AirSwap, the DAO with a job

AirSwap is an “inside-out startup,” cofounder Don Mosites told Splits. First launched in 2017, AirSwap started out as a conventional company. Over time the project has morphed into something new.

AirSwap is still a business: a DEX that lives up to the label “decentralized,” as a peer-to-peer trading system, with $4.3 billion in cumulative throughput. But today a DAO runs the show, powered by a handful of highly involved volunteers. (“The original entity that launched the AirSwap token exists today” but only as “kind of a placeholder for assets and IP,” Don explained; it will be replaced in the near future.)

How did AirSwap get from A to B? “Peer-to-peer swap without intermediary is very powerful,” Don reflected. The same animating philosophy that led to AirSwap-the-product also pointed down this unorthodox organizational path. “We leaned into its peer-to-peer nature. I think the fact that we’re still kicking is a testament to that insight.”

The upshot: AirSwap is an open-source software project with a business model, but more radical than the typical example of such. It’s become normal for companies to open-source the software that they monetize through various standard means. And AirSwap’s business model — protocol fees — is not the unusual part. What’s novel is that AirSwap is run like an open-source project, not like a traditional company.

AirSwap ops#

AirSwap trading fees are routed to a Split:

• 86% goes to the rewards pool for active DAO members, who stake AST and vote on AirSwap Improvement Proposals.
• 14% uses a Swapper to convert the dizzying array of inbound ERC-20s into ETH before distributing to active contributors as tips.

Every month, contributors document their recent achievements, then assess the impact of each other’s efforts. The tips pool is allocated according to the results of this peer review. AirSwap uses a tool called Coordinape to facilitate the process. To become eligible for compensation, a prospective contributor must be vouched by existing participants.

Currently there are eight active contributors, but the number fluctuates. Don told us that 45-50 people have come through since AirSwap adopted this mode of working. A few dozen contributors have used AirSwap as a career growth track, their launch pad to the crypto industry.

Earning from a tips pool is a very different compensation dynamic from a salary or hourly wages. The overall work dynamic is also different. Contributor Aida Mariana, who handles AirSwap marketing and outreach, told Splits, “It’s a very rewarding environment as opposed to a traditional company because of the freedom.” She appreciates the flexibility and agency of the DAO. “I don’t think AirSwap can be full-time” — it’s not that type of gig. But so what? “AirSwap makes me happy and I make it happy,” Aida said.

Aida attended her first web3 conference in 2022, and serendipitously learned about AirSwap from a previous DAO contributor. Aida joined the Discord and enjoyed being able to see what AirSwap contributors were working on. She started auditing contributor meetings to learn more about the project and the industry. Before long she stepped in to run AirSwap social media, then began organizing meetups and attending conferences to promote AirSwap.

Nobody hired Aida. She showed up, lurked to figure out how everything worked, and offered to participate once she understood how her talents could benefit AirSwap and its community.

Onchain, hands-on#

AirSwap is an onchain organization that has survived through several eras of the volatile crypto industry, sustained by its focus on the principles that originally drove Satoshi Nakamoto to invent bitcoin.

AirSwap demonstrates that technological and social innovation go hand in hand — new affordances lead to fresh methods and modes of collaboration.