From Constitution to Disbandment: Ephemeral Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

With the rise of blockchain technologies, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) have become popular. A subset of these organizations that we term Ephemeral DAOs are formed for the explicit purpose of achieving a community approved objective within a limited time span. This renders their life cycle temporary. In this short paper, we present a case study of one such DAO known as the ConstitutionDAO which was created for the sole purpose of acquiring an original copy of the US constitution. Through this case study, we seek to explore how blockchain technologies enable mission-driven ephemeral DAOs. Preliminary findings reveal that under time pressure and high uncertainty, elements of financial composability, progressive democracy, and high levels of transparency emerge as key drivers of these ephemeral organizations. The paper provides theoretical implications for organizational theory and blockchain literature, and practical implications for creating such an organization.