How the community turned ETHDenver into a DAO, hackathon, and investment fund

ETHDenver is one of the biggest and most recognizable events in the crypto world. But few know that behind all the buzz stands a DAO: a real decentralized unit with its own treasury, token, and legal entity

In 2021, the organizing team formalized everything as SporkDAO — a legally registered cooperative DAO structure in Colorado. The community didn’t just attend the event, they became co-owners of the entire ecosystem: from the festival and startup infrastructure to a venture fund

SporkDAO has its own token, $SPORK — but you can’t buy or mine it. You have to earn it: by contributing to ETHDenver, helping out at events, being active in the community, or even buying NFT merch. That’s the point: the power lies not in capital, but in participation

Earned $SPORK? Staked it? Then you get a share of the DAO’s profits. In 2024, SporkDAO distributed dividends for the first time — $52,800 USDC went out to token holders. This is a real working business model for profit distribution, rooted in cooperative law

SporkDAO has already become a cultural entity, an ecosystem that attracts people from around the world. The festival itself is just the “showcase” — the real work happens under the hood: venture, acceleration, governance, and Web3 coordination