DAO status won't save you from the US regulator!

The US regulator strikes again and the days of evading legal oversight by claiming you’re “decentralized” are gone!

The court also clearly explained that the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is, in fact, an “unincorporated association”, as defined by California and federal law.

On this occasion, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission won a lawsuit against Ooki DAO for 👇:

1️⃣ engaging in unlawful off-exchange leveraged and margined retail commodity trading,
2️⃣ engaging in activities that can only lawfully be performed by a registered futures commission merchant,
3️⃣ failing to implement the Customer Identification Process (CIP) and KYC & AML procedures.

The judge very clearly explains that US courts have jurisdiction because the DAO offered the Protocol to users in the US 👇:

1️⃣ One of DAO’s co-founders, took action on behalf of Ooki DAO while being in the US, and he knew that the Protocol was offered to every person in the US,
2️⃣ Another co-founder, advertised the Ooki Protocol via his Twitter account while being in the US,
3️⃣ Finally, the Token Holders voted their tokens while in the US.

It is very tempting to think that by claiming you’re a DAO you can avoid legal & regulatory oversight and not have any liability.

But corporations, associations, foundations, and trusts can give you special legal protection, that is not included for unincorporated entities.

That is why we have launched SwissAssetDAO an initiative entirely anchored in the laws of Switzerland 🇨🇭 and dedicated to creating a framework connecting the decentralized future and existing laws!

With the newly established SwissAssetDAO, we aspire to be the first bridge in the birthplace of decentralization — the Crypto Valley in Zug, Switzerland 🇨🇭.

#dao #decentralization #cftc #regulator #us #switzerland #cryptovalley #web3 #crypto