DAO to (Anonymous) DAO Transactions

TL;DR

The paper introduces o$^2$, a framework enabling secure, threshold-controlled DAO-to-DAO transactions with optional recipient anonymity, combining distributed key derivation, stealth-address generation, and threshold signatures.

Contribution

It formalizes DAO-to-DAO transactions and presents o$^2$, a novel system that supports organizational transfers with anonymity and distributed control, backed by security proofs and performance evaluation.

Findings

Prototype completes a typical DAO transfer in under 27 ms.

Communication overhead is less than 1.2 KB for a 7-member DAO.

System scales linearly with DAO size.

Abstract

Blockchain assets are increasingly controlled by organizations rather than individuals. DAO treasuries, consortium wallets, and custodial exchanges rely on threshold authorization and multi-party key management, yet existing payment mechanisms still target single-user wallets, leaving no unified solution for organizational transfers. We formalize the problem of \emph{DAO-to-(anonymous)-DAO} transactions and present \textsc{Dao$^2$}, a framework that enables one threshold-controlled organization to pay another, optionally with recipient anonymity, while keeping received funds under distributed control. \textsc{Dao$^2$} combines three components: \emph{distributed key derivation} (DKD) for non-stealth child addresses, \emph{distributed stealth-address generation} (DSAG) for unlinkable one-time destinations, and \emph{threshold signatures} for authorization. For ordinary transfers, the receiver derives a non-stealth address via DKD; for anonymous transfers, it derives a stealth address via DSAG. The sender then threshold-signs the payment, and the receiver redeems the funds without reconstructing any master secret. We formally prove its security and evaluate a prototype. A complete anonymous DAO-to-DAO transaction for a typical-sized (e.g., 7-member) DAO finishes in under 27\,ms with less than 1.2\,KB of communication, and scales linearly with DAO size.