Notion of DAO: transforming digital code into a legal entity

Florence Guillaume

Chapter 2 in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations in the Legal Landscape, 2025, pp 20-52 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter explores the transformation of a DAO from digital code into a legal entity similar to a company. This process requires an analysis of DAOs’ core components, revealing their multifaceted nature. While DAOs can be classified as companies, they do not fit neatly into any specific form. The applicable legal regime must therefore be determined on a case-by-case basis. Depending on the legal structure adopted, DAO members might benefit from a corporate shield, limiting their personal liability. The analysis shows that DAOs defy traditional company notions, embodying a more collective and distributed form of management where community members both own and participate in decision-making. Given their unique characteristics, significant reforms in corporate law are necessary for States to integrate DAOs into their legal systems. The chapter details the process of transforming a DAO into a legal concept, from establishing its connection to a State's legal system to its integration within that legal framework.

Keywords: Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO); Concept of DAO; Legal personality; Legal status; DAO legal wrappers; (un)regulated DAOs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035341610
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035341627.00010 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23695_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().