# DAOs as a Force for Global Change

###### tags: `MetaGame`

The news about Ukraine's invasion hit hard. Five days later, the world has still not processed the full consequences of this aggression. But one thing is clear:
**This is not just about Ukraine!**

Putin's international-law-breaking geopolitical moves without any resistance from the EU, NATO or the UN show that imperialism is not dead and the fragile peace among nations is all too easily broken.

And that begs the question: What can I, as a mere citizen, do about this? As it turns out, we can do quite a lot. Thanks to web3. It is up to us as global citizens to use information technologies as weapons againt sovereign state agression and disregard for human life/rights. And, maybe for the first time in history, we have effective tools to do so.

Sadly, the potential of decentralized finance and web3 infrastructure to empower people has been overshadowed by greedy money-grabbing schemes and media hype. But under all the hype and FUD, web3 technology is giving global citizens a way to impact the world, including by resisting sovereign imperiealism.

DAOs have already proven how much power they can yield with [Constitution DAO] (which almost bought an original copy of the U.S. Constitution), and [Free Ross DAO](https://www.freerossdao.org/) [^1] and [AssangeDAO](https://www.aicoin.com/article/290981.html) [^2] (which raised funds to support political whistleblowers). This fits within the braoder rise of online platform-enabled mass coordination attempts such as [GameStops's Wall Street short squeeze](https://www.rebellionresearch.com/a-detailed-overview-of-the-gamestop-short-squeeze). There is nwo an effective way for ordinary citizens to put serious pressure on big and powerfull institutions by *putting their money where their mouths are*.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, DAOs and other crypto-native projects jumped into action and once again proved their potential for real impact beyond the decentralization of finance. The response has been inconceivably fast even for crypto and very efficient, with DAOs such as Unchain (details below) raising over $2 million in crypto ($1.3 of it in just their first day!). This mobilization was helped by crypto-natvies' matery of media platforms such as Telegram, Discord, and Twitter, as well as by the use of Web3 platforms for passing proposals and securing funds. This has alsready been one of the most succesfull online mass mobilization attempts in history. And they're just getting started.

And that makes one wonder: What else could web3 communities do? If DAOs had had the tools and momentum they have today, could they have also provided support to the millions of displaced Syrians? Could DAOs push back against arbitrary displays of power? Can they take on dimplomatic roles? There is so much potential for blockchain enabled approaches such as [Token Engineering](https://medium.com/token-engineering-commons/token-engineering-is-the-future-of-organizational-design-df18c957c603), which focuses on alligning incentives through tokeonomics so as to support the flourishing of common good.

These questions aren't new. They are waht led each of us into web3, what drives innovative projects, governance models, and ways to wield this "power of the people." As the case of Ukraine shows, national and international conflicts can escalate quickly. Feels like only yesterday we were optimistic about COVID dying out and now we're on the bring of a possible global nuclear war. That's why we should act with urgency for the present and aim for creating more anti-fragile social coniditions for everyday citizens in the future.

## Which Organization are providing aid right now?

An amazing mass mobilization of the web3 space took place since Russia's invasion was officially announced, with various crowdfunding efforts and DAOs forming, raising, and distributing funds already in the first days of the war. Starting with just a handful members self-organizing in Telegram chats, they have grown into organizations with thousands of volunteers. At the moment, the biggest crypto-native projects helping Ukriane are **Unchained DAO** and **Ukraine DAO**.

### [Unchain DAO](https://unchain.fund/)


A DAO organized by prominent Ukrainian web3 people to provide *non-lethal* humanitarian aid for Ukrainian civilians. It accepts payment in a number of cryptocurrecnies beyond Ethereum and Bitcoin including Polygon, NEAR and Avalanche.

**Objectives:**
- Finding transport in Ukraine for refugees.
- Finding shelters in Poland.

**Twitter:** https://twitter.com/Unchainfund

**Telegram:** https://t.me/unchainfund

**Discord:** https://discord.gg/appEpxk2

### [Ukraine DAO ](https://www.ukrainedao.love/)


A new initiative by Pussy Riot, Trippy Labs, and PleasrDao to raise funds using Ethereum NFTs to support Ukraine after the attack by Russia.

It accepts payment in Ethereum.

**Objectives:**
- Donate funds to Ukrainian civilian organizations.
- Support the Ukrainian resistance against Russia.

**NFT Bid Site:** https://www.partybid.app/party/0x4508401BaDe71aE75fE70c97fe585D734f975502

**Twitter:** https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO

**Discord:** https://discord.gg/appEpxk2

**Contribution Form:** https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhnI3SJH_nVHWOA2s8NRKwWNgAKTpewj_pXgyV3kBBJIFNzg/viewform

### <span style="color:red">Please beware of scams. Trust the official links provided here or on the organization's Discord server.</span>

## Additional Resources

To help with navigating the chaos of war and web3 acticism, here's a compiled list of resources of web3-based humanitarian aid to Ukrainian citizens as well as support for the defense of their homes and families.

### Twitter

https://twitter.com/Oleg__Kurchenko/status/1497076946794328064

https://twitter.com/pussyrrriot/status/1496960417129713667?s=21

https://twitter.com/quijote30/status/1496997145634914306

### Other Organization Supporting Ukraine's Relief

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QJ1m6N9dXa3z0sGHKDYNd1salhxaI72pDbVeY4gBShE/edit

**Media:**

https://thedefiant.io/pussy-riot-nfts-ukrainedao/

[^1]: Free Ross DAO was formed in order to raise enough money to bargain Silk Road's founder Ross Ulrich's prison sentence and support overall prison reform.
[^2]: A DAO for supporting the attempts for the freedom of Julian Assange after the ruling barring his extradition to the US.