Building the New Earth: A Conversation with Michael Muyot of APEX DAO
From Wall Street to community-powered revolution, join us as Michael Muyot unveils his journey from ESG pioneer to regenerative DAO visionary, where cutting-edge tech meets real-world impact.
Imagine if Mr. Rogers, Buckminster Fuller, and your favorite AI nerd had a baby…and then that baby grew up, ditched Wall Street, and started a DAO in South Carolina.
That’s basically
.I had the wild pleasure of chatting with Michael, founder of APEX DAO. He’s a regenerative economics Jedi who’s swapped corporate boardrooms for bioregional blueprints, NFTs, and soulbound mission coins.
From Wall Street to Web3
Michael spent 25 years in sustainability analytics on Wall Street, building ESG algorithms before they were a buzzword. A fierce Independent, he worked on presidential campaigns (like Andrew Yang’s), only to watch them get DNC’d into oblivion.
Eventually, he looked around and said: “Screw this. I’m going local.”
Now he operates hyper-locally in Greenville, SC, while cultivating a global network through APEX DAO: A decentralized, community-centered initiative built around regenerative economics, AI literacy, and self-sufficiency.
🌎 APEX DAO 101: Not Your Average Crypto Bro Cult
Apex DAO was one of the first 500 DAOs registered in the U.S. Meaning it’s a pioneer in using blockchain for real-world community infrastructure. No VC money. No token speculation. Just an earnest attempt to reroute power and profit back to the people actually doing the work.
✅ Globally connected (Zoom calls with people everywhere)
✅ Governed by soulbound mission coins (NFTs that can’t be sold or flipped)
✅ Focused on Proof of Impact > Proof of Work or Stake
Membership is earned, not bought. You show up. You contribute. You level up. It's kind of like if Dungeons & Dragons got a purpose and a soul.
🔧 How the DAO Actually Works
The governance is intentionally simple:
Voting: One person, one vote. Evolving toward contribution-weighted decision-making
Profit sharing: 20% to founder, 20% to treasury, 10% to Indigenous/bioregional projects, and the rest distributed pro-rata to contributors
Tokens: Soulbound Mission Coins (ERC-721/SBT) and a utility token called Flow Coin (ERC-20)
Infrastructure: Snapshot, Gnosis Safe, modular contracts (surprisingly non-scary)
You can get involved just by showing up and doing something tangible like mentoring a cohort, testing a game MVP, or joining a composting challenge for community rewards.
🧠 Teaching People How to Learn (and Earn)
Michael doesn’t just build tools, he builds ecosystems for transformation. One of his flagship projects is IMMERSA, a neurodivergent-first AI bootcamp designed to teach people how to build MVPs using low-code tools like V0.dev and Lovable.
His methodology is delightfully metaphorical. He doesn’t just teach prompt engineering, he serves up a whole “AI cookbook” with a prep / cook / serve structure. It’s project-based, monetization-conscious, and tailored to help people become radically self-sufficient.
He even runs his entire workflow through AI voice tools like WhisperFlow so he doesn’t have to type. (Two seasons of podcasts' worth of thoughts…just spoken into the void.)
🔥 Flagship Projects Connected to Apex DAO
The New Reality Fund: A regenerative fund-of-funds, channeling capital into actual regional projects (not vague global slush funds)
Community Wealth-Building Game: Earn rewards for real-world actions like barefoot running and composting (yes, really)
IMMERSA: The aforementioned AI bootcamp that treats neurodivergence as a feature, not a bug
Regenerative Economics: Capitalism, But Make It Cute and Ethical
Michael’s model for change? Regenerative Economic Zones (REZs). Think of them as self-sustaining communities with steward-owned businesses, decentralized trade networks, and local governance by people who actually live there.
It's the economic equivalent of composting your entire lifestyle:
Local energy? ✔️
Community land trusts? ✔️
No billionaires or banks required? Double ✔️
Basically, it’s like if The Sims had a cottagecore anarchist expansion pack. With soulbound NFTs.
What This Means for TAO Social
The synergies between APEX DAO and TAO are hard to ignore:
Community-first wealth creation
Real governance without sellout structures
Education, AI, and decentralization that don’t require a tech bro translator
Connecting digital platforms to bioregional impact
We even explored how TAO might integrate mission coins, flow funding, and crowdsourced innovation, so that viral ideas don’t just trend…they transform.
Final Thought
One of TAO’s supremely skilled and wonderful designers, Mafe, said it best:
“I feel like we all separated when the mothership crashed, and now we’re finding each other again.”
That’s exactly what this conversation felt like.
So if you’re disillusioned by big systems and wondering if a better future is actually buildable…it is. It’s happening. In places like Greenville and Asheville and maybe your neighborhood too.
I’ll be speaking with more founders, thinkers, visionaries, and builders who are mission-aligned. Perhaps TAO is the reconstruction of the mothership; a vehicle to take us forward into the New Earth.
Want to dive deeper?
Connect with Michael on TikTok
Check out Michael on Substack
Michael and I also made referenced a couple other people and initiatives that are connected to the TAO ecosystem. You might find them of interest!
- and her Connection Engine, a storytelling platform uniting 300+ movements into one shared narrative of community-led transformation.
Mayhem Marketplace, an Etsy and Amazon disruptor — no cuts, no ads, just a flat monthly fee.
And keep an eye out for our newsletters. TAO Social’s closed beta is coming soon.
Let’s build the next economy. Together.
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