DAO Treasuries Swell $20 Billion, Does This Reflect Growing Influence?

Key Takeaways

• The total value locked in DAO treasuries has skyrocketed in just four months.
• The number of DAOs with treasuries exceeding $1 million has grown.
• The top 5 DAOs represent more than a half of the total DAO treasury value.

Four months ago, 179 decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) had treasuries worth $1 million or more.

Currently, the number of DAOs  meeting this financial threshold has increased to 211.

DAO Treasury Value Surges Past $40 Billion in Four Months

Additionally, since November 1 2023, the total value held  in DAO treasuries has surged by more than $20 billion. This  demonstrates the expanding financial clout and investment capacity of DAOs within digital and decentralized finance.

Over the past four months, the cryptocurrency market has experienced a notable rise  in value. This, therefore, has directly contributed to a significant increase in the value of decentralized autonomous organization treasuries.

In November 2023, the collective assets managed by DAO ecosystems amounted to $18 billion, with Arbitrum DAO leading the pack. However, the landscape has since changed, and Arbitrum now ranks as the second-largest in terms of treasury value.

As of the current assessment, the total valuation of assets within the DAO ecosystem has reached $40.1 billion.

Optimism Leads With $7.9 Bn Treasury

The Optimism Collective  currently holds the title for the largest DAO in terms of treasury size, with a value of about $7.9 billion. The treasury of Optimism’s DAO is diversified, containing tokens such as OP, USDT, ETH, and USDC.

Following close behind is Arbitrum’s DAO, with its treasury valued at $6.8 billion, primarily in assets like ARB and ETH. Four months ago, Mantle’s DAO was third, but Uniswap’s DAO has since overtaken it.

As it stands, Uniswap’s DAO treasury boasts a value of $4.8 billion, surpassing Mantle’s current reserves, which are worth $2.8 billion. Gnosis holds the fifth position in the ranking of DAOs by treasury size, with a treasury worth $2.7 billion. Collectively, the treasuries of the top five DAOs represent a significant portion of the ecosystem, with a combined worth of $25 billion. This accounts for 62.34% of the overall DAO landscape valuation of $40.1 billion.

Within the top ten, both ENS DAO and the Graph DAO manage assets in the range of $1 billion to $1.6 billion, highlighting the substantial financial resources and potential influence wielded by the leading DAOs in the decentralized finance space.

Dydx, Aevo (formerly known as Ribbon Finance), and Lido are notable DAOs with treasuries worth $743 million, $489 million, and $479 million, respectively. In terms of governance and decision-making based on treasury assets, Optimism’s DAO has processed 151 proposals, while Arbitrum’s DAO has examined 200 proposals.

Uniswap has reviewed 170 proposals, Mantle has considered 45, and Gnosis has scrutinized 197 proposals. Both Optimism and Arbitrum have attracted millions of votes on their proposals, while the other three have drawn hundreds of thousands of votes.

The current valuation of $40.1 billion across these organizations marks a change from Ethereum’s first DAO, which suffered a catastrophic failure leading to the Ethereum Classic hard fork.

This evolution signifies the maturation and expansion of DAOs as a critical component of the decentralized finance ecosystem. It  demonstrates their recovery and growth from early challenges to become significant holders of assets and influential entities in governance and the broader crypto market.

About the Author

Teuta Franjkovic

Teuta is a seasoned writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience. She has expertise in covering macroeconomics and technology as well as the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. She has worked for several publications as a journalist and editor, including Forbes, Bloomberg, CoinTelegraph, Coin Rivet, CoinSpeaker, VRWorld and Arcane Bear. Teuta began her professional career in 2005, working as a lifestyle writer at Cosmopolitan in Croatia. From there, she branched out to several other publications, covering mainly business and the economy. She then turned her attention to the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, believing that crypto is among the most important inventions in the history of humanity. Her involvement in fintech began in 2014 and she has since lent her expertise in writing, editing and gathering information about the world of crypto, blockchain, NFTs and Web3. An all-round news hound, mentor, editor, and writer, Teuta enjoys teamwork and good communication. She holds a WSET2 diploma and has a thing for chablis, punkrock music and shoes. She also holds a double MA in Political science and Entrepreneurship.

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