La DAO

une solution technologique à modéliser juridiquement

Abstract

        Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are new business models emerging with Web 3.0. They enable individuals and institutions to collaborate without knowing or trusting each other. DAOs are, therefore, designed to organize a community of strangers around a common project, where trust in the technology replaces trust in each other. Their nature favours horizontal cooperation, which should consequently reduce the risk of opportunistic behavior by a minority. For some, there is therefore no need to submit it to a restrictive legal framework to limit the risk of opportunistic behaviour.

        There are currently thousands of DAOs, some of which are structured as corporations, some as limited liability companies, some as unincorporated non-profit associations and others as foreign entities. However, most DAOs do not associate themselves with any particular legal form. The liability of DAO members in the event of wrongdoing is one of the structure’s most important challenges. Without liability and sanctions, the DAO will not fulfill its utility and will remain solely within the limits of the digital environment.

        To put the DAO to the challenge, we will assess corporate law’s structural difficulties in framing it. The solutions it offers seem, however, rather impractical, since they ultimately push forward a form of centralization incompatible with DAOs. Furthermore, these legal vehicles systematically obscure the role of the trustee within the organization. Exploration of connex areas of law, combining elements of corporate law and trust law, as with the American business trust, could open up interesting perspectives for the supervision of DAOs.