• BitDAO (BIT-USD) — Peter Thiel-backed DAO investing in DeFi products
• MakerDAO (MKR-USD) — Underlies one of the most robust stablecoin offerings on the market
• Decentraland DAO (MANA-USD) — a planning committee for one of the most popular metaverse spaces
• ApeCoin (APE-USD) — New token governing the increasingly popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)
• Uniswap (UNI-USD) — Governs the world’s largest decentralized exchange (DEX)

If you aren’t yet familiar with decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), you’re not too late. This blockchain phenomena is not new by any stretch — DAOs began to infiltrate the crypto mainstream as far back as 2016. As signs now point to DAOs being the next big thing in blockchain, it’s time to become familiar with this technology.

DAOs are organizations that exist under rules and regulations stored on the blockchain. These organizations operate ultra-democratically; any person who is a token-holding member of a community has the right to help make decisions to govern that community under the DAO model.

As the Web 3.0 revolution takes hold, DAOs are expected to become an increasingly important part of the internet. They remove power from companies which sit at the top, and they allow for every user to have power over their favorite platforms. These organizations cover any and every community as well, meaning one can find an organization that suits their interests.

Consider these DAO cryptos to buy to get in on the ground floor:

BIT-USD	BitDAO	$1.16
MKR-USD	MakerDAO	$1,917.66
MANA-USD	Decentraland	$2.11
APE-USD	ApeCoin	$12.03
UNI-USD	Uniswap	$9.40

DAO Cryptos to Buy: BitDAO (BIT-USD)

If you’re a DeFi investor and a Peter Thiel fan, BitDAO is one of the best DAO cryptos to buy for your portfolio. Thiel backs the organization, which serves as one of the largest decentralized DeFi investing organizations in the world.

BitDAO exists to drive the DeFi industry by providing grants and other working capital to projects so that they may further develop. The organization also directly partners with projects to drive this innovation. Its treasury holds over $2 billion in assets for these purposes, comprised of both BIT tokens and a variety of other coins and stablecoins.

BitDAO operates on a constant stream of proposals by users. Any BIT holder can submit a proposal, pitching to invest some of this treasury money into a given project or crypto industry. Other users can then vote on the proposal and decide whether or not the money is actually invested, and on what terms.

MakerDAO (MKR-USD)

MakerDAO is another great crypto if you’re looking into driving DeFi innovation. The Maker ecosystem has one goal in mind: Fuel the development of the Dai (DAI-USD) stablecoin.

DAI is one of the largest USD stablecoins in the world, and it’s a very popular vehicle for DeFi lending, liquidity farming and staking. Thousands of investors use DAI each day to generate passive income.

The DAI ecosystem is then governed by holders of the MKR token. These users can draft community proposals to do things like build monetary reserves to underlie the DAI token, or to incorporate the organization as a business entity.

Recent weeks have seen the community looking to revamp the Maker ecosystem; in mid-March, proposals began cropping up to give greater DeFi utilities to the MKR token itself, and reallocating how the platform accrues fees from DAI borrowers.

DAO Cryptos to Buy: Decentraland (MANA-USD)

Decentraland’s DAO is quite easy to become a part of if you’ve ever taken an interest in its metaverse. One need only hold some of the native MANA cryptocurrency or own a piece of land within Decentraland itself.

The Decentraland DAO closely mirrors what a real-life city planning organization looks like. Of course, the digital world needs planning just as the tangible world does, so it makes sense. These city planners govern the community in a way that keeps public spaces accessible to all users. And, they ensure that the development of virtual plots follows regulations.

The DAO has broad implications for the burgeoning subindustry of virtual real estate. Developers are starting to buy pieces of metaverse land in order to develop it for the same profits that they can yield with real land. Of course, the Decentraland DAO serves to limit the abilities of these corporations to only what the community allows.

ApeCoin (APE-USD)

ApeCoin is one of the newest DAO cryptos to buy, and it is already one of the most successful. It has been just weeks since the token launched, and the currency already boasts a market capitalization of over $3 billion.

The ApeCoin currency is the governance token that underlies the increasingly popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection. Even from its start, the token is decentralized; it is the product of Bored Ape fans, made without contribution from BAYC developers. However, these developers have given their full support to the project and are adopting APE as the official currency of the ecosystem.

Using ApeCoin, users can dictate new additions or changes to the BAYC ecosystem. The BAYC developers can also use the currency as a means of transaction; with the recent announcement of the Bored Ape metaverse came word that the space will accept APE as its official currency for NFTs.

DAO Cryptos to Buy: Uniswap (UNI-USD)

Uniswap has made a name for itself in the DeFi space. It is to DEXs what Binance is to centralized exchanges. The platform sees well over $1 billion in assets exchanged in a given day, making it far larger than any competitor.

Being a decentralized exchange, Uniswap isn’t governed by a company like Binance is, though. Rather, the exchange users themselves are the ones calling the shots. Anybody who holds UNI, the native currency of the exchange, can propose changes to the network. If someone wants to see a new token on the exchange, they can host a community vote on it. If someone wants to implement a new trading pair, they can host a vote. Even adding liquidity pools is a community-governed effort.

This is the most hands-on approach to passive wealth generation out there. The community is able to create the services that they want. This stands in stark contrast to the limitations on centralized platforms or traditional banks.