Decentralized Utopian Autonomous Organization:Friends with Benefits

Friends With Benefits, literally translated as "good friends." But if you watch a lot of American dramas, you will know that the term actually mainly refers to "friends of artillery." And it may now be given a new meaning by a DAO.

In fact, I have heard of this product a long time ago. My first reaction at that time was "WTF! Do you want to do a DAO for one-night stand?" The prejudice prevented me from continuing to learn more about it, until more and more people around me mentioned Friends with benefits (FWB), in September, I suddenly discovered that they had received 10 million U.S. dollars of investment (valuation of 100 million U.S. dollars) from several top investment institutions such as a16z. At this time, I knew that I must have made another mistake.

Any DAO that develops to a relatively large scale will become difficult to describe, especially FWB. This is a private club with more than 2,000 members. Joining this club not only requires strict identity verification, but also purchases close to ten thousand dollars in tickets. When a member holds tickets, he also owns a part of the club and can participate in the operation and decision-making of the club, so this club is also a DAO.

Although the DAO model has existed for several years, it is not without problems. One of the earliest examples, called The DAO for short, became notorious after someone used a vulnerability in the code (often called a "hacker") to steal about a third of the funds. Others compare these groups to pyramid schemes or multi-level marketing. These groups encourage growth and valuation through ever-increasing number of members—invite your friends to make more money! There are many such examples. But a good DAO is written with high-quality code (to deter scammers and hackers) and based on a dedicated community and a real production plan, especially when it comes to cultural industries. It does not only exist on the blockchain and There is also incredible potential for generating value.

If all this sounds like utopia, it is because its potential seems to be limitless. The only limit is in your imagination, but imagination is different from reality. The Web3 world is still a long way from building a new collectivist system, and it still has a lot of potential. Many things that seem exciting in a DAO like Friends With Benefits are like a double-edged sword. DAO makes its own rules and only abides by its own rules, but obviously this may be used or stolen by others, so it is not 100% safe.

Just like anything in the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency world, in the wild west away from regulation, supervision, and centralized authority, in the well-known fickle market, any of these DAOs may be within a second collapse. Or they may never. In any case, we will see a spurt of development in this industry, not only friends with benefits. Which may change the way music and art move in their usual life cycle. Whether you are a savvy investor, someone interested in cryptocurrency, or just from a bystander's point of view, this is something to watch.