Author: Oguz Genc

In this article, we would like to provide some non-academic resources for DAO research. While academic studies are focusing on decentralized autonomous organizations a lot more recently, community research on DAOs also provides valuable resources. Most of the data analytics and day-to-day research is mainly done via services that are either DAOs or private businesses. In a way, the research on DAOs is also decentralized, making it challenging to access DAO-related data publicly. Nevertheless, some learning materials can be found in aggregated formats. Below are a few resources that can help any curious mind to get started with DAO research.

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Data Analytics

• For data analytics wizards with SQL knowledge, Dune Analytics is the most comprehensive blockchain data analytics tool that is free and relies on community engagement. However, it is possible to search for DAO-related dashboards rather than having to build a dashboard. It is not free to export analysis in CSV format, unfortunately. Go to Dune and type DAO in the search bar to get started. Specific searches for popular DAO platforms return dozens of results. For example, a dashboard for DAO treasuries still needs to be built, and it would be a handy tool.

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Databases and Metrics

Deep DAO is a comprehensive DAO metrics analytics tool with a paid API. Users can analyze the activity in a DAO not just by checking their rankings in terms of finances but also their governance activity to measure community engagement, such as the number of votes, number of governance proposals, number of participants, and number of token holders. These metrics can also define a degree of decentralization for DAOs. Data can be filtered based on the smart-contract service provider, which can be used to do comparative research between different base-layer protocols.

Messari is a crypto analytics company that provides DAO metrics and a tool to participate in DAO analytics. They streamline the process of filtering the active and past proposals for many DAOs, which can be filtered into nine categories and many other tags. We will get into these categories in the following article. For any DAO that is looked up, Messari feeds similar DAOs, making comparative research easier. DAOs can also be filtered based on their smart-contract provider as well. The company also releases comprehensive research reports on the outlook of the crypto industry, including DAOs. Unfortunately, many advanced features require a subscription.

Other platforms also provide similar data, such as Boardroom, which provides a specific feed of governance proposals for DAOs. At the same time, Tally combines another DAO exploration database that allows filtering based on the smart contract platform, showing which DAOs have active proposals and other engagement metrics. 

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General Research

The DAO Research Collective (DRC) is an open-source non-profit for aggregating and curating DAO research for the community and facilitating interactions between academics and operators.

Another proactive group that publishes regular DAO research is BanklessDAO. They also keep their directory, which various tags can filter. For anyone who would like to read two or three blog posts per month to keep updated on the developments in the DAO landscape, Bankless DAO is an active DAO that does this regularly. Some of the DAO members also engage in academic research. They also keep their own directory, which can be filtered by a variety of tags.

Realistically, learning about a particular DAO will take someone to join the particular community of a DAO. The social environment where DAOs convene is an application called Discord. Starting as a chat and streaming app for gamers, Discord became the go-to communication channel for cryptocurrency communities, which includes DAOs. So whatever Slack is to business and academic communities, Discord has become the central platform for communication for decentralized businesses. 

Disclaimer: The author does not have any conflict of interest regarding the entities mentioned in this piece.

Disclaimer: All generated content is for research purposes only. The author does not and will not provide any investment advice.