In the coming year, a company of about 65 people and 6.5 Million USD in revenue will relinquish control of its future to its 1 Million plus customers. Shapeshift is transitioning from a typical corporation to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Currently, Shapeshift is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, and is run out of Denver, Colorado, USA. After the transition, the company will be fully controlled by its 1 million customers, employees and community members. If a “DAO” is a new concept to you, we wrote all about it here: DAOs Demystified: Organization that puts people first.

Shapeshift is a cryptocurrency exchange that lets users exchange cryptocurrencies without relinquishing control of their digital assets. This is very unlike exchanges like Coinbase or Binance where users must provide a lot of personal information and relinquish direct control of their assets. Coins held on Coinbase or Binance are in the custody of these exchanges until you withdraw them.

During its transition to a DAO, any customer that has used Shapeshift will receive FOX tokens. FOX tokens will function like “shares” in the company. About 60% of all available FOX tokens will be distributed to Shapeshift’s customers, certain crypto communities, and ShapeShift employees. No matter your age, race, gender, or location, if you’ve interacted with Shapeshift’s product, you will get to make calls about the company’s future. 7% will be given to a foundation to help steer the company into a fully functioning DAO. The remaining tokens will be put into a third, separate fund. This treasury will be controlled by FOX token holders after the Foundation has done its job of guiding the transition to a DAO, and establishing tools for governance.

This is an amazing experiment that we are eager to follow closely! Will Shapeshift’s customers rise to the challenge of driving the direction and values of Shapeshift? Unlike the traditional ways of structuring work, at the center of every DAO is people. This experiment could be a catalyst for making work personal again. DAOs could eliminate embezzlement and corporate fraud. DAOs have the potential to actually reduce pay gaps between “leadership” and everyone else. They could remove structural biases based on race, gender, or socio-economic affiliations.

Here at Lido Nation, we hope to one day follow suit and become a fully functioning DAO. This means the Lido Nation Foundation will shed its board members and directors, and delegators like you will drive the direction and future of the site and the pool. Together, we can work to create our vision of a blockchain community that works for everyone.