research efforts off the ground. SNFiRU also supports the Rockefeller University Hospital, where clinical studies are conducted, and brought on board its first physician-scientist through Rockefeller’s Clinical Scholars program. “One of the surprises was the scope of interest from Rockefeller scientists in using their talents to tackle important infectious disease problems,” says Charles M. Rice, Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor in Virology at Rockefeller and director of SNFiRU. “The research topics range from the biology of infectious agents to the dynamics of the immune response to pathogens, and also include a number of infectious disease-adjacent studies.”
In the past 12 months, SNFiRU often brought together scientists studying different aspects of infectious disease as a way to spur new collaborations. In addition to hosting its first annual day-long symposium, SNFiRU initiated a Young Scientist Forum for students and post-doctoral fellows to meet regularly, facilitating cross-laboratory thinking. A bimonthly seminar series has also been established on campus.
Another aim of SNFiRU is to develop relationships with community-based organizations, as well as design and participate in community-engaged research, with a focus on low-income and minority communities. To that end, SNFiRU is helping develop a research project on Chagas disease, a tropical parasitic infection prevalent in Latin America that can cause congestive heart failure and gastrointestinal complications if left untreated. The project will bring together clinicians practicing at health centers in New York, Florida, Texas, and California and basic scientists from multiple institutions to help the communities that are most impacted.
“The SNFiRU international advisory board convenes globally recognized leaders with distinguished biomedical expertise, unrivalled experience in pandemic preparedness and response, and a shared commitment to translating scientific advancements into equitably distributed benefits in real-world settings,” says SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “The advisory board will advance the institute’s indispensable mission, which SNF is proud to support as a key part of our Global Health Initiative, and we look forward to seeing breakthroughs in the lab drive better outcomes in lives around the globe.”
The new advisory board will hold its first meeting on April 11th, 2024, following the second annual SNF Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research Symposium at Rockefeller.
Its members are: Rafi Ahmed of Emory University School of Medicine, Cori Bargmann of The Rockefeller University, Yasmin Belkaid of the Pasteur Institute, Anthony S. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Esper Kallas of of the Butantan Institute, Sharon Lewin of the University of Melbourne Doherty Institue, Carl Nathan of Weill Cornell Medicine, Rino Rappuoli of Fondazione Biotecnopolo di Siena and University of Siena, and Herbert “Skip” Virgin of Washington University School of Medicine and UT Southwestern Medical Center.
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