Latest news with #decentralization
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Future Of Companies In Web3 And Decentralized World
Ashish Chopra is CIO at TDECU. AI Meets DAOs: How Artificial Intelligence Will Supercharge the Future of Decentralized Organizations Imagine a global organization that runs without a CEO, raises money without banks and makes decisions based on thousands of token-holder votes—all executed automatically by code with a human at the center of it. Now imagine it has an AI co-pilot that analyzes proposals, prevents fraud, ensures regulatory compliance, allocates capital intelligently and evolves on its own. That's the future we're heading toward: DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI). As someone who's worked inside agentic AI-native banking and is a blockchain contributor, advisor and builder, I've seen the raw power and glaring limitations of decentralized governance. DAOs represent a radical departure from hierarchical corporations. But they're still missing something critical: intelligence. The kind that helps make sense of complexity, mitigates risk and scales trust. That's where AI comes in. The Promise Of DAOs And Their Growing Pains DAOs are blockchain-native entities that rely on smart contracts and token-holder voting to operate. From venture capital to public goods funding, they've reimagined what it means to build, govern and invest collectively. Today, DAOs manage over $16.9 billion in assets, with more than 50,000 active organizations and millions of participants worldwide. And yet, many DAOs suffer from decision fatigue, coordination chaos and shallow voter participation. Governance forums are flooded with jargon-heavy proposals. Treasury allocations often lack due diligence. Scams still find loopholes. Despite these hurdles, the mission remains powerful: DAOs enable permissionless, global collaboration. But to fulfill their potential, they need better tools for judgment, foresight and automation. That's exactly what AI can deliver. Where AI Supercharges DAOs DAOs face a deluge of governance proposals, many poorly written or redundant. AI can act as a filtering and summarization engine—ranking proposals based on community values, precedent and potential impact. Large language models (LLMs) can draft proposal summaries, identify regulatory red flags and even suggest improvements in real time. Think of AI as the first layer of 'governance quality control,' improving both efficiency and clarity before proposals even reach voters. Many DAOs hold multimillion-dollar treasuries, but few have the financial modeling sophistication of traditional asset managers. AI can analyze portfolio risk, optimize token allocations, simulate cash flow under different scenarios and flag anomalies in treasury activity. In essence, AI can give DAOs the equivalent of a 24/7 CFO—only one that's unbiased, always on and continuously learning. DAOs struggle with member engagement. AI-driven onboarding bots can tailor educational journeys for new contributors, match talent to open roles and track member contributions across platforms. Reputation scores—long discussed in DAO circles—can be managed more fairly and dynamically using AI. By embedding intelligence into participation, DAOs can turn passive token holders into active citizens. Security remains a top concern. AI-powered auditing tools can scan smart contracts for vulnerabilities before deployment, flag suspicious wallet activity and monitor governance outcomes for signs of collusion or sybil attacks. As DAOs become stewards of real assets (land, capital, IP), this layer of defense will be essential. Looking ahead, AI won't just assist DAOs—it could participate in them. Autonomous AI agents could propose initiatives, vote based on programmed values or sentiment analysis or even represent stakeholders who choose to delegate their governance rights. Imagine an investment DAO where an AI agent proposes promising early-stage projects, defends its case with data and helps optimize exit timing. This isn't science fiction—it's already being prototyped. Why This Matters For Capital Markets The convergence of AI and DAOs will reshape how capital is raised, allocated and governed. DAOs already challenge the norms of venture funding, IPOs and corporate ownership. Adding AI to the mix takes it a step further: from decentralized to intelligent capital formation: This is especially powerful in underserved markets where traditional funding is scarce. A DAO, equipped with AI, can become a globally accessible VC fund, grant program or public goods allocator—with less bias, more reach and greater transparency. Legal Infrastructure Still Needs To Catch Up Even as technology races ahead, regulation is still lagging. U.S. states like Wyoming, Tennessee and Utah have introduced legal frameworks for DAOs, but they don't yet address the AI layer. Who is responsible for decisions made by an autonomous AI agent? What rights does a synthetic governance participant have? These questions may seem esoteric today, but they'll be center stage tomorrow. We'll need new governance frameworks—not just for DAOs but for AI-augmented organizations where lines between human and machine blur. Final Thoughts The synergy between AI and DAOs is not just a tech upgrade—it's a transformation. We're moving from decentralized coordination to intelligent, adaptive systems that can manage capital, make decisions and evolve continuously. Yes, there are risks: AI bias, over-automation and governance theater. But there's also enormous promise. In a world that increasingly demands transparency, inclusivity and speed, AI-powered DAOs might just be the operating system we've been waiting for. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Web3 Promised Freedom—So Why Are We Still Trapped?
Swarm Foundation President and architect of Ethereum Swarm, a decentralized storage infrastructure for a self-sovereign digital society. One morning in 2010, the future arrived not with a bang but a freeze. Wikileaks, the whistleblowing platform that, depending on whom you asked, either exposed war crimes or endangered national security, found itself financially paralyzed. No court order, no charges, not even a press release. Just a quiet blockade, as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal severed access to its donations. Without legal recourse, Wikileaks was silenced by infrastructure. In the aftermath, something else stirred. Bitcoin, then a fringe idea, offered a glimpse of resistance: a currency that didn't need permission, couldn't be blocked and ran beyond the reach of gatekeepers. What began as an experiment soon evolved into a broader vision—an internet without chokepoints, where value and information could flow freely. Over the next decade, a decentralized movement took shape, from blockchains and smart contracts to NFTs, DAOs and decentralized finance protocols. These weren't just new tools; they were a rejection of the surveillance capitalism that had come to define Web2. As explored in earlier installments of this series, the internet's shift from open protocols to closed platforms eroded user autonomy and transformed individuals from creators into commodities, their data endlessly extracted, analyzed and monetized. Web3 promised to reverse that trajectory. But as decentralization gains momentum, a quieter question emerges: What if we've rebuilt the old architecture with the same dependencies? For all its boldness, the Web3 stack still leans on the bones of its predecessor. Applications run on centralized APIs, wallets rely on cloud infrastructure, and network attacks can still compromise access to unstoppable applications. This piece further explores the unfinished business of decentralization—not just as a technical challenge but as a deeper reckoning with the foundations we've inherited and the future we hope to build. The Unravelling Of A Privacy Utopia On a rainy August morning in Amsterdam, a 29-year-old developer was led away in handcuffs. His alleged crime? Writing code. Not malware, just a tool called Tornado Cash, one of Ethereum's most used privacy protocols. Tornado allowed users to deposit crypto into a shared pool, and when they withdrew, the link between sender and recipient was cryptographically obscured. A freelancer could keep earnings private. A whistleblower might shield a donation. Even Ethereum's founder, Vitalik Buterin, used it to donate to Ukraine, protecting recipients from retaliation. But on August 8, 2022, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the protocol, alleging it laundered billions in stolen funds, including crypto tied to North Korea. Just like that, the walls closed in. Within hours, the infrastructure buckled. Infura and Alchemy blocked access. Circle froze $75,000 in USDC. GitHub erased the code. MetaMask, which relies on Infura, returned errors to anyone trying to use Tornado. What had been built as unstoppable was suddenly inaccessible—not from a hack but from legal pressure. The Infrastructure We Forgot To Decentralize But Tornado wasn't a one-off—it revealed a deeper fragility. Web3 blockchains may be decentralized, but the systems around them often aren't. Access still depends on centralized internet protocols. DNS, which maps domains to servers, is controlled by central authorities. BGP, which routes data between providers, can be hijacked. In July 2022, users of dApps on Polygon and Fantom were served phishing prompts via a DNS attack. The chain was untouched, but the interface was swapped. Weeks later, a BGP hijack hit Celer Bridge, rerouting users to a fake front end. Instantly, $235,000 vanished—not from smart contract flaws but from internet-level exploits. The chain didn't lie, but it couldn't protect what wasn't on-chain. Applications face the same risks. Most users rely on wallets and dApps powered by cloud services like Infura, the default backend for MetaMask. In 2020, an Infura outage disrupted Ethereum. In 2022, a sanctions filter misfire caused MetaMask to block access in Venezuela. The decentralized stack failed at its centralized chokepoint. The NFT That Became A Poop Emoji Even NFTs, the poster child of digital permanence, are vulnerable to the same sleight of hand. When Moxie Marlinspike, cryptographer and creator of Signal, minted an NFT in 2022, it came with a twist. On the NFT marketplace OpenSea, it showed one image; on Rarible, another; and in his wallet, it became a poop emoji. The experiment exposed how NFT data storage isn't as decentralized as the philosophy suggests. Why? Most NFTs don't store content on-chain—they store pointers to the images as URLs. Web2 URLs resolve to a specific server, and since Moxie controlled the server, he could change the image at will. The punchline? When OpenSea delisted the NFT, it vanished from Moxie's wallet, too, because wallets like MetaMask pull data from OpenSea's API. If OpenSea didn't list it, it effectively didn't exist. As Moxie wrote: 'It doesn't functionally matter that my NFT is indelibly on the blockchain … the wallet is just using the OpenSea API.' Decentralized storage networks exist to mitigate this problem by spreading files across many nodes. But unless data is truly replicated widely, availability still hinges on just a few custodians. Ownership may be decentralized, but visibility depends on centralized infrastructure. Decentralizing The Full Stack Web3 still runs on rails it doesn't control. DNS is attackable. Front ends sit on cloud servers. Wallets rely on APIs. RPCs become chokepoints. And when governments or attackers apply pressure, they fold. To be fair, decentralization is hard. It's slow, expensive and still too technical. Many projects reach for shortcuts: a centralized server here, a hosted front end there. It works—until it doesn't. Yet there's momentum. Across the ecosystem, developers, researchers and communities are working to rebuild foundations: rethinking storage, improving infrastructure, exploring new privacy approaches and serving front ends in a way that they cannot be tampered with or blinked off with a DNS edit or routing attack. But we're not there yet. Web3 remains deeply entangled with Web2. Unless we peel it back layer by layer, from front end to routing to RPC, we're still building freedom on fragile ground. Decentralization isn't real until it touches every layer. For now, Web3 is a dream under construction in search of solid ground. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ajna Capital Backs Hivemapper, the World's First Decentralized Mapping Network
DUBAI, UAE, June 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ajna Capital, a leading early-stage Web3 venture fund, today announced that it has taken a strategic stake in HONEY, the native token of Hivemapper, the world's first decentralized mapping network. Ajna Capital will work closely with Hivemapper, accelerating its mission to democratize map-building, rewarding global contributors, and unlocking new geospatial use cases. Hivemapper's platform radically transforms how maps are created and maintained, moving from centralized mapping monopolies to a community-first model. Contributors capture 4K street-level imagery using dashcams, earning HONEY tokens for building an ever-expanding, real-time global map. The result is fresher coverage, cost efficiency, and open data utility for industries ranging from logistics to urban planning. Hivemapper has raised over $21 million in funding to date, with backing from top-tier investors such as Van Eck, Multicoin Capital, GV (Google Ventures), Spark Capital, and Solana Ventures. The project has consistently attracted institutional investors and thought leaders in the DePIN and Web3 ecosystems. Ajna Capital has acquired approximately 1.5% of the total circulating supply of HONEY and will work closely in an advisory role, helping the project expand its reach and impact in South Asia, especially India. "Hivemapper is building a decentralized, contributor-owned map of the world. Ajna's strategic stake gives us the ability to tap deeper into regional insights, talent, and partnerships across South Asia as we scale our contributor base and coverage" said Ariel Seidman, CEO of Hivemapper. "Decentralized mapping is a powerful example of token incentives unlocking real-world impact," said Gourish Singla, Founding Managing Partner of Ajna Capital. "We're thrilled to back Ariel and his team as they lead the next wave of geospatial innovation." For more information, users can visit About Hivemapper Hivemapper is the world's first decentralized mapping network that rewards community contributors with HONEY tokens for collecting and uploading 4K street-level imagery. Built on Solana, the platform empowers a global network to create dynamic, ever-updating maps for logistical, commercial, and civic applications. About Ajna Capital Ajna Capital is a Web3-native early-stage venture fund backing bold founders and real-world blockchain applications, offering capital, strategic guidance, and access to a deep network of partners and institutional investors. ContactAjna Capitalpr@ Photo: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Ajna Capital Sign in to access your portfolio
South China Morning Post
23-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong Web3 group issues blueprint for accelerating blockchain development
In a call to action for greater investment to accelerate the development of blockchain infrastructure, industry group Web3 Harbour and accounting firm PwC Hong Kong released the 'Hong Kong Web3 Blueprint' on Monday, capitalising on recent momentum in the city. Advertisement Highlighting the 'transparency, security, and user empowerment' of decentralisation, the blueprint seeks to leverage what it calls 'Web3 superpowers' through the development of 'five key enablers': talent, market infrastructure, standards, regulation, and funding and economic contribution. It calls on participants to focus on open finance, trade finance, capital markets, asset management and carbon markets. The report was put together with input from Web3 Harbour members and other industry stakeholders. Web3 Harbour chairman Gary Liu, formerly CEO of the Post, said greater private-public collaboration was among its goals, but it was primarily a guide for where the private sector should focus its efforts. 'This is us laying out what the private sector is going to be focused on so that Web3 technologies and virtual or decentralised assets become truly part of the financial infrastructure here in Hong Kong,' Liu said. The blueprint comes amid recent regulatory progress, with Hong Kong last month passing its stablecoin ordinance , which is set to take effect in August . Combined with the US Senate recently passing its own stablecoin legislation, the Genius Act, there has been excitement around the assets, which are considered critical sources of liquidity for tokenised assets. Advertisement Stablecoins keep their value steady by being pegged to a reference asset, typically backed one-to-one with fiat currency such as the US dollar.
Forbes
15-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
From "No Kings" To MAGA Crowns: The Irony Of Trump's Bitcoin Embrace
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 14: Protestors march during an anti-Trump "No Kings Day" ... More demonstration (Photo by Jay) When Bitcoin emerged from the 2008 financial crisis, it brought a defiant spirit, favoring decentralized systems over centralized power and placing trust in code rather than positions of power. Its anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, embedded a message in the genesis block referencing a bank bailout headline: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks." The message was unmistakable. A loud protest against the consolidation of power in both finance and government. More than a decade later, Bitcoin has evolved from obscure internet money to a multi-trillion-dollar asset class. It has inspired an entire industry of decentralized technologies and found footholds in everything from remittances to sovereign wealth reserves. But as the movement matures, so do its contradictions. One of the most striking is the growing coronation of Donald J. Trump as Bitcoin's political champion. The 'No Kings' protests on June 14th, 2025, were a sharp reminder of the movement's original ethos and how far it may have drifted. The demonstrations, which coincided with Donald Trump's birthday celebration, added another layer of irony as some within the Bitcoin community openly celebrate the very figure hundreds of thousands protested against. Aligning the Bitcoin movement with such a polarizing political figure isn't about gaining allies, it risks alienating those who share Bitcoin's foundational values. As a protocol, Bitcoin aligns more naturally with the protestors demanding decentralization and accountability than with any politician seeking a crown. Bitcoin's origins are steeped in distrust of centralized institutions such as central banks, Wall Street bailouts, and opaque government policy. Its structure reflects the same ethos. It has no CEO or headquarters and relies on a consensus-based protocol that prevents any single party from taking control. Bitcoin doesn't rely on permission. It exists to resist capture. Bitcoin represents not just a financial tool but a philosophical stance that champions individual sovereignty over authoritarianism. This worldview has drawn an eclectic crowd, including libertarians, cypherpunks, progressive activists, and dissidents in authoritarian regimes. What unites them is a belief in open access and personal control over wealth and speech. Bitcoin, in this framing, is political but not partisan. Against this backdrop, President Donald Trump's growing presence in the crypto world raises eyebrows. Since 2024, Trump has rapidly shifted from crypto critic to crypto enthusiast, at least publicly. He launched his own memecoin established a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and vehemently stated his ambition to make the United States the 'crypto capital of the world.' Vice President JD Vance told the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas that 'crypto finally has a champion and an ally in the White House,' reiterating that the Trump White House stands solidly behind the industry. Yet the alignment is puzzling for a candidate known for centralized control, top-down decision-making, and a history of polarizing rhetoric. Trump's appeal to the crypto base, particularly Bitcoin maximalists, isn't entirely surprising. His populist messaging and anti-establishment persona align with many voters' frustrations with Washington, the Federal Reserve, and legacy media. He speaks to a desire for disruption, and Bitcoin, at its core, is disruptive. But populism and decentralization are not the same. Populism seeks to elevate a singular voice. One man, one movement, one message. Decentralization, by contrast, diffuses power across a network, removing any one person's ability to dominate. This trend raises a deeper tension between forming a strategic alliance for political protection and being absorbed into Trump's brand. It can be viewed as a calculated effort to safeguard the industry or as a sign that the movement's cultural identity is being rewritten. Many Bitcoin advocates have framed their support for Trump Administration as a practical alliance. David Bailey, chairman of Bitcoin Magazine and a leading organizer of Trump's Bitcoin outreach, posted after a closed-door meeting, For supporters like Bailey, political alignment on self-custody and regulatory clarity outweighs concerns about ideology or personality. Not everyone in the Bitcoin community shares the enthusiasm. Jason Maier, author of A Progressive's Case for Bitcoin, expressed concern about the political direction the movement is taking. His comments reflect a growing unease among those who fear that aligning too closely with partisan figures risks compromising Bitcoin's broader, nonpartisan values. The friction is palpable. Bitcoin may be permissionless, but its movement is not immune to tribalism, branding, or political co-option. Bitcoin is no stranger to ideological tension. It has weathered civil wars over block sizes, scaling solutions, and governance models. But the Trump dynamic marks a different kind of fork. A cultural one. There are no easy answers. Trump's popularity among some Bitcoin holders is undeniable. His policies may well favor crypto over the alternatives. And yet, the symbolism of elevating a singular figure, particularly one who thrives on division and dominance, sits uncomfortably next to the ideals Bitcoin was built upon. Part of the reason this dynamic has taken hold is the memetic nature of modern political discourse. Trump's ability to shape narratives through memes, slogans, and viral moments mirrors the way Bitcoin culture has spread. From laser eyes to frog memes, the overlap is more cultural than ideological. That's why the $TRUMP meme coin has found traction in crypto circles. It's not always about policy, it's about vibe. In a media landscape that rewards spectacle over substance, Trump's theatrical style finds a natural stage. But beneath the meme economy lies real risk. Political endorsements shape regulation. And cultural drift can erode hard-won principles. If Bitcoin serves as a tool for liberation, its developers, advocates, and holders face an ongoing responsibility to remain vigilant. The protocol operates neutrally, but the surrounding culture does not. While the protocol resists capture, the broader movement remains susceptible to outside influence. Trump positions himself as an ally in the fight against regulatory overreach, but beyond the bitcoin conference rallies and memecoins, a central question persists about whether the movement preserves its founding values or compromises them for political gain.
