BitDAO, one of the world’s largest decentralized treasuries with over $2.5 billion in assets under management, and Mirana Ventures — a venture partner of BitDAO — have today announced the launch of EduDAO in partnership with student groups and faculties of eight of the world’s most prestigious universities. EduDAO is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) connecting disparate university ecosystems to enhance collaboration and data exchange and foster a new generation of blockchain and Web3 innovators.

University partners include Berkeley RDI, Blockchain at Berkeley, Penn Blockchain, Harvard Blockchain Club, MIT Sloan Blockchain Club, Blockchain at Michigan, Blockchain@USC, Oxford Blockchain Society, and Tsinghua University Students Blockchain Association.

Financed by the BitDAO treasury, EduDAO will serve as an independent steering committee, allocating up to $11 million in funding annually for project grants, research, and standalone product development with $33 million in the fund to start. Each university group will operate autonomously, controlling allocated budgets to provide students and faculties creative freedom. This will also serve as an incentive for alumni to remain with the projects post-graduation.

In return for funding, university groups will participate in BitDAO governance votes — determining the protocol’s development — and provide recurring contributions back to BitDAO itself. Contributions may include building governance or treasury tooling improvements, contributing to other BitDAO funded DAOs, or building standalone products that benefit the BitDAO ecosystem.