DAOs

DAOs need legal structures that reflect how decentralised communities actually exist, are governed, and operate.

A DAO may govern a protocol, manage a treasury, issue or distribute tokens, coordinate contributors, hold IP, appoint delegates, operate through committees, interact with service providers, or release products used across multiple jurisdictions. Each of these choices can change the legal position: who can act for the DAO, who controls assets, how contributors are protected, where liability sits, how governance decisions are implemented, and which regulatory obligations apply.

Legal Counsel for DAOs and Web3 Communities

We have advised DAOs since 2019, launched DAObox — one of the leading DAO structuring providers globally — and authored Harmony, a jurisdiction-agnostic DAO structuring framework that remains one of the most comprehensive public playbooks for DAO legal structuring to date.

Aurum advises DAOs, Web3 communities, protocol contributors, foundations, delegates and ecosystem participants on legal structuring, governance, compliance, treasury management, token activity and contributor protection.

We help decentralised communities move from informal coordination to legal structures that can hold assets, sign contracts, manage risk, interface with service providers and support long-term protocol development. Our work combines legal design, governance architecture and practical experience with how DAOs actually exist and operate.

From On-Chain Governance to Legal Capacity

DAO legal work should follow the governance model. The relevant structure depends on who makes decisions, how proposals are approved, who controls wallets, how contributors are engaged, what assets the DAO holds, whether tokens are issued, and whether the DAO operates a protocol, grants programme, treasury, product or ecosystem initiative.

We advise on DAO legal wrappers, foundations, associations, DAO LLCs, sub-DAOs, committees, multisig structures, delegate arrangements, governance rules, constitutions, contributor agreements, token grants, treasury controls, service-provider relationships and operational procedures.

The goal is not to make a DAO look like a traditional company. The goal is to create enough legal infrastructure for the DAO to operate, protect contributors and members, hold and manage assets, and interact with the off-chain world without undermining decentralised governance.

Regulatory & Compliance

DAO risk is not found in one document or one jurisdiction. It can sit in the token design, treasury operations, governance process, contributor activity, public communications, protocol interface, grants programme, foundation mandate, multisig control, service-provider relationships or the legal status of participants.

Depending on the DAO’s activities, legal questions may arise under securities laws, VASP and crypto-asset regulation, AML/KYC rules, tax, corporate law, partnership and agency principles, fiduciary duties, IP law, sanctions, data protection and product-specific regulation.

Aurum helps DAOs build legal frameworks that can hold across these layers. This includes DAO wrappers, governance documentation, contributor and service-provider arrangements, IP assignment and open-source licensing, treasury and grants processes, token launch documentation, risk disclosures, restricted jurisdiction policies and regulatory positioning across major markets.