DAOs may need to ditch decentralization to court institutions

Crypto’s push into institutional adoption is forcing DAOs to choose between maintaining decentralization and business deals.

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) were built on an ideological premise that is now running up against the realities of running a business, where decentralization collides with the need for legal ownership and control.

On March 11, DAO Across Protocol made a controversial proposal to transition to a private company through a token-to-equity exchange buyout. Risk Labs, the team behind Across (ACX), said that the token and DAO structure “materially” impacted its ability to close deals with enterprises and institutions.

The industry reaction has been split. Decentralized finance (DeFi) researcher Ignas called it a “huge failure of crypto.”

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