In recent months and years, cryptocurrency has become a global phenomenon as an alternative to centralized money. The year 2021 has seen the rapid growth of currencies such as Bitcoin and Ether, utilizing a decentralization system known as a blockchain. A blockchain is a database that stores different types of information in different groups that form the “chain”, creating a decentralized set of data that no one person, organization, or government has control over. For many cryptocurrencies, a blockchain’s base is made up of many computers or servers all over the world, and each of these computers are known as nodes.
This brings us to decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs. These are organizations that are not overseen by any one entity (such as a government), but are instead controlled through rules encoded in a program and controlled by many of its members. They also utilize smart contracts, which are special programs stored on the blockchain that execute commands when certain conditions are met. According to IBM, smart contracts are able to streamline and automate workflows to perform operations on the blockchain very quickly.
Another definition to be covered is that of the non-fungible token, or NFT. Connecting to a blockchain allows an NFT to be verified as non-interchangeable, allowing it to be owned by someone, or a group of people. Commonly used for specific art pieces or animations, NFTs are quickly revolutionizing the digital art and collection markets, letting ordinary investors own a stake and vote on the eventual outcome of them. This process can be applied to items as diverse as collector cards and digital game assets.
PleasrDAO is an example of one of these decentralized organizations. They are responsible for buying the Doge NFT, a viral internet phenomenon that has inspired millions of memes, web interaction and its own cryptocurrency. With ownership, PleasrDAO is allowing investors to “own” a part of the NFT, by breaking it into individual tokens which these investors can buy. With ownership of part of the NFT, investors can vote on functions such as whether to sell the NFT, for instance.
The advent of the decentralized autonomous organization and the NFT creates a variety of possibilities for the future of digital transactions, most notably cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. Join the podcast on Monday for a conversation with Juan Pablo at PleasrDAO about these new techniques and their uses.