The DAO is interesting as a theoretical concept for a new collaboration based economy rewarding both consumers and companies alike, facilitating a computerized trust system for launching DAPPS and to administer asset and P2P transactions. All governed by something that presumably has functions to operate a large complex network and function as a reliable intermediary, capabilities of securing smart interactions (smart contracts), incisive contracts better then any authority and human beings, owing to its nature of how the platform communicates through an unilateral and consensus code type indisputably preventing errors, out-competing human interactions with a certainty not seen before.
Lets go back in history for a little bit. Ethereum was once accused of (rumors) being somehow started and/or funded by Wall Street initially, remember? However there was no evidence provided into the story and everybody moved on.
Ethereum later on gained attention as a modified protocol with secured Turing capabilities, outperforming Bitcoin Ito efficiency, diversability and scalability, but it was too early to say back then if this had any merit to it.
Now Ethereum has gathered momentum. Evidently by all the start up companies deciding to build their solutions on the Ethereum protocol rather then the Bitcoin protocol. You see a pattern in which Ethereum based companies have got more institutional funding then Bitcoin.
CONNECTING THE BITS
In this peculiar time of crypto innovations you also witnessed a sudden interest by major banks to test the Ethereum protocol, and swiftly banks where now surprisingly putting substantial equity into Ethereum based companies.
Having this in mind it got me to think back on the claimed (rumors) about Ethereum being funded by Wall Street.
Ethereum as a for-profit organisation has given unrestricted access to its core protocol, apparently to boost rapid development and adoption. Which they have succeeded with.
From the first ever mainstream media article naming Ethereum (CNBC 2014) I could not help to notice something very uncommon about the rejection of an investment in which Ethereum founder Stephan Tual explains, apparently stated:
One source with knowledge of Ethereum's beginnings said that investment offers valued the project at about $500 million, and that Google Ventures was one of the interested parties. "That's a big number isn't it? That's an impressive number?" Ethereum Chief Communications Officer Stephan Tual said when asked about the figure, before adding that "I don't think the concept would work if we had accepted money."
Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2014/11/13/forget-currency-bitcoin-tech-could-disrupt-massively.html
Who in their right minds turns down Google Ventures at a $ 500 millions valuation at this time, when very few had even heard about Ethereum? Well, the same guy who is behind DAO today.
I didn't connect the bits by reading articles, but it all led me to research (in boredom) the concept more thoroughly, eventually leading me to their white paper. It was only at that time I got a little stunned to read the worrying Terms of Service for their Token sale posted on DAO's "official" webpage daohub.org. It literally states the following:
- Risk of Security Weaknesses in The DAO’s Software
The DAO concept is both experimental in nature and unproven. There is a risk that, as an open source project, any contributor to The DAO’s software could introduce weaknesses or bugs into the DAO software, causing the loss of DAO tokens or ETH in one or more or even all of the DAO Token Holder’s accounts.
- Risk of Weakness in the DAO underlying blockchain, and/or Ethereum Network
The DAO software is itself based on an unproven platform: the Ethereum blockchain. There is a risk that, as an open source project, any contributor to the Ethereum blockchain could introduce weaknesses or bugs into the Ethereum software, causing the loss of DAO tokens or ETH in one or more or even all of the DAO Token Holder’s accounts.
Source: https://daohub.org/explainer.html
And then it got hacked. Hmmm.
When reading the terms have in mind what Christoph Jentzsch told Coindesk:
Christoph Jentzsch, co-founder and CTO of Slock.it, which created the open-source DAO framework at the core of The DAO, told by CoinDesk:
"We actually don’t know who started it. Of course we can see the address on the blockchain but we don’t know who owns the address. The only way to speak with the DAO is to make a proposal and vote."
IT GET'S WORSE
Slack (Slack.it) or Slock (Slock.it) is what the development team names themselves on several official channels. Now, try to Google "Slack" first. You will find what the Urban Dictionary version of the word mean. I got a tiny surprised feeling of the "urban" meaning of that word. It states:
For a SubGenius, Slack can be anything you get or enjoy out of life that you don't have to work for or pay for , an approach where one stops trying to make things happen or exert control, and instead simply "allows" or "lets" favorable events to occur.
Everyone is born with Original Slack, an ideosyncratic harmony with the flow of life which the unwitting Conspiracy of Normality is unceasingly trying to trick us into giving up, often as a Con-job in exchange for False Slack (anything you're sold or conned into that you have to work for or pay for, or the obligation of working or paying for it).
Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Slack
Now I got really intrigued to search other dictionaries. First up, what does Oxford dictionary state on their website, for the same word...and I now got mildly surprised by the results:
Having or showing laziness or negligence: slack accounting procedures.
(Of business or trade) characterized by a lack of work or activity; quiet: business was rather slack.
The part of a rope or line which is not held taut; the loose or unused part: I picked up the rod and wound in the slack.
informal A spell of inactivity or laziness: he slept deeply, refreshed by a little slack in the daily routine.
Decrease or reduce in intensity, quantity, or speed.
Circulating on forums the last 24 hours gives an premonition of people already loosing funds and complaining about errors and bugs.
Either Slack or Slock, I'll leave you to decide and wonder about the definition and if DAO is really a scam.
The worrying meaning of the word "Slock" from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia:
Slock:
Same as slack. To entice away; steal.
Finishing words: Get ready for what's next and if loosing your money to an "unforeseen bug in the system", don't say you didn't connect the bits after reading this.
PS: And to finish off the Slack name part, I leave you with all the words that rimes with slack found on Oxford dictionary:
Words that rhyme with slack:
aback, alack, attack, back, black, brack, clack, claque, crack, Dirac, drack, flack, flak, hack, jack, Kazakh, knack, lack, lakh, mac, mach, Nagorno-Karabakh, pack, pitchblack, plaque, quack, rack, sac, sack, shack, shellac, smack, snack, stack, tach, tack, thwack, track, vac, wack, whack, wrack, yak, Zac.