Decentralisation reaches the burger joint

A new community aims to create a decentralised burger franchise funded through the sale of tokens 

Spotted: The founders of BurgerDAO (the DAO stands for decentralised autonomous organisation) want to create a new kind of burger chain. They are seeking to establish a decentralised franchise model funded by the sale of crypto-tokens. Instead of physical locations, BurgerDAO would be delivery only, and the burgers would all be prepared in a ‘ghost kitchen’ (a facility set up to supply delivery-only orders).

The owners of the tokens would be able to contribute to the operating structure of the chain. They would also share in profits – the better the business does, the more the tokens increase in value, and the greater the profit to the owners of the token. BurgerDAO would not have a physical storefront, at least not at first. Instead, funding from token sales will go towards hiring operational staff and paying service fees to the ghost kitchen.

In addition to potential profit from increases in token value and NFT sales, purchasers of the BurgerDAO token will also gain governance rights, including the right to vote on decisions about the chain. The group has announced that they will need around $1 million in token sales to get their business off the ground, covering the cost of finding a ghost kitchen partner, managing delivery-app integration, branding, and menu creation.

BurgerDAO does acknowledge that this is a lot more than it costs to start a bricks and mortar burger joint. Th group’s blog says, “…we know opening a restaurant is tough even with the advent of cloud kitchens. While the DAO will help us make decisions, we will be the ones working with the cloud kitchen, testing ingredients, paying for marketing tests, and other administrative expenses.”

The idea of a decentralised burger joint is just the latest in a string of ideas that are becoming part of Web 3.0 – the concept of an Internet with multiple profit centres, sharing value across an open network. These vary wildly, but use tools like VPN, decentralised storage, and blockchain to let users interact more directly with each other. At Springwise, we have seen a slow but steady growth in Web 3.0 in applications such as a carbon-neutral NFT platform and a blockchain-powered DAO social network.