Can FreeRossDAO replicate the success of PEOPLE?

Author: Chelsea Jiang

Source: Rhythm Research Institute

The sentiment around DAOs is still high, and ConstitutionDAO has shown people the charm of meme + DAO. In a market where new public chains and DeFi sectors are temporarily cooling down, people are targeting funds towards DAOs. The market performance of PEOPLE has led people to search for the next similar project, and the new token FREE from FreeRossDAO has appeared at just the right time.

Can a founder sentenced to two life terms and 40 years in prison, a FreeRossDAO that raised 2,836 ETH, and a token named FREE replicate the story of PEOPLE?

Origin: The NFT Auction

New players may not have heard of Ross Ulbricht's story, but in short, Ross has made significant contributions to the promotion of Bitcoin.

In 2011, the freedom-loving Ross created the famous "Silk Road" dark web e-commerce platform, where users could anonymously purchase a wide range of illegal items such as guns and drugs. One of the features of "Silk Road" was its support for Bitcoin transactions. It was the world's first e-commerce platform to support Bitcoin, and Bitcoin had only just emerged a year prior.

The labels of anonymity and illegal transactions made "Silk Road" notorious, with a monthly GMV of $1.2 million and total sales exceeding 9 million Bitcoins. Naturally, regulators would not allow such a platform to exist, and in 2013, founder Ross was arrested. He was subsequently convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering, computer hacking, drug trafficking, and operating a criminal enterprise, receiving a life sentence plus an additional 40 years.

As the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency space has evolved, Ross has continued to update information in real-time from prison. From December 2 to 8, he auctioned his NFT collection, Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection, on the NFT market SuperRare. This collection includes 11 pieces of art handcrafted by Ulbricht, minted into NFT form by his supporters.

These artworks were created by Ulbricht at different stages of his life, from childhood to imprisonment. Proceeds from the auction will be used to establish a charitable fund, Art4Giving, to assist other inmates and their families. Additionally, it will fund a trust to help Ulbricht gain early release.

This also served as the inspiration for FreeRossDAO.

FreeRossDAO: A DAO Yearning for Freedom

The auction generated significant interest from individuals and organizations just days after its announcement. Under the influence of DAO sentiment, an organization called FreeRossDAO was established. As the name suggests, the purpose of this DAO is to advocate for Ross's release, and their first action was to bid on Ross's NFT.

When it comes to auctions, people naturally think of the global fundraising efforts of ConstitutionDAO, and FreeRossDAO chose to fundraise as well. ConstitutionDAO raised funds in just a week to purchase a copy of the Constitution, while Krause House was formed to buy an NBA team. DAOs have become an increasingly popular choice for fundraising due to their transparent management of funds and decentralized community governance, especially since traditional crowdfunding processes are often opaque and inefficient.

Most members of this DAO are from PleasrDAO, including crypto world KOLs like Su Zhu, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, Rober Leshner, and Stani Kulechov. At the same time, FreeRossDAO promised donors ROSS tokens, representing governance rights within the NFT collection and ownership after NFT fragmentation.

On the day of the auction, December 9, David Hoffman, founder of Bankless, also tweeted his support.

The PleasrDAO community accumulated 2,836.637 ETH ($12,279,943) in just a few days. The multi-signature wallet managing the DAO treasury included Superrare curator @TrippyLabs, who served as the chief release officer, alongside Ross's mother, Lyn Ulbricht, and peace psychologist Jamis Johnson, founder of PUSSYVERSE, as well as Jordan Fish, co-founder of Ethereum and Nandos, and host of Uponly.

Ultimately, FreeRossDAO bid 1,446 ETH and successfully acquired the NFT. After the winning bid, 1,390 ETH remained; the remaining donations will be sent to the FreeRossDAO treasury, which will be managed by contributors.

On the 16th, FreeRossDAO officially announced that, upon suggestions from Ross's family and various advisors, ROSS was renamed FREE. This led to the dramatic fluctuations seen after FREE's launch.

Replicating PEOPLE?

Clearly, FREE aims to replicate the success of ConstitutionDAO. The renaming of the token indicates that FREE has greater potential for virality and meme attributes.

ConstitutionDAO tells the story of the traditional world versus Web3. When the auctioneer representing Web3 stands alongside the auctioneer representing traditional capital, all those who donated to the DAO feel like they are part of something, representing their personal involvement in a globally significant event at a top auction house. Our goal in donating is to hope that these individuals can indeed stand on the Sotheby's stage to complete an experiment that would be impossible to achieve alone.

Currently, FreeRossDAO seems to lack such sentiment; merely the vision of Free Ross is not enough to inspire players to genuinely participate. Perhaps speculation is the mainstream activity within FreeRossDAO at this moment.