Taxonomy of DAOs
Duration: 00:38:01
Speaker: Kei Kreutler, Yalda Mousavinia
Type: Breakout
Expertise: Intermediate
Event: Devcon
Date: Jun 2026
The term DAO appears here to stay. From its first use, the phrase Decentralization Autonomous Organization conjured an array of potentialities, including legal representation and management for natural systems to imaginaries of independent Skynet-like entities. However, despite the resurgence of DAO projects in 2019, we still lack a common vocabulary for different types of DAOs. From “human-work DAOs” to “superscalable” organizations, this breakout session aims to develop a working taxonomy of DAO projects with differing structures and objectives. We will provide a worksheet for participants to evaluate a specific DAO project instance, based on its decision-making processes, ease of entrance and exit, and broader governance mechanisms, with helpers from each project on hand to provide insight. We will also provide basis for existing organizational forms, such as co-operatives and mutual organizations, that DAOs both mimic and exceed. This breakout session seeks to establish a working group on DAO taxonomy, and chart both existing categories as well as the as yet unknown feats of DAOs.
