Blockchain and the Rise of the Internet Cooperative

Abstract

Cooperatives and blockchain projects appear to be unrelated until a deeper look is taken into
blockchain projects and their associated communities. Cooperatives and blockchain projects both
promote substantially similar principles and values centered around democratic member control
and the freedom for individuals to come together for their own mutual benefit. There are two
types of cooperativism which expressly account for the ability for blockchain to further
cooperatives, platform cooperativism and open cooperativism. Further, decentralized
autonomous organizations (DAOs), take the combination of blockchain and cooperativism even
further through the cooperative management of an entity that is created on, managed on, and
solely exists on a blockchain. the inner workings of blockchain make it extremely suitable for
meeting the seven principles and values that unite cooperatives across the world and for
expanding cooperative values and principles from local communities to global movements.

Keywords: internet, platform cooperatives, platform economy, blockchain, Web 3.0, Web 3, cooperativism, business models, open cooperativism, digital cooperatives, governance, decentralized, protocols, community, social enterprise, decentralized autonomous organizations, dao, stakeholders, cryptonetworks