Presentation Takeaways: "DAOs para la base de la pirámide" @ theDAOist CDMX 2022

I have to say that all the presentations were interesting and had some specific value to provide to the audience in regards to better understanding the DAOs ecosystem. But personally, the EthicHub´s presentation truly caught my attention as it touched on the impact DAOs can have in the base of the social pyramid where more vulnerable people are, and where some of the most difficult problems are looking for innovative solutions like this.

The presentation was given by Jori Armbruster, CEO of Ethichub, and these are some of my main takeaways from his presentation.

It’s really amazing the moment in history that we are living in as new and better technologies are emerging constantly, but that doesn’t guarantee our survival as human species or more importantly our evolution as a society into a better world for everyone that inhabits it. What Jori mentions is one of the defining factors to guarantee this, is the consciousness that will determine the use we give to this technology. Just like any other discovery or invention, this technology will enable us to progress and flourish, but also, if not well-used, to perish.

The arrival of the blockchain technology has been a disruptive invention compared to what writing and accounting meant in their time with all the advancements and opportunities they brought with them to civilization. But blockchain surpasses them by a lot thanks to its ability to bring trust, transparency, coordination, and cooperation to its users in an undeniable way never seen before.

These characteristics are allowing the creation of new models in the way things have been done throughout history, and impacting every section that we can think of. At the moment it has begun with finance and its decentralized alternatives called DeFi (Decentralized Finance) and ReFi (Regenerative Finance), but it’s constantly expanding to other fields like collaborative economies, human rights, identities, governance, education, art, ecology, and the list keeps growing every day. It’s also important to mention that this technology is brand new, so its constant development is crucial to achieve a sustainable loop of incentives that fulfills its purpose within the projects that are being created.

A couple of examples mentioned during the presentation that are already making a difference and having a beneficial impact in people’s lives are a play-to-earn game called Axie Infinity, and the ability to transfer money in and out of El Salvador thanks to the Bitcoin legislation. The first one is a game that is allowing people in third world countries like the Philippines to gain a higher wage than what they used to make in a regular job in their communities, and in consequence have a better quality of life. On the other hand, the legislation in El Salvador is specially allowing salvadorans living abroad be able to send money to their families without the need of any intermediaries, extra fees, or having to wait for a long time to get the money they need.

Jori also talked about the three main barriers that the base of the social pyramid finds when trying to adopt and use these types of technologies. The first one is the limited access these communities have to an internet connection and to devices they can use to interact with it. Secondly, there are a lot of cultural and conceptual limitations like not being able to write and read that make it even more complicated to adopt this tech. And lastly, and probably the most important problem to solve, are the economic difficulties that people have, like not having proper shelter, clean water or food to eat.

To end, one of the main takeaways I got from the presentation was that in order to bring a positive change to these communities it is crucial to become more conscious about the actions we take and the reasons behind them. Having this consciousness and a mindset of regeneration will make this period of transition easier and will allow the resolution of some of the most critical problems we are facing today as humanity by creating new and truly sustainable models that will have an impact in making people’s lives better.

“Everything that is not sustainable will stop being profitable.” - Jori Armbruster

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