Why build a custom DAO on Aragon OSx

adminDecember 8, 2023

Aragon OSx is an adaptable, modular DAO framework built to support the organizations of the future. Launched in March 2023, there is already a thriving developer ecosystem built on top of the protocol.

SecureSECO is a research organization that recently built its own custom DAO on Aragon OSx. In the article, they shared a bit about why they chose to build on Aragon OSx instead of other DAO frameworks.

Here are some reasons to learn more about OSx:

Reduce complexity

The SecureSECO team wanted a simple, reliable solution and a DAO framework.

The simpler the protocol, the easier it is to use and the more secure it is..

Aragon OSx DAO consists of three main parts:

One. DAO contract: This is where the core functionality of the protocol resides. Responsible for:

A representation of the DAO’s identity (ENS name, logo, description, other metadata)
maintain the treasury
Run random tasks for:
transfer of assets
Call your own function
Call function from external contract

2. Permission Manager: It is part of the DAO contract and central to the protocol architecture. Manage permissions for a DAO by specifying which addresses are authorized to call unique functions on contracts associated with the DAO.

3. Plugins: All custom features can be added or removed via plugins, allowing you to fully customize your DAO. You can find examples of plugins in a variety of categories, including governance, asset management, and membership processing.

This creates a simple yet powerful protocol. You can see how all these components interact in the image below.

Supports custom functions

You can customize DAO through plugins. Plug-ins can be thought of as apps that you install and uninstall on your computer. The desktop app lets you grant or deny access to camera, microphone, location, and more.

Plugins are similar. To be able to install a plugin and change the DAO’s logic, you need to grant the plugin permission in the DAO. If you no longer want to use the plugin, you can revoke its permission.

So what can a plugin do? Here are some plugin categories:

rule: It provides DAOs with a variety of decision-making mechanisms, such as token- or address-based majority voting, conviction voting, optimistic governance, or direct execution from admin addresses. It is characterized by requiring EXECUTE_PERMISSION_ID permission on the DAO. Using multiple governance plugins simultaneously allows for advanced governance architectures.
Asset Management: A DAO can manage a treasury or use it for investments (e.g. lending, staking, or NFT mints).
member: Decide who will be part of the DAO and what roles they will play. This could mean issuing governance tokens such as ERC-20, NFTs, or other token standards. Typically, membership-related plugins grant permission based on token ownership or maintenance of a curated list of addresses.
and nothing Another thing that comes to mind!

“Aragon OSx provides an ideal foundation for building custom DAOs. Aragon’s proven framework and strong security record allow developers to rely on a solid core infrastructure. Then, its modular architecture provides flexible solutions tailored to specific enterprises. Governance and organizational structure can be easily customized to your DAO requirements.

Whether you want reputation-based voting, fundraising through tokens, or formal onboarding, Aragon OSx makes it easy to bring your vision to life and launch a powerful decentralized organization with confidence.” – DAOBox, a DAO expert specializing in custom DAOs on Aragon OSx

You can get very creative with the plugins you create! Here are some examples of plugins recently built by developers in the Aragon community.

DualTokenVoting by Unbound Labs: Allows a DAO to have governance with two tokens: one non-transferable token (Soulbound) for the core team and an ERC-20 token for the rest of the community and interested stakeholders.

Libree’s (formerly Sassy Finance) Uniswap plugin, subDAO plugin, and NFT swapping plugin: These three plugins are combined to form the basis of Libree’s investment DAO creation dApp, a fork of the Aragon app.

Diamond Governance by SecureSECO: A flexible governance plugin that acts as a bridge between Aragon OSx and ERC-2535 facets.

Symbiotic Combination Curve: A financial plugin that allows DAOs to hold financial assets and make money at the same time.

Learn how to build plugins in this guide and video.

Our team maintains the framework so it requires less maintenance.

The Product Guild, a dedicated team responsible for the code base, was another key reason the SecureSECO team chose Aragon. We have a dedicated team that continuously provides updates and maintains the code base. This means your team doesn’t have to worry about vulnerabilities, branches, or other complexities associated with working on code that isn’t actively maintained by a single team.

SecureSECO DAO developers say, “This ongoing support ensures that the DAO operates smoothly and consistently over time, which in turn reduces the number of developers required to maintain the DAO.”

Knowing that there is one cohesive team behind the codebase means it’s easy to know that the codebase is being properly maintained!

If you need help, join Discord for support!

Good code quality and audits

Aragon OSx has been audited by industry leader Halborn. We also ran the Code4rena contest, where white hackers tested their skills to find bugs in code.

Aragon OSx is built with security as the top priority. We built it slowly and methodically, making sure security was our first and last consideration. And our code has been open source since day one, so you can learn more on Github.

Halborn’s audit reports are also publicly available for anyone to read. You can check it out here.

Active community and proven track record

There is an active developer community working on plugins, dApps, and custom DAOs based on Aragon OSx. You can see some of their projects here.

“An active community and development team not only means a strong platform, but also a solid support network for problem solving and knowledge sharing,” the SecureSECO team wrote.

And since its launch in March 2023, over 600 DAOs have been built on top of the new Aragon app.

In addition to community building on Aragon OSx, the original protocol secures assets for major DAOs such as Lido, Decentraland, and API3, and was the funding vehicle used by Aavegotchi. Our new protocol is built on first principles, but takes it to a new level through modularity and adaptability. You can learn more about the differences between the new and existing protocols here.

Seamless testing experience across multiple networks

The SecureSECO team appreciated that OSx has multiple networks and testnets.

Ethereum and Polygon are options for building DAOs using test networks Goerli and Mumbai. Polygon’s low cost has been a key factor in enabling it to launch more DAOs.

More than two-thirds of Aragon App’s DAOs are built on Polygon. No wonder, considering that it costs so little! Here is a breakdown of polygon costs: