DAOs are the internet's new favorite way of organizing in pursuit of audacious goals. These capital-commanding communities collectively control billions of dollars and have been called "group chats with bank accounts" or "financial flash mobs." By enabling groups of strangers to pool staggering sums of money, harness their collective intelligence, and work together despite being oceans away, DAOs are igniting ambitious grassroots movements that can turn from Tweet to tidal wave. DAOs, or Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, are allowing ordinary people to coordinate and buy things like fine art, property, and sports teams that previously only a wealthy person could afford. They're giving grants to philanthropic causes, funding research, organizing towards political campaigns, and investing in startups. They're empowering more people to own a piece of something, find meaningful work, and meet likeminded people. Their members are pioneers of bleeding-edge blockchain technology that may change the fundamental nature of how we organize, freeing us from top-down corporate structures that have dominated the last millennia. This handbook shares stories both auspicious and fraught from the world of DAOs - from record-breaking crowdfunds to the hacks and struggles that rocked the fragile, budding ecosystem. We are at a unique moment in history where this emergent technology gives us license to fundamentally question how we organize, work together, and share resources. Can DAOs help us build a better world? _______________________ Chapter 1: In Code We Trust In November 2021, no one believed Austin Cain when he tweeted that he was going to buy the United States Constitution. After noticing one of the 13 surviving copies of the historic document was up for auction at Sotheby’s with an estimated price tag of $15 million, he put together a group chat of people he met on Twitter crazy enough to help architect a plan. "Ping me if interested in being a part of a monumental moment," he tweeted. There was just one problem. They had just six days to raise $15 million in time for the auction, and it usually takes longer than that just to set up a company and open a bank account. How could they possibly raise so much money in so little time? They needed to find thousands of people around the world who supported the idea, crowdfund millions, and coordinate the human resources required to execute on it. That’s why they started a DAO, or a Decentralized Autonomous Organization. (End of preview) _______________________ "DAOs can help course correct the internet back to its original, idealistic power and money pushed to the edges, networks growing and flourishing together, a level playing field for talent anywhere in the world, a thriving creative middle class, and a generally diverse and interesting place." - Chris Dixon "DAOs have the potential to change the way people buy things, build companies, share resources and run nonprofits." - Bloomberg News "DAOs can be more democratic than traditional organizations because every participant can vote on group decisions, not just boards or executives" - NYTimes