Here are some frequently asked questions:

Tampa Bay DAO (TBD) is a place for free agents such as creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, freelancers, innovators, developers, problem solvers, and enthusiasts to share knowledge and skills in a supportive, educational, and collaborative environment. Our goal is to shape Tampa Bay’s free agents’ future while building a healthy community committed to helping others.

There is little to no barrier to entry into the DAO. If you are a free agent or considering free agency, the DAO community is a place to meet friendly, collaborative, and empowering members who are committed to creating self-sustainable lives for themselves and one another. Please contact us to learn more about becoming a member.

Blockchain is the underlying technology that empowers the application of cryptocurrency and was originally developed in the early 1980’s. A blockchain is a distributed, and usually public, digital ledger system decentralized across a network of computers. The record of transactions are stored chronologically and grouped together into blocks that cannot be altered retroactively without altering every block ahead of it on the chain. The chain refers to cryptography that links one block to the next with a specific hash, or string of values, that acts as an identifier. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data.

Cryptocurrency is an application of blockchain that acts as a medium of exchange, utilizing distributed ledger technology to exist without being issued by a central authority. It is a tradable digital asset that uses cryptographic encryption to authenticate and protect transactions. While it’s major function is that of a payment system, cryptocurrencies can be designed to offer other utilities such as: voting power, store of value, access to products or services, and more.

The blockchains are managed through a peer-to-peer network as a public ledger where nodes follow a protocol for communication and validating new blocks. A node is a computer running a specific program that has a copy of the blockchain and interacts with the network to validate transactions and uphold security. With the ledger distributed across the network, new transactions must pass a checks-and-balances system that requires consensus amongst other nodes in order to be verified as correct and added to the current block. This is one of the factors that acts as security against malicious actors. For example, as a bad actor, if I want to try to spend 1 BTC, or Bitcoin, in one transaction, and then try to spend the same BTC in another transaction, the nodes would catch the “double-spend”, deny the transactions, and penalize the node that attempted this action.

A free agent is one who has the ability to go about their day-to-day focusing on whatever task they choose, without having to worry about making ends meet. They are not shackled to a 9–5 job that is only in their life to pay the bills. Instead, these agents are in a sustainable position that enables freedom to maximize their individual potential through pursuit of true desires, leading to an infectious, unhindered growth for them and those around them.

DAO stands for “decentralized autonomous organization” and can be described as an open-source blockchain protocol governed by a set of rules, created by its elected members, that automatically execute certain actions without the need for intermediaries.

Bitcoin is a form of digital money that enables peer-to-peer exchange of value through a decentralized, public protocol that is transparent and censorship-resistant. It is durable, divisible, transportable, and has a limited supply of 21 million coins that will ever be created. Bitcoin uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus system that requires nodes, commonly referred to as “miners”, to compete for solving a computational problem in order to earn the right to validate a block of transactions. Once validated, the block is added to the end of the blockchain and the validator node is awarded a portion of BTC. As the network grows, the problem becomes more difficult to solve and increases the security of the network in doing so.

Crypto exchanges function very similarly to stock exchanges, such as NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). They facilitate the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, which can be purchased with fiat or through trading other cryptocurrencies. Centralized exchanges, such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com, are controlled through a central authority like any other traditional finance exchange. However, blockchain technology has allowed for the creation of decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, that operate automatically through specific programs on the blockchain. These remove the need for intermediaries, the fees associated, and the security risk of having a central point of failure.

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, refers to protocols on blockchain that remove a financial intermediary and offer typical banking services such as borrowing and lending. These systems are open, permissionless, and empower individual financial sovereignty by allowing anyone to be their own bank. It allows people more direct access to lenders and borrowers without barriers to entry or costly fees from “middlemen”.

An NFT is a non-fungible token that has its own unique intrinsic value and is created on the blockchain, like cryptocurrencies. Fungible assets have the characteristic of being equally exchangeable with the same asset, regardless of that asset’s condition. A dollar, whether ripped or marked on, still holds the same value as any other dollar. The same applies to Bitcoin and other cryptos, 1 Bitcoin is worth 1 of any other Bitcoin. Thus, NFTs are not interchangeable and can represent internet collectibles like art, music, or games with a certificate of authenticity through the blockchain.