Among the many applications of blockchain technology, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are one of the most serious, and at the same time, the least widespread. The presence of DAOs remains limited in the Arab region, but this doesn’t negate the existence of several initiatives in this field that offer different and sometimes new uses of this technology. Here are the most prominent ones.
Dar Blockchain
One of the most serious DAO projects in the region, the Tunisian Dar Blockchain initiative is developing a decentralized business incubator program governed by a DAO. Members of the Web3 community in Tunisia nominate companies they believe deserve support, and vote on them at different stages of the incubator program.
Arts DAO
Arts DAO is an Emirati DAO for art collectors. Those interested can obtain membership by contributing an amount of crypto to the DAO’s treasury. After obtaining membership, the member can propose artworks they want the DAO to collectively acquire, or vote on proposals from other members. Arts DAO uses the financial resources in its treasury to purchase and acquire artworks.
Taxir
Taxir is a digital worker cooperative following the DAO model. Taxir aims to facilitate the adoption of blockchain technology in the Arab region by developing public good projects that can be used for free by the Web3 community in the region. Taxir also provides marketing and promotion services for blockchain projects from or active in the region.
Sadaa Sound Syndicate
The Syrian Sadaa Sound Syndicate seeks to explore the possibilities of DAO technology through a project called ‘Decentralized Autonomous Syndicate (DAS)’. The syndicate aims to support sound and music practices in Syria through public good projects, and recently launched a micro-grants program for sound practitioners in Syria, called Mikro.
Lam DAO
Egyptian journalist and writer Mohamed Ashraf is developing a DAO active in the field of literary publishing in the Arab region, primarily aimed at providing income for professional and full-time writers through grant programs.
TakaDAO
One of the largest DAOs in the Arab region, the Saudi TakaDAO offers sharia-compliant financial products using decentralized finance (DeFi) technologies built on the blockchain. TakaDAO currently offers products in the savings and mutual insurance (takaful) sectors.
AbjaDAO
AbjaDAO is an alliance of four organizations from the Arab region working together to develop, update and publish the Arabic AbjaDAO dictionary for Web3 terminology. AbjaDAO released its dictionary in Spring 2023, and the dictionary has been adopted to date by more than 14 organizations, including the Ethereum and Solana foundations.
MousDAO
MousDAO is an onboarding program and an experimental sandbox for Arab musicians and music workers interested in exploring the world of web3. It is a collaboration between The Taxir Initiative and Tarkeeza platform, and has received funding from The Culture Resource.
