OpenDAO, a newly-formed decentralized autonomous organization, recently opened its platform for OpenSea users. The new DAO purportedly supports OpenSea’s NFT users, as well as NFT creators in general.

Following a surprise Christmas Eve airdrop, OpenDAO’s $SOS token has surged to over 1,270%, with over 200,000 eligible addresses having received the tokens. The token is coded and published on the Ethereum Mainnet. According to its website, the OpenDAO project was established as the “token for the largest NFT community,” in order “to pay tribute, to protect, [and] to promote…” NFT communities, with a particular attribution to OpenSea “for its leadership in promoting NFT trading.”

The project itself is neither officially recognized nor affiliated with OpenSea, but all OpenSea users who have had an active trading history on the platform prior to December 23 are eligible for the airdrop. Roughly three days since its surprise launch, the token’s market cap has reached over $230 million, according to recent data from CoinMarketCap.

With its surprise launch came a slew of skeptical takes on the token’s actual nature. Because the Ethereum Mainnet is rife with scam coins and bogus token projects, the $SOS token faced a similar backlash and scrutiny from the crypto community. It peaked at a $320 million market cap over the weekend, and is now down to the aforementioned market cap. Quadrata Network CEO & co-founder “@fabdaRice” issued some caution regarding OpenDAO’s smart contract, in response to a smart contract breakdown by “@0xquit”:

1/ Merry Christmas to everyone who were eligible to claim $SOS. Sharing a little bit of ⚠️caution⚠️ about the smart contract:It is true that $SOS is safe to claim, and safe to trade.. BUT if you’re a hodler, you will want to know about some red flags 🚩🚩.Quick 🧵👇 https://t.co/J67cOEmEiP

— fabdarice  (@fabdaRice) December 25, 2021

OpenDAO’s Twitter account only mentions one core contributor, who goes by the pseudonym “@9x9x9eth”. According to 9x9x9, the token does not have any VC backing, nor does it have any founders or active team. The core contributor went on to claim that their work on the token is purely voluntary and unpaid.

$SOS is available to claim until 30th/June 2022. 1: No public sale nor Pvt sale, ALL fair-free-drop2: No VC NO founders No team so 0 tokens was reserved. Only contributors that work for free but I have never been happier!3: Anyone DM you saying he is a team member is a scam!

— 9x9x9🆘🆘 (@9x9x9eth) December 24, 2021

For transparency, the OpenDAO core contributors maintain an active Snapshot page for the project, in which users and community members may view current proposals for the project’s future staking and liquidity pool prospects. 9x9x9’s addresses are also publicly accessible, showing that the core contributor holds some $800,000 worth of $SOS, as well as $10 million worth of interest-bearing XSUSHI tokens on Aave.

The token is currently listed on major exchanges such as KuCoin, OKEx, Huobi, Gate.io, Bybit, Hotbit, BKEX, and MEXC, among others, as well as on decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap (both V2 and V3) and SushiSwap.

The launch of OpenDAO can be seen as an internal struggle within the NFT community to ‘revolutionize’ OpenSea itself as a platform. There has been demand for the Winklevoss-twins owned platform to create its own token, one that hasn’t been responded to by the centralized platform. This ethos of independence and autonomy is precisely why Web3 opens a whole new horizon of possibilities.Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Opinions stated herein are solely the author’s, and hence neither represent nor reflect CryptoDaily’s position on the matter. The author has no major stakes in any of the assets and securities mentioned, and does not hold nor own any cryptocurrency or token above $100.