What if the internet could curate the Smithsonian? - Thomas McLeod

The questions motivating Arkive are not distinct to the needs of a decentralized museum — they’re universally resonate considerations for anyone building community-owned networks in web3. Tom McLeod is the executive director of Arkive, the self-proclaimed “last museum” and simultaneous first-ever decentralized physical museum. Arkive’s design space exists at the intersection of physical objects, digital community-building, and member governance. Tom walks us through decision-making experiments enabled by their in-house DAO tool Atrium, providing a justification for bespoke DAO tooling solutions. He shares the coordination tensions they’re hoping to solve, guided by a strong belief in embedding community engagement ahead of financialization. We’re left with a clear takeaway: the most exciting DAOs will become institutions.