Layer2DAO is the first DAO ever to get a top-level domain via the Punk Domains protocol (the .L2 domain).

We’ve reached out to Layer2DAO founder Exosphere and asked him a few questions.

Explain to me like I am 10 years old. 🙂 What is Layer2DAO?

Layer2DAO is a group of Ethereum and web3 enthusiasts that want to help expand the Ethereum L2 ecosystem.

We formed the DAO to use its treasury to invest into high-impact L2 protocols and ecosystem plays, serving as a diversified venture fund for investors looking to gain exposure to the L2 ecosystem growth. All while having fun and helping grow the L2 ecosystem!

What is your role within Layer2DAO?

As project lead I oversee and coordinate most efforts within the DAO. Over time we will decentralize and my role will become obsolete.

But for now I help keep us moving towards our vision of being the most influential DAO in the L2 ecosystem, while also building our team and working towards decentralization.

How did Layer2DAO start? What’s the founding story?

Much of the Ethereum community agrees that layer 2 projects are key to the future of the Ethereum ecosystem.

But, like so many others, our founding team felt frustrated by the slow adoption of these projects. We saw the lack of token incentives in many of the L2 projects as a hurdle to them gaining traction.

While some projects had successfully launched their own tokens to incentivize adoption (such as Metis and Boba), many others had not. So we decided to launch our own token to promote L2 adoption. And this is how Layer2DAO was born.

What about Layer2DAO are you most proud of?

I’m still amazed how we were able to create a global community of thousands of L2 aficionados in just a few months.

We’ve sold over 700 .L2 domains, have over 3,000 Discord members, over 5,000 L2DAO token holders, over 6,000 Twitter followers, and over 15,000 L2 Early Adopter NFT minters.

I like to think we are really making a difference in the L2 ecosystem, especially for projects that we partner with, such as Punk Domains.

You’re launching a project incubator on Optimism. Can you tell us more about it?

We were given this incredible gift – a 300,000 OP token grant from the Optimism Foundation – and we were trying to figure out how we leverage it in a way that aligns with our mission.

Creating a project incubator, where we help grow the Optimism project ecosystem while also creating an interactive way for our community members to participate through NFTs, seemed to be a good fit.

Where do you see Layer2DAO in 5 years?

It would be amazing to be able to point to Layer2DAO as an example of a DAO that has successfully decentralized while overcoming many of the governance challenges that DAOs are currently facing.

And of course we want to successfully build our treasury to become one of the most influential investment DAOs out there.

Why did you choose to partner up with Punk Domains?

When I first came across Punk Domains, I immediately knew we had to partner with them.

Punk Domains was exactly the kind of upstart, dethrone Goliath kind-of project we were looking to support. It didn’t take us long to come up with the concept of .L2 domain names, and our joint project was born!

Where can people learn more about Layer2DAO? What is the best way to join your DAO/community?

As a DAO, we rely heavily on Discord to organize, so joining us there is the best starting point https://discord.gg/PTKzgswQRX.

We also have our docs, which are full of useful information about Layer2DAO https://docs.layer2dao.org/.

And of course, mint your .L2 domain here: https://punk.domains/#/partners/l2dao 🙂