web3dom #17 - DHK dao's Fourth Evolution

On the 18th of last month, DHK dao held its first face-to-face meeting in Hong Kong. The discussion pushes the arrangements and thoughts towards DAO, includinge joint management of assets, allocation of various tasks, etc. This can be seen as the fourth evolution of DHK dao.

Before discussing DHK dao, we need to redefine DAO. After all, the industry is changing rapidly, technology is continuously evolving, and the discourse is also evolving to some extent.

Looking back at my old articles, my first formal introduction to DAO was published on October 30, 2019, almost 4 years ago, which is equivalent to a Bitcoin halving cycle. At that time, I deliberately translated DAO as "Blockchain Republic". I later expanded the article and included it in "Blockchain Sociology: The Re-imagination of Money, Media, and Democracy", which was published in July 2020. Over two years later, on January 20, 2022, I discussed DAO again, this time in more detail, proposing "Eight Key Features to Test the 'Purity' of Various DAOs on the Market" and listing related examples.

By then, DAOs were everywhere in the market, in almost any form and for any goal. However, if measured by those eight features, very few could be truly called DAOs. The vision depicted by the "Blockchain Republic" is closer to what was gradually referred to as the "Network State", another big topic to be discussed later. As for DAOs, they evolved into a broader concept, becoming lightweight, flexible, and casual, encompassing all kinds of communities related to web3. It can be said that their only common feature is using Discord as the main communication tool.

Although no one can strictly define a DAO, I believe we can still capture some features and draw a vague boundary. Based on the literal interpretation of Decentralized Autonomous Organization, a DAO should meet, or at least pursue, the following three points:

• D: Decentralized. Using blockchain, multi-signature wallets, etc., to store data and assets.

• A: Autonomous. Has a democratic component where community members participate in decision-making in some form.

• O: Organization. Has a specific purpose or goal for its establishment.

As for DHK dao, it originated from a hashtag.

In early 2020, in response to unique social conditions, I wrote several articles discussing how to use blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies to protect personal assets from being confiscated. I used the hashtag #decentralizehk to label the series of articles. Looking back, I won't deny that my thoughts at that time were “too simple, sometimes naive”, but I have no regrets. In fact, I'm glad I had those naive moments. After all, who knows what results naivety can bring?

In mid-2020, I began publishing articles in the Hong Kong Apple Daily, primarily discussing how to apply blockchain-related technologies in the context of Hong Kong. I simply named the column "#decentralizehk". A year later, as everyone knows, the Apple Daily was shut down on June 24, 2021. The next day, I took the plunge and released the 0th issue of this weekly report under the name of #decentralizehk.

After more than half a year of reflection, I began operating validator nodes and became a "representative" in the Cosmos ecosystem. Then, on February 28, 2022, I published the "DHK dao Manifesto", simultaneously issuing the DHK token, trying to transform the individual effort of #decentralizehk into the collective DHK dao.

Declaration of DHK dao

1. Vision: building consensus among 7mil people.

2. Mission: to educate muggles on blockchain, cryptocurrency and decentralization.

3. Operation: a validator across various blockchains, governed by her users.

4. Consensus: adopt lazy consensus. Community support is assumed unless someone says otherwise.

5. Governance: 1 DHK 1 vote, covering issues that can be digitally achieved to facilitate the vision, mission and operation.

6. Culture: Pay it forward. Always convert muggles into users of cryptocurrency and give them 1 DHK token.

7. Code of Conduct: with great power comes great responsibility. With more DHK, you have greater responsibility to convert muggles and give out all but 1 DHK. Bottom line, sell all but 1 DHK to the market.

8. End game: 7,000,000 DHK in the hands of 7,000,000 users.

v1, 2022.05.09

As mentioned earlier, many DAO operations are quite lax, and frankly, this also applies to the newly established DHK dao. If we use the D, A, O characteristics as a standard, the DHK dao manifesto clearly states its organizational mission as blockchain popular education, fulfilling the "O" purpose requirement and could be considered as passing the mark. Many technologies are often labeled as a "solution looking for a problem." From what I've observed, the situation of a "DAO looking for a cause" is also quite common. By establishing the DAO based on a declaration rather than Discord, my starting point was to avoid this awkwardness.

The core design of DHK dao is centered around validator operations as the primary engine, using the related income to provide liquidity for the DHK token and to support the operational expenses of the DAO. Validator business is highly competitive and moves at a rapid pace. Many decisions need to be made within two days, updates and maintenance often require all-night efforts, and immediate responses are crucial in emergencies. Therefore, when drafting the manifesto, I chose the "lazy consensus" mechanism, allowing managers to operate efficiently while always being open to stakeholder proposal oppositions, trying to strike a balance between business competition and community involvement, fulfilling the "A" or autonomy requirement. Later on, the voting tool daodao could not maintain backward compatibility due to contract updates, which affected the governance interface of DHK dao, but this is a matter of technical implementation.

Regarding the "D" or decentralized storage of assets and data, due to the Cosmos ecosystem being less developed than the Ethereum system at that time, it was not possible to manage the DHK dao's assets in a decentralized manner using multi-signature wallets. The workaround was to store them in a specific wallet and mint the mnemonic of the wallet into "Three Dragon Balls", which were handed over to three members. This mitigated the risk of a single point of failure from me losing them, but it didn't prevent me from potentially misappropriating funds or mistakenly sending assets into a void, rendering it a halfway solution to decentralized asset management.

And so, from a hashtag to a column, from a column to a weekly report, and from the report to an organization, after three iterations, DHK dao was formally established.

While tools are important, people are the key. In this regard, I take full responsibility. With the framework in place, I should have delegated tasks to other community members long ago. Instead, most tasks piled up on me. Apart from releasing the weekly reports which I barely managed to keep up with, often when I got busy, things would fall through the cracks, leading to quite a chaotic operation within DHK dao.

After over a year, last month, I, a chronic procrastinator, finally managed to streamline various processes and held a meeting to explain each procedure, aiming to delegate tasks and subject myself to community oversight, hence moving "from chaos to order". Initially, due to the cryptocurrency market downturn, short notice of the event, and the requirement of physical attendance, I worried nobody would come. But not only did 11 attendees cram into the small venue, they were also all eager to take on tasks, which was very comforting. Below are the main arrangements (meeting notes):

1. Now co-managed by Vicky, Uncle Potato, and Derek. Introducing the community to the "Asset Guardians" in person was a major reason for holding this offline gathering. Unfortunately, this format excluded many overseas members.

2. Thanks to donations and matching from Gitcoin Grants, DHK dao holds minor assets on Ethereum mainnet and Optimism L2, both stored in multi-signature wallets (1, 2). Post-meeting, these are co-managed by the three, requiring signatures from two of them to transfer assets.

3. Starting from August, for DHK dao's validators on various Cosmos blockchains, besides the 10% split used to support DHK liquidity, an additional 30% is allocated for DAO operations, volunteer expenses, etc. As the multi-signature wallet for Cosmos is still immature, the "Three Dragon Balls" are temporarily held by the trio to prevent a single point of failure.

1. The monthly airdrop amount for stakeholders is calculated and announced by Derek.

2. DHK's liquidity pool is managed by Derek and Theodore.

1. The monthly report is discontinued and replaced by announcements on Twitter/X, overseen by Vicky.

2. Daisy has joined as one of the Discord administrators.

3. Telegram remains unchanged (post-meeting, it was decided on Discord to add Daisy as an admin).

4. Victor and Daniel will produce Podcasts and YouTube tutorial videos.

5. The website dhk.org remains under my management, ckxpress, but other members will also independently post announcements.

6. I will continue to focus on web3 popularization, operate the DHK dao weekly report, and publish open articles weekly.

1. Leo handles legislative and voting duties for Cosmos Hub and Osmosis.

2. For other chains, the existing model continues, with Astro Hsu, leafwind, and ckxpress taking turns.

1. Lawrence is in charge of project management and intervenes in the aforementioned roles when necessary.

2. Lastly, the lifeblood of DHK dao, the validators across various Cosmos ecosystem chains, remains under UD's maintenance.

Less than four weeks have passed since the last meeting, and the handover of some tasks isn't complete yet. It's too early to comment on the effectiveness of decentralized operations. As for future success and growth, the fifth evolution into DHK dao's final form will no longer be solely under my control but a collective effort.

Individually we go fast, but together we go far. Thanks to all DHK dao members, especially the volunteers. Your commitment, even in a bearish market, keeps those who persist from questioning their life's choices. Let's journey together on the path of web3.

1. Eight Key Features to Test the 'Purity' of Various DAOs on the Market

2. Blockchain Republic

3. DHK dao: Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Enter the Public Sphere

4. Lazy Consensus + Contrarian Voting: Collaboration of the Silent Majority

5. DHK dao-mocracy: The “making of” validator governance

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