Build-on-Bitcoin Trend Imports Another Concept from Ethereum: the DAO

RootstockCollective has been unveiled as the first DAO on Bitcoin layer-2 Rootstock.

The DAO will allow holders of Rootstock token RIF to earn voting rights through staking their tokens.

NFTs arrived on Bitcoin last year. Then fungible tokens came to the oldest and largest blockchain – along with dozens of new layer-2 networks, and staking projects, too.

Now, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) has been unveiled on Bitcoin layer 2 Rootstock, continuing the trend of concepts more commonly associated with the likes of Ethereum finding their way to the world's oldest blockchain.

RootstockCollective, the first DAO on the Bitcoin layer 2, is designed to encourage builders and users of Rootstock, according to an emailed announcement shared with CoinDesk on Thursday.

DAOs are blockchain-based organizations in which decisions are taken by holders of its underlying token rather than any central authority. Like many facets of the blockchain landscape, they reside on networks like Ethereum and Solana but have been absent from Bitcoin due to constraints over its programmability.

Rootstock is one of a number of layer-2 networks seeking to enable greater utility to Bitcoin, and it's compatible with Ethereum's EVM programming standard for smart contracts, – theoretically allowing applications originally built on Ethereum or affiliated chains to be easily ported over.

The so-called build-on-Bitcoin trend first came to prominence in early 2023 with the Ordinals protocol, which introduced a Bitcoin version of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This has since continued with the provision for memecoins and other fungible tokens on the Runes protocol, while the BitVM computing paradigm has opened the door to facilitating smart contracts on Bitcoin.

The RootstockCollective DAO will allow holders of the Rootstock token RIF to earn voting rights through staking their tokens. Staking refers to users locking away their tokens to participate in the verification process on a blockchain and receiving more tokens as a reward.