DAO to (Anonymous) DAO Transactions

2026-04-05

AI Summary

This study addresses the lack of a unified framework for secure and optionally anonymous payments between organizations—such as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)—in existing blockchain systems, which primarily support individual wallets. The work formally defines the DAO-to-DAO transaction problem and introduces Dao², a novel framework that integrates distributed key derivation (DKD), distributed stealth address generation (DSAG), and threshold signatures to enable anonymous inter-organizational transfers without reconstructing master keys, thereby ensuring funds remain under distributed control at all times. Experimental results demonstrate that for a typical 7-member DAO, anonymous transactions incur less than 27 milliseconds of latency and under 1.2 KB of communication overhead, with performance scaling linearly with organizational 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.

Problem

• DAO-to-DAO transactions
• threshold authorization
• multi-party key management
• recipient anonymity
• organizational transfers

Innovation

• DAO-to-DAO transactions
• distributed key derivation
• distributed stealth-address generation
• threshold signatures
• organizational blockchain payments