Our mission is to build a vibrant community that empowers connection, champions innovation, and works with leading industry participants, including Layer1 protocols and trade associations, to add a builder-focused voice to forward-thinking policies. We are committed to leveraging the power of decentralized governance to create a space where voices are heard, ideas flourish, and collective actions drive impactful change. By intertwining these three pillars—Community, Innovation, and Policy—we aim to not only reflect the diversity and dynamism of the DC area but also to be a leading model for civic engagement and technological advancement in the digital age.

About DC DAO Membership: We are launching an initial collection of 1776 NFT Memberships. So is DC DAO Membership for you? The short answer is yes. Our initial mint is on Ethereum, but this is a chain agnostic organization. As a Member, you have a significant say in the strategic direction of the LCA. This can be an empowering and fulfilling experience, especially if you are passionate about building and enabling greater Web3 adoption. There are two different ways for Web3 enthusiasts, industry professionals, creators and anyone else interested to get involved. The first is through purchased, or Patron, Membership. Patronage fuels all of the DAO’s activities and keeps members involved. The easiest way to join as a Patron Member is to buy our Membership NFT, available here. We chose George Washington crossing the Delaware as a symbol of crypto’s bold progress over the past year. DC DAO is proud to launch initial membership as a salute to our Nation’s history and ideals on the Fourth of July, 2024. Because Freedom.

Joining DC DAO provides membership in a cooperative that will build the future of crypto in DC. Members will be the first to know about all DC DAO events and, if you participate in the initial mint, you will receive a swag pack with stellar merch. Members can also attend exclusive member-only events and network with leading industry professionals in the blockchain space. These events may include co-working sessions, happy hours, coffee meetups, private dinners, and panel sessions. DC DAO will also leverage on-chain voting for its members to decide and lead community-driven projects, so you also have an opportunity to propose what we do next.

We should note at the outset that the main goal of DC DAO is collective ownership and participation. Participation means that all member classes will contribute to, and vote on, specific initiatives put forth by both the Stewards, and, more importantly, you. Because we’re organized as a Cooperative, all tiers of membership will be entitled to share in returns based on how well DC DAO projects perform over time.

So what exactly is a Patron Member? If you purchase our initial membership Genesis Mint, you will immediately be a Patron Member. You could be crypto curious, or you could be writing your PhD thesis on the abstraction of identity through cryptography. Patron members make initial financial contributions when they join to keep the cooperative running, and enable the Stewards, Contributor Members, and recipients of both funding and expertise (creators and operators) to do what they do best. You get out what you put in.

You will be able to propose meetups, exploratory committees, and passion projects, to be voted on by the DAO. In addition to all the events and content we have planned, you will have a voice. You will also gain insights on every facet of the industry, from fundraising and project ideation to finding your technical cofounder, to meetings with industry leaders. You will be expected to give your feedback in the form of voting and governance. When DC DAO engages with a project, every member who was active at the time of the grant proposal will be entitled to receive upside, if there is any, generated by that project. You may receive additional benefits including exclusive content and merchandise, access to events and any other weird ideas this incredible group of creative people can dream up. We will be following up after this post with initial proposal formats and the Bylaws for the Cooperative, which will include more information about how and when any financial distributions occur.

So what if you want to do more? Become a Contributor Member. Are you a developer, thought leader, marketing expert, aspiring founder, community manager, project coordinator, brand expert, or just all around useful badass? This is the membership for you. Contributor members will work directly on initiatives like community outreach, organization, and content for DC DAO. An example might be that DC DAO decides to work with an affinity or community-based DAO, like Krause House, to host a 3 on 3 basketball tournament and refurbish public courts in DC, or with an organization like the Blockchain Association or Stand With Crypto to bring out the vote or raise awareness on issues that affect our industry.

Initiatives like this take a whole team of passionate individuals to work. That’s where you come in. You are the lifeblood of the Cooperative. We’re bringing a model that’s been incredibly successful in web3 (direct ownership) to the DC community. As a Contributor member, you’ll be entitled to compensation for your time working on DC DAO initiatives, you’ll be able to work directly on projects and committees. We will also be looking for Contributor Members to help us organize next year’s EthDC event when we run it back. You’ll work directly with the Stewards, leadership team, and any other committees the Cooperative may put in place to bring web3 and community to the masses. Your ideas will always be valued (sometimes literally) and your input will keep the cooperative running. Please shoot us a DM on X or reach out in the Telegram to get engaged and learn more about joining as a Contributor Member.

We are not actively raising at this time, but DC DAO is also open to working with Investor Members. Please reach out if you’re interested in becoming an Investor Member.

Think you fit more than one of these member types? Good news! You can become more than one class of Member in DC DAO. Feel free to come as you are or make suggestions that suit your interests, and we’ll see what we can do for you.

Governance

We are forming this cooperative to effectively create a “hivemind” of brilliant people interested in activating the Web3 community in DC. The Cooperative currently has seven Stewards, or Board Members. DC DAO was started by the blockchain community in DC. The community will vote, but the Stewards are the ones with the authority to carry out the actions voted by the community. Stewards are responsible for ensuring the LCA operates in compliance with its articles of organization and bylaws, and for making decisions that are in the best interests of the LCA and its members. Stewards optimize their strengths and bring their best self to DC DAO.

We’ve already put together EthDC. Cooperatives break down physical and financial walls. As a Builder, it’s impossible to test and interact with your most passionate fans without incurring enormous costs and time. This model fundamentally needs to change, and is part of a broader movement across Web3 to cut out the middle man and the stodgy back-room-deal culture that has dominated the industry. DC DAO will act as a hub and community-driven, socially conscious incubator bringing members together around our Three Pillars. Proposals will work on a rolling basis with the community to build projects that have a lasting impact.

If you’re looking to drive the future of DC DAO, we’d love to work with you. We have our initial set of Stewards, who act similarly to Board Members in a traditional company, but will be elected based on class of member going forward, after the first two year period of service.

Stewards have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the LCA and its members. This means that you must exercise care, loyalty, and good faith in all your actions. Simply put, you cannot use the DC DAO LCA in a way that would harm the members for our own gain. Stewards also guide strategic planning and financial oversight of DC DAO. We will rely heavily on members, who are able to vote and participate directly in the efforts of DC DAO to launch and manage projects.

The last benefit is the shared ownership and profits of whatever the DC DAO produces, whether that takes the form of revenue from conferences, intellectual property rights, ownership of physical spaces, or collaborations. This is not an offering of securities. This is an opportunity to become a member and directly participate in a growing organization. The goal of the LCA model is to share the benefits of ownership. We want to do well and do good through a sense of community and mutual support among members of the DC DAO Cooperative.

Join DC DAO LCA. It will be an incredibly interesting journey. We hope you’ll come on this ride with us, like those guys who hopped in that boat with George Washington.