US-based cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex has announced its support of The DAO token sale, enabling users to trade Ether for The DAO Tokens.

The Merkle noted that the move seems to have been made in the anticipation of the imminent increase in the price of the DAO token on May 14, 2016. The DAO's creation phase commenced on April 30th and there will be subsequent increases in the price of DAO token creation:

• For the first 14 days: 100 DAO tokens for 1 ETH
   
• For the 10 subsequent days: An increase of .05 ETH per 100 DAO per day
   
• For the last 4 days: constant 100 DAO tokens for 1.5 ETH

The DAO, or Decentralized Autonomous Organization, leverages smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to enable anyone, anywhere in the world to create their own autonomous organization.

The Merkle reported that the first DAO to be released to the public has now gathered 5.57 Million Ether (approximately $57 million at the current Ether price) and the DAO token sale will run till May 28. The DAO tokens allow the holder to vote on any expenditure The DAO could make; are fully transferable and can be traded peer-to-peer or on an exchange; and represent a relative portion of The DAO's crypto assets at any given time.

In order to buy DAO tokens, users need to send ether to the provided address on the project’s website. The web page says that users must not send ether to the address directly from an exchange, and are advised to use the Ethereum wallet or the wizard given on the website.

Poloniex is the latest to join other major cryptocurrency exchanges that have announced their support for The DAO token sale, including Bity, Bittrex, and Gatecoin. Users will not be able to move their DAO tokens until the creation phase ends and the market is open for trading.