Is a DAO a Panopticon? Algorithmic governance as creating and mitigating vulnerabilities in 'Decentralised Autonomous Organisations'

Abstract

The Cypherpunks were terrified of surveillance. They envisaged the combination of cryptography and computer technology fundamentally altering the nature of trust and reputation. Now, not just on chain transactions but every move of participants in blockchain communities is being tracked. Reputation in blockchain systems could become the new algorithmic authoritarianism. Are ‘Decentralised Autonomous Organisation’s the next social credit panopticon of algorithmic governance or a different panacea, and what does this mean for human autonomy in “autonomous” systems?