Organisations autonomes décentralisées et enjeux de gouvernance : le cas de The DAO

Abstract

Trust is the basis of the traditional governance model stemming from the industrial revolution based on vertical logic. This model of governance has been questioned on several occasions following the numerous financial scandals since the Enron debacle in 2001. Blockchain technology offers the potential to evolve this governance model by enabling the creation of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). A DAO is an organization that operates through a set of smart contracts that establish and provide governance rules to an organization. These rules are transparent and immutable because they are written in a blockchain network. Following an in-depth research of the DAO case, this study shows certain important DAO governance issues.