DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation)

A DAO is an organisation whose rules and treasury live in smart contracts, so decisions are made by token-weighted votes on proposals rather than by an executive team. A typical flow is a forum discussion, an off-chain signalling vote, then an on-chain proposal that, once passed, executes the change directly. The name entered wide use with The DAO in 2016, an investment vehicle drained through a contract flaw, an episode that led to the Ethereum hard fork. Modern DAOs face plainer problems: voter turnout is low, large holders can decide outcomes alone, and legal status varies by jurisdiction, so members may hold real-world liability without a clear corporate wrapper.