2023 in DAOs + Web3 - Jan 11, 2024
A retrospective of the most exciting developments in DAOs and web3. Part 2.
🔍 Looking forward to [making] history - In part one of our 2023 roundup, we shared several 2023 web3 highlights. And that was only half of it! Critical to the evolution, acceptance, and widespread adoption of blockchain technology is the ability to address security concerns and infrastructure barriers, and the seamless incorporation of AI and quantum computing. 2023 brought huge technological advances applicable to all fields: governments, institutions, NGOs, charities, and B2B and B2C businesses. These tools - and the web3 ethos - accompanied an increase in #web3forgood, facilitating charity work, social impact initiatives, environmental efforts, and cultural preservation projects. It was a big year. Here’s part two of our annual roundup.
Improved Technologies, Tools, and Rules
🔓 ETH unlocked inspires bigger players - Ethereum’s Shanghai hard fork - or ‘Shapella’ - enabled withdrawals for those whose staked ETH and helped secure and validate transactions. Subsequently, Deutsche Telekom joined as a validator on Polygon. Separately, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network gained traction when Google Cloud partnered with Voltage to roll out Bitcoin-based services worldwide.
⛔️ Kill switch - The European Parliament approved the controversial Data Act, which updates the rules on smart contracts to include a kill switch. Next step: approval from the European Council to pass it into law.
🚧 Lower barriers - Aragon initially launched a toolkit on Polygon before launching its full no-code Aragon app and modular Aragon OSx on Coinbase’s Base network, facilitating easier DAO creation. Ava Labs, the company behind Avalanche, launched AvaCloud, a web3 launchpad to help businesses build, deploy, and scale no-code, fully managed, blockchain ecosystems.
🌑 Quantum leaps - QANplatform unveiled a private quantum-resistant, EVM compatible blockchain. A proof-of-work scheme relying on quantum computing for validating blockchain consensus offered the potential to lower the environmental impact of mining on the Bitcoin blockchain and others. Meanwhile, Bloomberg analyst Jamie Coutts reported that the percentage of Bitcoin mining energy from renewable sources exceeds 50%.
🤖 Web3 + AI - Alchemy introduced AlchemyAI, a suite of tools leveraging AI to help web3 developers accelerate their work and gain quicker access to on-chain data.
🛟 Safety first - Shield3, operating behind-the-scenes as bouncer, bodyguard, and armor for your web3 wallet, assets, and identity, opened for public beta testing. Relatedly, the public launch of SEAL Drills helps prepare blockchain protocols and projects for potential hacks.
➕ Integration advances - Cross-chain protocol Axelar enabled businesses and users to easily connect with decentralized applications across Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. Wormhole launched an application-specific blockchain into the Cosmos ecosystem, connecting liquidity and users from over 20 blockchains.
Big Interest
👀 All eyes (and hands) on web3 - Infura, a web3 infrastructure firm from Consensys, partnered with 18 internet firms, including Microsoft, Tencent Cloud, and Covalent, to launch a Decentralized Infrastructure Network. Google Cloud expanded its reach into blockchain technology by adding 11 networks to its BigQuery program for public datasets.
🦅 State of Web3 - The United States Blockchain Coalition reported increased traction around enterprise applications of blockchain technology and web3 exploration, confirming what we’ve been reporting all along.
🏦 DAOvesting - Hydra Ventures, the first dedicated investment DAO fund of funds and incubator raised $10M to propagate community-driven and values-aligned investment DAOs. Web3 startup accelerator Seed Club launched a venture arm with $25M focused on investing in DAOs.
#web3forthepeople
🧸 The Giving DAOs - Lucky Friday partnered with global fundraising organization JustGiving to create Teddy DAO, an NFT collection that donates proceeds to social impact charities. A partnership between Endaoment and GlobalGiving aims to expand web3-based fundraising by growing the number of nonprofits that accepted crypto and NFT-derived donations.
🎓 Web3.edu - The United Nations Development Programme, tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty, is upskillilling its 22,000 staff in blockchain technology.
🏺 Heritage - A web3-based verification-as-a-service model helps determine and record the authenticity and provenance of collectibles. Similarly, Realm of Historia is utilizing the Solana blockchain to tokenize historical sites and artifacts from Armenia.
🚗 Car Sharing 2.0 - Austria’s car-sharing service, Eloop, tokenized part of its fleet of over 200 Teslas, enabling fractional ownership and revenue sharing to users.
🌏 The Greening - The European Investment Bank issued a blockchain-based digital bond powered by an environmentally-incentivized node infrastructure. Gitcoin and global energy company Shell partnered to support the development of open-source climate solutions. Agricultural protocol LandX raised over $5M to democratize access to agricultural financial products through blockchain technology.
If looking back isn’t exciting enough, here’s what 2024 has in store for DAOs and web3:
🏯 Feb 6-7: DAO UTokyo
🦓 Feb 14-15: Africa Tech Summit, Nairobi
🏔️ Feb 23-Mar 3: ETH Denver
🗽 Apr 3-5: NFT NYC
🐉 Apr 4-9: Hong Kong Web3 Festival
🗼 Apr 8-12: Paris Blockchain Week
🌴 Apr 15-16: Blockchain Life 2024, Dubai
🏜️ Apr 20-21: Arts DAO Fest 2.0, Dubai
🇦🇪 Apr 20-21: Blockchain Universe Summit, Dubai
🥨 May 15-16: Conf3rence, Dortmund
🇭🇷 May 27-30: BlockSplit, Split, Croatia
🌵 May 29-31: Consensus, Austin
💃 Sep 25-26: European Blockchain Convention, Barcelona
🍻 Oct 16-18: BlockChance, Hamburg
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