What Is DAO?

A Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) is a protocol-governed entity managed collectively by its token holders through onchain voting, without centralised leadership. DAOs use smart contracts to enforce governance rules, manage treasuries and execute decisions transparently. In decentralised finance, DAOs govern major protocols like MakerDAO and Uniswap, allowing token holders to vote on fee structures, treasury allocation, risk parameters and protocol upgrades. The governance structure creates transparent, community-driven oversight that reduces single points of failure compared to traditional finance.

See also

• Protocol

• Smart contract

• Decentralised finance

• Token

• Non-custodial

• Onchain