The rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs): a first empirical glimpse

[en] Blockchain technology and smart contracts are catalysts for decentralization and disintermediation. These new technologies reduce transaction costs, agency costs, and offer a basis for trustless social and economic interactions. They are fueling new business models for decentralized platforms and have revolutionized crowdfunding. A recent trend, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), stands to fundamentally transform organizing and governance. DAOs are blockchain-native, decentralized organizations that are collectively owned and managed by their members via smart contracts. In this note, we assess the promises and challenges of DAOs, with a focus on decentralized governance and disintermediation, and offer a first empirical glimpse at the rise and functioning of DAOs. Overall, DAOs may introduce a new era in organizational economics, transforming the global corporate landscape from hierarchical organizations to democratic and distributed organizations powered by organizational entrepreneurship and innovations.

Research center :

Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) > Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and New Technology (EINT)
NCER-FT - FinTech National Centre of Excellence in Research

Disciplines :

Strategy & innovation

Author, co-author :

Bellavitis, Cristiano

FISCH, Christian ; University of Luxembourg > Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SNT) > Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and New Technology (EINT)

Momtaz, Paul

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

The rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs): a first empirical glimpse

Publication date :

2023

Journal title :

Venture Capital

ISSN :

1369-1066

eISSN :

1464-5343

Publisher :

Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

187–203

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Focus Area :

Entrepreneurship and Innovation / Audit

Available on ORBilu :

since 12 September 2022

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