Compliance is a Spectrum

Know Your Customer (KYC): How can we implement zero knowledge KYC obligations while retaining privacy and freedom for individuals, regardless of who they are or where they're from?Smart Contracts: How can smart contracts be recognized as a viable method of optimizing for compliance, just like how we have accountants to optimize for year-end audits ... See more

Rather, you put up a landing page, build out a MVP, start making a few sales, and then incorporate your company — justifying the expense and the overhead compliance required for operating a C-Corp.

This is exactly how DAOs work today, except that the ideation and execution layer is much faster for a multitude of reasons (ie. open-source, ownership incentives, etc.). Most DAOs, however, like side projects when they first start, are probably not "regulated" nor "compliant."The type of “DAO” also matters - are you a social DAO crowdfunding via N... See more

Limited Liability: How does limited liability work when token holders are not only customers, investors, and "employees" of the project? How does it work based on differing levels of contribution?

DAOs that are not part of any nation state, but exploring legal counsel and are pro-active with potential compliance audits/checks.DAOs that are based overseas and have international legal structures.

Spectrum:DAOs that run completely outside of any nation state.

DAOs that have a complete legal wrapper as an American C-Corp or LLC.

Even when a DAO reaches a stage in which incorporation makes sense, how they comply with corporation laws turns out to be a spectrum, and it’s much more than a binary “Compliant vs Non-compliant” answer upon analysis. 

Tax Laws: Wider conversations need to be had by regulators that take into account the global permission-less nature of the products, services, and experiences at the core of DAOs, but also understanding of the rapidly changing nature of DAO token value and utility.