Aragon OSx is a modular and scalable DAO framework designed to empower the enterprises of the future. Launched in March 2023, there is already a thriving developer ecosystem based on the protocol.
SecureSECO is a research organization that recently built its own custom DAO on Aragon OSx. In their documentation, they share a little bit about why they chose to build on Aragon OSx instead of other DAO frameworks.
Here are some reasons why, with a deep dive into OSx under the hood.
Reduce complexity
The SecureSECO team wanted a simple solution and DAO framework they could trust.
The simpler the protocol, the easier it is to use, and thus the more secure it is.
Your Aragon OSx DAO consists of the following three main parts:
1. DAO contract: This is where the basic function of the protocol lies. It is responsible for:
- Representation of DAO identity (ENS name, logo, description and other metadata)
- Save the treasury
- Carrying out arbitrary actions in order to:
- Asset transfer
- Call its own functions
- Communication functions in external contracts
2. Permissions Manager: Part of the DAO nodes and the center of our protocol architecture. It manages your DAO permissions by specifying which addresses have permission to call distinct functions on contracts associated with your DAO.
3. Add-ons: Any custom functionality can be added or removed through plugins, allowing you to fully customize your DAO. Examples of plugins can be found across categories, including administration, asset management, membership handling, etc.
This makes the protocol simple yet powerful. You can see how all these components interact in the image below:
Support custom functions
You can customize your DAO through plug-ins, which you can think of like applications that you install and uninstall on your computer. In desktop apps, you can grant or deny permission to access things like your camera, microphone, and location.
Plugins are similar: to install them and allow them to change your DAO's logic, your DAO needs to grant permission to them. When you don't want to use the plugin anymore, simply revoke the permission.
So, what can a plugin do? Here are some categories of plugins:
- Verdict: It provides the DAO with different decision-making mechanisms such as symbolic or address-based majority voting, condemnation voting, optimistic management, or direct execution from the administrator's address. It has the advantage that it requires EXECUTE_PERMISSION_ID permission on DAO. Advanced governance architectures can be created by having multiple governance plugins simultaneously.
- asset management: It allows the DAO to manage its treasury or use it for investment (for example, in lending, staking or minting non-convertible currencies).
- membership: It defines who will be part of the DAO and what role they will play. This could mean minting governance tokens such as ERC-20, NFTs, or another token standard. Membership-related plugins typically grant permissions based on token ownership or maintenance of a curated address list.
- And anything Another one that comes to mind!
“Aragon OSx provides the ideal foundation for building custom DAOs. With Aragon's battle-tested framework and strong security track record, developers can rely on a robust core infrastructure. The modular architecture then makes it easy to design flexible governance and organizational structures specific to your DAO needs.
Whether you want reputation-based voting, token funding, or formal setup, Aragon OSx enables you to easily realize your vision and launch powerful decentralized institutions 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 that plugin developers in the Aragon community have created recently:
DualTokenVoting by Unbound Labs: Allows decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to be governed through two tokens – a non-transferable (soul-bound) token for the core team, and one ERC-20 token for the rest of the community and interested stakeholders.
Uniswap plugin, subDAO plugin, and NFT swap plugin by Libree (formerly Sassy Finance): Together these three plugins form the basis of the investment DAO creation by Libree, a fork of the Aragon app.
SecureSECO Diamond Governance: A flexible governance plugin that acts as a bridge between the Aragon OSx and ERC-2535 aspects.
Symbiotic Correlation Curve: A financial plugin that enables DAOs to hold their treasury assets, while still making money from them.
Learn how to create a plugin in this guide and video.
Our team maintains the frame, which means less maintenance is required from you.
The dedicated team behind the codebase – our Product Syndicate – was another key reason the SecureSECO team chose Aragon. We have a dedicated team that constantly ships updates and maintains the code base, which means your team doesn't have to worry about vulnerabilities, forking, or other complexities that come with working with code that isn't actively maintained by one team.
In the words of the developers behind the SecureSECO DAO, “This ongoing support ensures that the DAO runs smoothly and stably over time, which in turn reduces the number of developers needed to maintain the DAO.”
Knowing that there is one cohesive team behind the code base means you can rest easy knowing that it is being properly maintained!
And if you ever need help, head over to Discord for support!
Good quality of code and audits
Aragon OSx has been audited by industry leader Halborn. We also ran a Code4rena competition, where Whitehat hackers tested their skills to find bugs in code.
Aragon OSx is designed with security at the forefront. We built it slowly and methodically, making sure that security was the first and foremost consideration. Our code has been open source since day one, so you can dive deeper on Github.
Halborn's audit report is also open for anyone to read. You can check it here.
Active community and proven track record
There is an active community of developers working on plugins, decentralized applications, and custom DAOs on top of Aragon OSx. You can see some of their projects here.
“An active community and development team not only demonstrates a robust platform, but also provides a strong support network for troubleshooting and knowledge sharing,” the SecureSECO team wrote.
There have been more than 600 independent independent organizations built on the new Aragon app since its launch in March 2023.
On top of building the community on Aragon OSx, the original protocol secures the coffers of major DAOs like Lido, Decentraland, and API3, and was the fundraising vehicle used by Aavegotchi. Our new protocol builds on the principles of the first protocol, but takes it to a new level in terms of modularity and adaptability. You can read more about the difference between our new and old protocol here.
Seamless testing experience across multiple networks
The SecureSECO team estimates that we have multiple testbeds and networks on OSx.
Ethereum and Polygon are two options for building your own DAO, with Goerli and Mumbai testnets. Polygon's low cost has been a major factor in potentially launching more decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
More than two-thirds of Aragon's DAOs are built on Polygon. This is not surprising, given the extremely low cost! Below are the details of the polygon costs:
- Create your own DAO: 50 cents or less
- Create a suggestion: 5 cents or less
- Vote on the proposal: 3 cents or less
Start building your own custom DAO, dApp, or plugin on Aragon OSx today!
We can't wait to see what you create! Get any of the links below to get started.
the documents
Aragon OSx developer ecosystem
Join the developer community
Join the discord
