What is NounsDAO on Ethereum?

Nouns is a generative non-fungible token project on the Ethereum blockchain. One noun, every day, forever. Nouns are an experimental attempt to improve the formation of on-chain.

Nounish Video

The mantra of this colorful, playful, and charming collection is producing long lasting generative art that paves a path for digital art’s permanence and all things nounish. The Nouns characters are 32x32 pixel NFTs wearing the iconic square Noun glasses. Nouns are characters of people, places, and things, ranging from cows, strawberries, eggs, planets, wizard’s hats, and king’s crowns, an eclectic cornucopia born from an indefatigable dreamer’s unrelentingly feverish imagination {See Nouns Traits}. Nouns take on a life and character all their own, embodied by their owners, and providing a unique and instantly recognizable avatar.

How It Works

1️⃣  One noun is auctioned every 24 hours, forever. One interface for participating in noun auctions is nouns.wtf, which is a website built and maintained by the project founders {'Nounders'}. Auctions can be tracked via the Noun O’Clock website or Twitter

2️⃣  The auction settlement transaction does three things: (a) It sends the current NOUN ERC-721 token to the winner of the auction, (b) it generates the next Noun, and (c) it begins the next 24 hour Noun auction.

3️⃣  The Nouns DAO treasury receives 100% of ETH proceeds from daily noun auctions. {As of this writing, the NounsDAO treasury contains 28,317 ETH, the equivalent of $46,413,753 USD}.

4️⃣  Nouns DAO, which is based on Compound Governance, is also the main governing body of the Nouns ecosystem. Each Noun is an irrevocable member of Nouns DAO and entitled to one vote in all governance matters. The voting process is detailed out in the image below.

5️⃣  Nouns use their voting abilities (remember, 1 Noun = 1 Vote) to direct the treasury. Nouns can create and vote on governance proposals {ideas}, which execute transactions on the Ethereum blockchain when they are approved. Nouns govern Nouns DAO. Nouns can vote on proposals or delegate their vote to a third party. A minimum of 2 Nouns is required to submit proposals.

Ideas can range to basically anything: Nouns glasses, Nouns coffee, Nouns storybooks for future television shows, Nouns cartoons, Nouns restaurants, Nouns theme parks, and Nouns companies.

• Nouns Coffee https://nouns.wtf/vote/84

• Nouns glasses in a Super Bowl commercial and on real beverage cans https://nouns.wtf/vote/33

• Gnars x Nouns Athletes https://nouns.wtf/vote/51

• Nouns Outdoor Advertising Placement On Giant Donut Statue In Los Angeles (Randy’s Donuts) https://nouns.wtf/vote/36

6️⃣  One way we view the Nouns DAO is as a Layer 1 of NFTs. The Nouns are a CC0 project, which means the artwork is in the public domain and the founders waive all rights to the artwork. This allows individuals/organizations to found companies and creative projects on top of the “IP” of the Nouns DAO.

Here are some examples: Nouns Groups, Nouns Coffee, GnarsDAO, Lil Nouns, and Nouns Sharks.

7️⃣  Funding: In addition to being able to build any company, DAO, or tooling desired with {⌐◨-◨}, individuals who are looking for additional funding for their idea can request that the DAO sponsors them.

• Small Grants 0.1 - 25Ξ

  84 projects funded 167 ETH spent

  Creators who have either been given a grant from NounsDAO or received retroactive funding for proliferating Nouns.

• Prop House 2 - 25Ξ

  107 winners funded 220 ETH spent

  Submit proposals to prop.house. Each round has a specified ETH amount, and the community votes on who wins.

• Proposals 10 - 1,000Ξ

  68 props funded 4,622 ETH spent

  Resources allocated for the long-term growth of the Nouns project. Larger in scope and undergo more scrutiny.

To learn more about NounsDAO, visit the Nouns Center.