http://fortune.com/2016/05/15/leaderless-blockchain-vc-fund/The DAO is being touted as a model for a new kind of organization, created and run using blockchain software rather than conventional corporate structures.
Nearly everything having to do with Bitcoin and blockchain sounds like some mix of sci-fi, magic, and a pyramid scheme, so bear with us as we try and unpack all that.
DAO is an acronym for Distributed Autonomous Organization, and until now, they’ve been a mostly theoretical construct.
DAOs (of which The DAO is just one example) have bylaws just like any company. But rather than existing solely as legal documents, those bylaws are hard-coded into a blockchain—a cloud-based, secure financial ledger, of which Bitcoin is the most famous example.
It’s offering its own voting shares—called DAO tokens—in exchange for a cryptocurrency called Ether, though for regulatory reasons, The DAO states its tokens are not a form of equity.
Those who buy into the DAO will be able to vote on how its funds are used, with voting done through the Ethereum interface. Coindesk reports that currently two startups, including a French car-sharing project called Mobotiq, are candidates for funding.
Shares in The DAO can be purchased using Ether until May 28th, by anyone who can figure out how to do that.
5/17/2016