Towards the end of 2021, DAOs became a hot topic in the cryptocurrency world. Designed to bring power back to communities through collective votes, the likes of BlockbusterDAO will allocate a percentage of voting power based on the proportion you own of its token.
At first glance, this seems a sensible proposal. The more skin in the game, the more your voice matters. However, is a system that gives power to the richest really where cryptocurrency wants to go?
That’s where vEmpire comes in. With its DDAO system, or Democratic Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, voting powers are at least somewhat more equal. Planet Crypto spoke to vEmpire CEO Dominic Ryder to find out more.
What is vEmpire?
vEmpire is a Decentralised Metaverse Investment Organisation, with over $35m in Total Value Locked. While it sounds pretty complex, it means that vEmpire invests in metaverse assets and real estate, having entered the market at 90% below the current market price. Through its guild program that helps players earn from the best NFT games, the DDAO and stakers can earn passive rewards.
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However, this DAO operates differently from others in the space. Rather than distributing vote shares based on monetary amounts, all wallets above a certain threshold will be allocated one vote, no matter how much they own.
As such, the Democratic DAO states it prioritises community involvement for decision-making, rather than being governed by a few whales.
Why the DDAO?
The model of a Democratic DAO is different to the traditional DAO system, which Ryder criticised. “I think it can be done differently because when has leaving the rich to make the decisions ever worked out? My view is that there is no reason you can’t have a democratic process.”
Once a wallet reaches over $10,000 of xVEMP, the staked version of the VEMP token, it will be eligible for a vote.
Ryder did understand the difficulties people may face with the $10,000 minimum, but said this was necessary. “In an ideal world, it would be one vote per wallet, but this is crypto, so you’ve got bots everywhere,” he said. “The minimum is $10,000, that’s mainly to make it expensive to attempt to sway a vote.”
To his knowledge, no other DAOs have attempted to implement such a system, which he puts down to the need for control and power.
“People want it done by token share because it means founders and developers have bigger voices within the community,” he said. “I speak to a lot of founders of DAOs, and they know full well that if a vote is going the way they don’t like, they can instantly flush it out their way.
“There’s a lot more accountability, which isn’t necessarily a good thing for someone who wants to not be held accountable. I think people don’t trust their community.”
There’s just one slight hiccup so far - a lack of community proposals. “I’d love to say I have proof, but I don’t because no one’s submitted any proposals yet.”
“I take it as a vote of confidence,” Ryder joked. However, he isn’t worried about this just yet, reaffirming that vEmpire is still in the early stages.
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The only concern Ryder has is the possibility for short-term thinking in proposals. “Sometimes decisions that can be made for the next two months may not be the best decisions for the next two years.”
So, once the DDAO is up and running, what’s next for Dominic Ryder?
“I’ll be sitting on a beach with a cocktail,” he quipped. “No, obviously I want to be involved - I live and breathe it. I’d like to give my opinion like everyone else. If people choose to listen to me more or less than anyone else, then that’ll be down to them.”
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