Flamingo DAO: An NFT Collective

Today, we’re introducing Flamingo, the first DAO incubated and formulated by The LAO community. Flamingo will support the expanding NFT metaverse, applying the hive mind approach of DAOs to opportunities in this emerging space.

As the saying goes, “culture is currency.” Blockchains aren’t just about decentralized finance. They are poised to transform culture and serve as an anchor for the first generation of digital online property (seriously, check this out if you haven’t yet). Using blockchain and smart contracts, we can define and digitally enforce metes and boundaries, creating what are — in effect — digital property rights. These digital properties do not depend on centralized, antiquated record-keeping systems; they rely on the power of distributed networks, cryptography, and math.

Overview of NFTs

The spread of digital property rights across the Internet is just beginning, through the use of non-fungible tokens (or NFTs for short). NFTs emerged, as early as 2016, with projects like Age of Chains and Rare Pepes using Bitcoin to create blockchain trading cards. These early experiments morphed into larger projects during the halcyon days of 2017 to 2018, with the launch of Cryptokitties, which took the community by storm overnight.

NFTs are now extending beyond these early experiments. Millions of dollars are being paid to artists on platforms like SupeRare. More recently, we’ve been seeing the emergence of next-generation NFTs and platforms, expanding into digital art, land purchasing, and we’re beginning to see NFTs intersect with trends in Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”) (like Aavegotchi, $MEME, and $WHALE). NFTs also serve as the bedrock for next-generation gaming platforms and emerging metaverses, such as Decentraland and Cryptovoxels, flashing glimmers of a world only imagined in fiction like Ready Player One.

Today, we’re at a turning point in the application of NFTs, one where we can carve out robust property rights in the digital realm in a way that mirrors the real world. Trillions of dollars of intellectual property and data rights, along with billions of dollars of art and other entertainment value could one day be managed by a blockchain.

Incubation by The LAO

The LAO (a for-profit, community-based DAO supporting blockchain technology projects) has been knee-deep in NFTs since its inception. The LAO made one of the first investments into SuperRare, a marketplace to collect and trade unique digital artworks, and shortly thereafter backed Aavegotchi — one of the most interesting projects in the NFT space.

These moves are not surprising, because The LAO is filled with members who have been involved in Ethereum since its start. As LAO members instinctively know, the world of Ethereum is not solely limited to trading assets; it’s also about creation and building a world where creators, influencers, and communities are empowered to share, support, and monetize the fruits of their labor.

Introducing Flamingo

Flamingo aims to serve this community. This new DAO was conceived during conversations with members of The LAO who are digging deep into the NFT ecosystem. Like The LAO, Flamingo will act as a “hive mind” to support the best individuals, projects, and groups building the emerging metaverse.

The members of Flamingo imagine a world where Flamingo:

• Acquires NFTs and converts them into fractionalized works so that they can be plugged into emerging DeFi platforms, with rights to these works held and managed by a growing number of people in the Ethereum ecosystem;
• Commissions work from prominent NFT artists, artisans, and creators;
• Invests in digital artists through their respective community or social token;
• Curates acquired works to create digital museum and gallery showings for the public in metaverses; and
• Potentially supports investments in core NFT infrastructure and projects.

The design space for NFTs is broad and we believe that Flamingo will explore fractionalizing some of the acquired NFTs to enable a greater range of community interaction. For example, if there is a work of art, and the Flamingo Members would like to fractionalize it, they can vote to do so. An example of how this works on the technical side can be seen here:

Curators

The members of Flamingo will also be able to lean on a diverse group of individuals, aptly named “curators,” who sit at the heart of the NFT ecosystem. These curators can help guide Flamingo and provide insight on NFT trends, like spotting artists, and can share ideas on where the NFT space may go.

As different markets emerge in the NFT space (as they surely will), the DAO will not only be supported by those who have capital, but also by those that are building the core technology that will underpin the NFT ecosystem. These curators are founders, artists and other individuals who have leaned into the NFT space. Curators will sit alongside the Flamingo community in the Discord.

Joining Flamingo

Flamingo will launch publicly on October 8, 2020 at 12:00 pm EST and stay open until all units in the DAO are sold. Flamingo was formulated and refined with input from The LAO. Because of this, Members of The LAO and The LAO itself will have the opportunity to make contributions before the public launch.

Flamingo membership will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. Each member will have the opportunity to contribute 60 ether to receive a 1% interest in Flamingo, which entitles a holder to 1% of Flamingo’s voting rights and profits. Membership is limited to a maximum of 9% or 540 ether per member.

After contributing ether there is a 7 day processing period to finish the approval of the application and fully execute the transaction. This is due to the nature of the Moloch v2 smart contracts, which have a default seven day voting period and grace period to allow existing members to “rage quit” if they disagree with your membership. Over this period, the members, coming on a first-come, first-serve basis will be onboarded to a Discord and weekly call.

If you’re interested in becoming a member of Flamingo, fill out the accreditation form here. Once approved, you will have an opportunity to contribute and become a member. We’d encourage you to fill out the form as soon as possible so you can be ready to go for October 8th.

Learn More

To learn more about Flamingo, sign-up, and continue the conversation on our Telegram and follow us on our Twitter. We are looking for input and feedback to make sure that we can take the next step in the evolution of NFTs.