The Governor of Wyoming, USA, Mark Gordon, signed the Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act (DUNA), granting legal status to DAOs.
?Big News?Wyoming just enacted a game-changing law for web3.
It creates a new entity for DAOs – the Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (DUNA) – that’s been years in the making.@CowrieLLC and I provide everything you need to know below:https://t.co/ah7uA78mc2
— miles jennings (@milesjennings) March 8, 2024
The document will allow DAOs to operate within existing US legislation, enter into contracts with third parties, open bank accounts, engage in legal proceedings, and pay taxes, noted a16z Crypto’s chief legal counsel, Miles Jennings.
“Despite the term ‘nonprofit’ in its name, DUNA can engage in commercial activities and pay reasonable compensation to its participants for any services to the ecosystem. This opens up a vast area for designing economic models of protocols,” he explained.
The lawyer described the document as a “major breakthrough” amid regulatory challenges.
The bill classifies DUNA as a separate legal entity, allowing DAOs to be accountable for their actions without involving individual participants.
The document will come into effect on July 1, 2024.
In September 2022, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Ooki DAO. The regulator described the structure as an “unincorporated association comprised of Ooki token holders.”
In October 2023, the ECB described the future of DAOs as “limited” due to the lack of a regulatory framework.