This Week in DAOs - Apr 13, 2023

A roundup of the most exciting developments in DAOs and web3.

💥 The world of web3 and DAOs is exploding with opportunity and innovation. With new partnerships and prototypes, available funding, and lower barriers to entry, the potential for decentralized finance and community-driven decision-making is limitless.

Highlights

🛑 Authenticity Alliance - Wakweli, a protocol that issues certificates of authenticity for NFTs, has officially partnered with Polygon. While NFTs themselves are unique assets that can be verified on the blockchain, problems can arise when it comes to verifying an asset's origin. Wakweli addresses this by issuing certificates of authenticity for NFTs, which serve as proof that an asset was created by its claimed creator and has a verifiable history of ownership.

🚧 Breaking Barriers - Technological hurdles for aspiring DAOists are lower than they’ve ever been. Aragon has launched a new toolkit on Polygon, enabling the creation of DAOs without the need for coding skills. The toolkit lowers technical barriers and enables users to customize DAO functionality in the areas of governance and voting management, proposal creation, and new member onboarding.

🥂 Digital Decadence - Ralph Lauren has unveiled a fresh luxury design concept in Miami’s iconic Design District, fusing the extravagant exuberance of a luxurious lifestyle with digital innovation, NFTs, and immersive experiences.

🏦 Future of Finance - Swedish and French banks have joined forces to introduce a digital lending platform that operates on blockchain technology. The climate-friendly and energy-efficient platform will enable institutional clients to issue, trade, and settle bonds on the blockchain.

🇯🇵 Japan’s Jumpstart - Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party’s web3 project team released a white paper proposing measures to expand the country’s web3 industry. The proposal includes modifications to tax regulations, new accounting standards, and a law for DAOs modeled after Godo Kaisha, Japan’s version of a limited liability corporation.

🧸 Tokens for Tots - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is developing a DAO prototype on Polygon to improve communication about new Digital Public Goods (DPGs) features. These DPGs refer to software, data, and other digital tools and resources available to the public that foster social and economic development.

🌏 Asian Ascent - Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget has launched a $100M fund to support Asian-based web3 startups. This move comes as Asian nations, led by Hong Kong easing its cryptocurrency regulations and Japan’s promotion of web3 development, are constructing a framework for developing web3.

Show Me the Money

🌳 Green NFTs - Ecosapiens, which enables eco-conscience blockchain collectibles through carbon offsets, has raised $3.5M, led by crypto-focused Collab+Currency.

💵 DAO for DAOs - Hydra Ventures, a web3 investment DAO fund of funds, has raised $10M. Founded by a team of experienced web3 investors and innovators, Hydra is solely focused on backing, incubating, and participating in investment DAOs across the web3 ecosystem.

⛩️ Asian Messaging - Blockchain infrastructure provider LayerZero Labs raised a $120M Series B funding round with support from a16z and Sequoia Capital, among others. The protocol, which is in pursuit of omnichain interoperability, plans to use the capital to expand its reach into the Asia-Pacific region.

🎰 Betting on Web3 - Saudi Arabia’s Sanabil invests approximately $2B annually through direct investments, private equity, and VCs. Amongst its recipients are nearly 40 US venture capital firms, including several deep in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and web3-related investments.

💸 Accelerating from Within - It’s noteworthy that outside funding is now often sourced from within web3. The lead investors in Delphi Labs’ recent $13.5M round are web3-native P2P and Jump Crypto. The funds will support a web3 accelerator that sponsors up to 10 teams annually, all focused on a specific ecosystem. Cohort I will build for Cosmos. Applications are open!

Initiate & Collaborate

🍻 Bottoms up! - Congratulations to beverage-centric DAOs, Whiskey Pioneers DAO and Raid Brood, on the fruits of your shared enthusiasm, knowledge, and resources.

Deadlines and Events

💻 April 10-May 7: DAO Global Hackathon
🖼️ April 12-14: NFT.NYC
🇭🇰 April 12-15: Web3 Festival, Hong Kong
🗻 April 13: DAO Tokyo
🖲️ April 14-16: ETHGlobal Tokyo
💻 April 17-May 31: WEB3ATHON
🇰🇷 April 19-21: SeoulBound, A gathering of DAO East & Rest
🇺🇸 April 21–23: Duke University Web3 Conference
🤠 April 26-28: Consensus 2023
🇹🇭 April 29-May 5: Bangkok Blockathon
🇲🇪 May 19-23: EDCON
🇵🇹 June 7-9: Non Fungible Conference, Lisbon
🌐 June 9: Epic Web3 Conference, Lisbon
🇵🇪 June 8-10: Blockchaincon Latam
🇹🇷 August 21-25: Istanbul Blockchain Week

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