What is the real value of DAO?

Don't be discouraged at this point—DAO is not meant to replace all companies; its value lies in solving problems that traditional organizations cannot address: managing "rules" rather than "people": it is best suited for managing DeFi protocols, public chains, and open-source tools—these systems are "well-defined and require no human intervention," making them more efficient than traditional companies. Global collaboration without "trusting the other party": multinational teams and anonymous contributors do not need to sign contracts or open cross-border accounts; they can collaborate based on the code rules on the blockchain, solving the problem of "trust among strangers." Transparency and resistance to censorship: suitable for politically sensitive projects, charitable funds, and open-source funding—the flow of funds is fully public, preventing anyone from manipulating it behind the scenes, and there is no fear of a single entity shutting down. Exploring new possibilities for collaboration: DAO is the only viable option for "collective decision-making" in the Web3 world; although not perfect, it provides a new experimental direction for human organizational forms. 8. A guide to avoiding pitfalls for beginners If you are a user/investor, don't just look at token prices; pay more attention to DAO proposal dynamics—this is the real direction of project development. Check if token distribution is fair: use Etherscan or Nansen to check the top 10 holdings' proportion; if it exceeds 50%, you can basically avoid pitfalls. Be wary of tokens that are "pure governance with no returns": for example, UNI, which does not capture cash flow, is difficult to have value support in the long run. If you want to participate in/create a DAO, first think clearly: does this really need a DAO? If it's just a small team collaboration, a WeChat group + shared documents might be 10 times more efficient than a DAO. Start testing with small "sub-DAOs" or working groups; don't jump straight into a full-process DAO to avoid being dragged down by inefficiency. Pay attention to legal compliance: even if you use ready-made tools, consult a lawyer to clarify responsibility allocation, especially when dealing with large amounts of capital.

Summary: DAO is not a utopia; it is an evolving experiment. DAO is neither a "decentralized utopia" nor a "Web3 scam"—it is essentially an experimental organization that "writes company bylaws in code, uses tokens as ballots, and employs on-chain wallets as treasuries." It is slow, noisy, and filled with controversy, but it addresses some core pain points of traditional organizations and has already become the infrastructure of Web3 #DAO