Crypto Sapiens - DAOhaus | DAO Tooling as a DAO with Spencer Graham
Primer: Did you know that there are DAOs with non-transferable tokens? In this episode of Crypto Sapiens, Spencer Graham of DAOhaus takes us on a trip down memory lane. He introduces the concepts underlying Moloch DAO and how it paved the way for DAOs today as well as his journey down Web3.
Background
Got started in Web3 in 2016
In 2018, he started to host/co-host the Chicago Ethereum Meetup
In ETHDenver 2020, he started building things and getting involved in a few projects
Raid Guild was the first DAO he joined
Left his job in Fall 2020 to work in DAOs
ETHDenver 2020
💡 Humpty has interviewed a number of people who mentioned that ETHDenver 2020 was a pivotal event for them.
The energy at the event was incredibly motivating and fulfilling to be a part of
“I remember having this feeling of I'm finally doing something, finally part of a team that's building something. And that was an incredibly cool feeling.”
- Spencer Graham
Gitcoin KERNEL
Is one of the genesis members of the Gitcoin KERNEL group
At the start, it was very experimental — throwing a bunch of people into a Slack space and seeing what happens
It was like an extended hackathon
Moving Into DAOhaus
Started contributing in August 2020
The DAO structure created a safe space for him to take risk, experiment, and build things
At that time, DAOhaus was a PokeMol, which stands for Pocket Moloch
A PokeMol is like a no-code user interface to look at your DAO, to view/make proposals, vote, view the treasury, etc.
The DAOhaus team realized that DAOhaus itself was going to become a valuable and sustainable project. They turned from a side project into an actual project
Got brought into DAOhaus by one of their developers
Started building DAOs V2
His role is a mix of a number of things:
Product management
Some tokenomics
A bit of writing and communication
Internal operations/processes
What Is Moloch
Moloch is the demon of human coordination failure
In early 2019, there was a DAO winter after The DAO failed
A few devs recognized the need for people to come together and pool resources to give grants to projects, resulting in the creation of the Moloch DAO framework
A year later, the Moloch DAO V2 framework was introduced
“A Moloch DAO is kind of similar to a multisig. But with a lot of extra power and a lot of extra flexibility.”
- Spencer Graham
In a Moloch DAO, governance power/voting weight is non-transferable. Hence, the DAO is permissioned
In a Moloch DAO, you have to make a proposal to give you shares as a member in the DAO. Any individual can have any number of shares, depending on the amount of funds they put into the treasury
Moloch DAO has a rage quit feature which allows you to claim your portion of the assets from the DAO treasury and leave
All Moloch DAO proposals are consent-based:
There’s no need to reach quorum
As long as everyone is comfortable with what’s going on, the proposal will pass
This prevents voter fatigue
If a vote that you do not like gets passed, you could rage quit and get your funds back before the funds are spent
What Happens When You Rage Quit?
When you rage quit, you burn your shares
The only way shares can be created is by approval from the DAO
To get new shares, you have to create a proposal requesting for some number of new shares
People can also receive new shares for the work they have done
Non-transferable tokens prevent rich people from buying up the tokens and pushing around everybody else
“If we don't include protections against plutocracy in our DAOs, we're going to run into a lot of trouble. And that's where Moloch DAOs have a lot to offer.”
- Spencer Graham
Remuneration In DAOs
There are 3 tools:
A liquid token
A Moloch DAO
Coordinape
Each month, contributors make token allocations to each other for the work that have been done
In DAOhaus, HAUS tokens can be staked into the treasury in return for a proportional number of shares in the DAO
Remuneration In DAOhaus
Previously, contributors created a proposal and requested an amount of DAI from the treasury for the work they have done
7 months ago, they introduced a commitment track where contributors make a commitment as a % for the next 2 months
Contributors would be paid a base compensation of DAI and HAUS tokens each month, which varies based on the % of commitment and measure of experience/skill contributors have
Figuring out how to create better feedback loops in the DAO
Who Inspires Him?
Dystopiabreaker — excellent perspective on cryptography, privacy, and security
Anything Else He Would Like To Add?
Anyone who’s interested to talk can just reach out to him and chat
DAOhaus provides incredible tools for DAOs to use
All information presented above is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Summaries are prepared by The Reading Ape. While reasonable efforts are made to provide accurate content, any errors in interpreting and summarizing the source material are ours alone. We disclaim any liability associated with the use of our content.