Jon Vlachogiannis: DAOs are new ways to generate value in the physical and digital world
On the occasion of the launch of KaramelaDAO, we talked with Jon Vlachogiannis about all that is coming to metaverse communities and especially to the digital autonomous organizations – Decentralised Autonomous Organisations.
Jon Vlachogiannis is one of the success stories of the Greek Startup scene, co-founder of Bugsense which made a big exit to Splunk, and is now a permanent resident of the U.S.A. He is a metavesrse supporter and an influencer in Web 3.0 technologies that come to the Internet changing it once again. He is also the founder of omgdrops, a marketplace for NFTs.
S.M. After the successful summer event for crypto, NFTs and blockchain, V as in Metaverse, we have the new Project KaramelaDAO! Can you tell us what this is all about?
J. Vlachogiannis: My goal is for the majority of Greeks to start entering a place that will be the future in 2022. Unfortunately, even “strong” people in the Startup sector are ignorant – mainly because the “Metaverse” trend is slow to hit Europe. KaramelaDAO is the first DAO to “fill” the world with the principles of metaverse. New ways of working, new ways of generating value.
S.M. Many say that Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAO) are perhaps the ultimate form of democratization (and the future) of work, entrepreneurship and Smart Cities! Can you go a little bit deeper ? How do DAO’s work? What do they have to do with NFTs and how technologically trained should each person be?
Have you imagined working with people smarter than you, on things you decide together to win together? That’s the DAO. They are all equal, with a common goal and purpose and everyone does what they need and know best.DAOs have too many modes of operation depending on their use. They use NFT for fund raising but also as a “citizenship” passport. The technical level that someone needs in order to participate is still quite high – unfortunately. DAOs are primarily in Ethereum and very few in other blockchains.
S.M. We see purchases and sales of NFTs by collectors, artists and large companies, or even DAOs buying land… after all, is it a fashion or are NFTs the future of art and digital transactions of all kinds?
J. Vlachogiannis: It’s the future. CityDAO is the first DAO to be a company in Wyoming and we have bought land. More and more companies are entering the field because it is really the “new” Internet.
S.M. How can a company, a city or a country operate autonomously and digitally? There is no need for some cooperation – connection with the physical entity? What are the advantages and who is the manager?
J. Vlachogiannis: It’s needed. There are several ways to connect (through human delegates for example) but we are still trying to find the best way.
S.M. In the U.S., in Wyoming, a DAO can have legal form as a limited liability company. Is this not a necessary condition if the agency does business with the “normal” world? How are the participating partners in a DAO company legally safeguarded?
J. Vlachogiannis: They are guaranteed by smart contracts. Of course there are other risks there such as software failure or hacking. It is definitely a grizable area as governments have yet to see what will happen to cryptocurrencies.
S.M. What are some “successful” CASE STUDIES DAO today? In which areas have they been implemented?
J. Vlachogiannis:
CityDAO – LLC in Wyoming, 10,000 members, over 10,000,000 dollars in the “bank”, bought land.
PleasrDAO – bought the “lost” WuTang Clan album from the FBI.
ConstitutionDAO – over 40,000,000 dollars in the “bank,” tried to buy a copy of the U.S. Constitution.
S.M. KaramelaDAO started out as a digital country with citizens! Does it continue as such? What does it take to become a citizen? And what will it offer its citizens and in what way?
J. Vlachogiannis: KaramelaDAO started as an “experimental” DAO with the aim of showing everyone how to participate in a new society. To become a citizen, you will need to buy one of the 300 NFTs that will be available soon or “work” for the DAO.Right now, all citizens have the right to vote on what the DAO will do, download new proposals, free admission to all DAO events and services and many other. The most important thing is that they will learn things that people will be reading in 5 years from now.
S.M. KaramelaDAO is a “Greece” in metaverse?
J. Vlachogiannis: I don’t want KaramelaDAO to be connected to Greece. None of my projects are “only” for Greece. The reason is that if we want to learn quickly, we need to bring people who are from outside and our marketing should be looking out of the country. Think bigger.
S.M.Dao blockchains have begun to appear that are targeted as a commercial service in metropolises and cities. How will Karamela DAO work?
J. Vlachogiannis: KaramelaDAO is 100% for-profit. I want us to have a full self-sustained DAO and for the world to be able to make a living from it.
S.M.At last summer’s event did you make a reference to the creation of a Blockchain or Crypto Island – Region in Greece? Is it somewhat related to KaramelaDAO? What is it about?
J. Vlachogiannis: Yes, it is related and it will be done if the DAO decides and supports it. My goal is to take over an area in Greece and make it the largest Blockchain Sandbox on the planet.
We’ll see.
