EmpireDAO Is Building a WeWork for Web 3

In a DAO scenery often headlined by promises of real-world acquisitions, EmpireDAO has announced what fewer successful the abstraction person yet to propulsion disconnected – opening its doors.

The decentralized autonomous organization, founded by entrepreneur Mike Fraietta past October, aims to supply coworking abstraction for companies and individuals gathering Web 3 projects. It opened its archetypal carnal determination connected Tuesday successful New York City. (One note: EmpireDAO created a firm entity to rent the building.)

The radical has acceptable up store successful little Manhattan astatine 190 Bowery – a landmarked Beaux-Arts gathering built successful 1898. Originally a Gilded Age bank, the tract of a Supreme pop-up store is present location to different people of tastemakers: crypto entrepreneurs and nomads, galore of whom person yet to acquisition “in-person” enactment astatine all, gathering retired the much-hyped aboriginal of the internet.

Though crypto originated arsenic an internet-native and often pseudonymous technology, the increasing question of “real-life” Web 3 projects, Fraietta said, is indicative of a longing by crypto users for bully old-fashioned quality connection.

“I’ve spent my full vocation pushing online work, integer work. I was like, ‘Guys, we don’t request to spell to the office, possibly conscionable 2-3 days a week,” Fraietta told CoinDesk during a circuit of the gathering past month. “But I’ve been missing this dramatically. So galore things travel retired of gathering successful person.”

Former Brooklyn Nets subordinate Lance Thomas, 1 of EmpireDAO’s pb investors, shared Fraietta’s sentiment.

“People privation the enactment to enactment remotely but they besides crave community,” Thomas said.

The vibe of the project’s unfastened location reaffirmed the sentiment, a country wherever hundreds of young crypto enthusiasts scavenged done the building’s galore rooms successful betwixt conversations astir who’d already claimed what.

Visitors to the 36,000-square-foot, six-floor coworking abstraction volition beryllium capable to rent “hotdesks” for idiosyncratic use, with memberships being sold arsenic NFTs priced comparably to WeWork.

Fraietta isn’t picky astir which cryptocurrencies volition beryllium utilized arsenic payment.

“We’ll instrumentality thing that has liquidity,” Fraietta said.

What matters to him is that the coworking abstraction remains wholly crypto-native – from table rental to snack and java purchases, which Fraietta said volition beryllium done done Solana Pay.

DAOs and crypto companies volition beryllium capable to lease their ain rooms successful the building. Fraietta told CoinDesk the DAO has received implicit 200 applications from groups looking to rent bureau space, including 3 large blockchain foundations, and is presently reviewing them to find which organizations are the champion fit.

According to Austin Federa, caput of communications astatine Solana Labs, the Solana Foundation is 1 of those considering renting abstraction from EmpireDAO, though helium said nary lease has been signed yet.

Fraietta sees the task arsenic a proof-of-concept for EmpireDAO’s “work protocol,” which helium believes could yet beryllium utilized arsenic a back-end strategy for coworking spaces crossed the world. He told CoinDesk helium and the different 4 halfway contributors to EmpireDAO person a batch of ideas for however to usage the space, though galore of the plans look to inactive beryllium up successful the air.

Fraietta said the radical is successful talks with a euphony workplace (“We deliberation this volition beryllium the euphony hub of Web 3,” Fraietta said), and has floated the thought of installing a play simulator (sponsored by LinksDAO, naturally) wherever visitors tin stroke disconnected steam.

There are besides escaped plans for an NFT gallery, a DAO-sponsored Peloton room, a bid of acquisition courses for members and, for non-New Yorkers, a virtual world situation wherever distant workers partake successful the metaverse.

New York’s crypto manufacture is booming, and the opening of EmpireDAO is different feather successful the headdress for Mayor Eric Adams, who promised to marque the metropolis a crypto hub.

“Every time I conscionable idiosyncratic who moved present from Silicon Valley,” Fraietta told CoinDesk. “It’s astir taboo to accidental they worked for a Web 2 company.”

According to Fraietta, the influx of developers has been “nonstop” and they’re looking to marque connections with crypto companies and DAOs – that’s what helium and his squad are seeking to offer.

“This is the champion clip to beryllium live close now, this is the opening of the future,” Thomas, the erstwhile Nets forward, added. “Why would you privation to isolate yourself successful the midst of truthful overmuch innovation?”