Decentraland is the leading metaverse built on the Ethereum blockchain. Days after Facebook rebranded itself to META, most of the metaverse projects build on blockchain technology pumped in value.
This was followed by the launch of metaverse projects in the same year on different blockchains. We have Pavia crypto metaverse on the Cardano blockchain and then we had Solice crypto metaverse on the Solana blockchain.
Right now as we speak, investors are parking money on these projects and cashing in on the LAND sale. Despite the new launches, Decentraland stands tall and leads the way with its well-defined architecture and easy-to-interact UI. It has already hosted a number of events and onboarded top brands like Samsung.
Today, we take a look at Decentraland DAO and understand how Decentraland is keeping itself decentralized. Before I begin, if you like to refresh your knowledge about this project, do check out my recent post on Decentraland (MANA Coin).
Let’s get started –
What is Decentraland DAO?
DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. It is a system created by developers of the project to automate the decision-making process that shapes the direction of its growth. In short, DAO represents a decentralized entity that takes the power from a centralized player and gives it back to the users of the platform.
Decentraland DAO is a decision-making system for MANA Coin and LAND holders in Decentraland’s ecosystem. Like any other DAO, it uses a voting system to issue grants, decides on upcoming proposals and make changes to the list of banned names, POIs (points of interest) and catalyst nodes.
It’s time for 📢“Grant Update Highlight” 💫🔥
— DecentralandDAO (@DecentralandDAO) September 5, 2022
The grants dashboard updates section is a great way to read up on what your favorite projects have been up to✨
🎙️This weeks update is from: ⬇️🧵@decentraland #metaverse #decentraland #decentralanddao pic.twitter.com/NbyMdYAebb
The DAO controls the Smart Contracts of LAND and Estates
Everything from proposals to votes submitted are stored in IPFS via Snapshot. IPFS stands for InterPlanetary File System, invented by the creator of FileCoin. The complete process is governed by the community which is further overseen by the Security Advisory Board (SAB).
The proposal for a better DAO can be seen from the image shared below –
How Does Decentraland DAO work?
Decentraland DAO uses a combination of on-chain governance and off-chain voting for the community. The multi-sig wallet is controlled by the DAO committee to implement the off-chain decisions, on-chain (on Ethereum blockchain).
Anyone who holds MANA or LAND tokens can participate in the voting process without having to pay the gas fee. Remember the DAO committee is overseen by SAB that acts as a layer 2 security. DAO has several layers on which it operates. Let’s cover them all –
Governance UI:
It’s the face of Decentraland DAO which can be accessed by visiting the Decentraland governance website. You can create proposals and vote on the platform.
Snapshot:
Snapshot is a voting platform that works off-chain. It is the place where token holders can vote for the given proposals. The votes and the submitted proposals are stored on IPFS as cryptographically signed messages.
Thank you to everyone who attended our last Town Hall meeting🙏
— DecentralandDAO (@DecentralandDAO) September 9, 2022
💫We had some great updates and engaging discussions💕
Recording: 🎙️https://t.co/7BJRlpghcs
We are now hosting twice-monthly Town Halls, happening on the 2nd & 4th Thursday of each month on our discord server😊 pic.twitter.com/a9fGP2upeO
Decentraland DAO uses Snapshot to host the proposals and votes submitted by the community. AMP Coin and many other projects also use Snapshot for governance.
MANA or LAND holder do not pay for the gas fee to participate in the voting process
Aragon:
Aragon is a separate platform for creating and managing the collection of smart contracts needed to run a DAO. In short, Aragon is the backbone of Decentraland DAO. Any proposal that is passed by the community in Snapshot is implemented on the Ethereum mainnet with the help of Aragon.
DAO Committee:
The DAO committee is a group of trusted individuals selected by the community to hold the keys to multi-sig wallet. The multi-sig is responsible for initiating the action on the approved proposals like change in LAND smart contract, grant funding, banning a name etc.
Every on-chain transaction initiated by the DAO Committee is delayed by 24 hours. It is done intentionally to allow SAB to revoke the transaction, if necessary.
Security Advisory Board (SAB):
SAB is the second layer of security that oversees the layer 1 security i.e DAO Committee. SAB includes 5 Solidity experts selected by the Decentraland development team. Any update or changes in the smart contract automatically pass through SAB who takes the final call prior to deployment.
SAB has the ability to stop any action taken by the DAO Committee
Forum:
Forum is where the discussions take place. Every time a proposal is created, a thread is opened automatically on the Forum.
Decentraland DAO Uses:
DAO allows two types of proposals –
- Proposals with Binding Action
- Information Gathering Polls
Proposals with Binding Action:
As explained earlier, DAO allows the community to vote on proposals (binding actions) that will result in updates or changes in the Decentraland smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Some of the binding actions can be seen from the list shared below –
Information Gathering Polls:
Information gathering polls are non-binding multiple-choice polls that are created to gather opinions and thoughts of the community on topics related to the platform.
Types of Decentraland DAO Smart Contracts:
Decentraland DAO owns the majority of the smart contracts critical to the platform that includes LAND, Estate, POIs, Names, Wearable, Marketplace contracts and more. The complete details can be read on its page on smart contracts.
Decentraland DAO Fund:
Decentraland DAO has 222 million MANA Coins on a 10 year vesting period. Approximately 30 million MANA has been released (at the time of writing). This is not the only fund DAO has, it does generate income from the following sources –
- 2.5% transaction fees within the Decentraland Marketplace
- 2.5% transaction fees of LAND, Estate, Names and Wearable on the OpenSea marketplace
Decentraland DAO Limitations:
DAO is an autonomous entity which means it is limited by the number of smart contracts. It cannot be loaded with a new contract everyday expecting the system to work flawlessly.
Since DAO is managed by the DAO Committee and SAB. It is not easy to bring quick changes to its overall structure. A time-taking process must be followed prior to implementing big changes within the system.
MANA Coin Price:
This completes my review of Decentraland DAO. In the next post, I will cover Pavia Land Sale 3.0. If you like the post, please share and educate your friends. Do remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more informative content, released every week.
DISCLAIMER:
Cryptocurrency is a highly volatile market. All the information shared in the post is for knowledge purpose only. By no means, it’s financial or investment advice. Readers are responsible for their own investment decisions and should only invest in cryptocurrency after proper research.
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Paras is a blockchain writer & video creator at Katoch Tubes. In his free time, he loves watching space exploration documentaries & Hollywood movies.