Wyoming becomes first US state to legally recognise DAO

The state of Wyoming has become the first in the US to approve and legally recognise a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO).

The move became official when the American CryptoFed DAO received notice from the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office that it had been acknowledged as a legal business entity.

Marian Orr, CEO of the American CryptoFed DAO, said the approval now brought wider adoption into focus for the country’s tenth-largest state.

“Wyoming is the leading digital assets jurisdiction in the USA, and now with this DAO law, Wyoming is arguably the top blockchain jurisdiction in the world,” she said.

“What this means is that creating a true digital currency with mass acceptance is now possible.” 

The mission of the American CryptoFed DAO is to create and sustain a monetary system with zero inflation, zero deflation and zero transaction costs. The DAO operates on the EOS network and has two native tokens – Ducat, a stablecoin that will be used for daily transactions and a store of value, and Locke, a governance token used to stabilise Ducat and allow holders to participate in network rule and decision making. 

A DAO is an open-source blockchain protocol governed by a set of rules created by elected members. The rules are pre-written as smart contracts and can execute without the need for intermediaries. 

Earlier this year, Wyoming also became the first state in the US to pass legislation into law that recognises DAOs as a distinct form of limited liability companies (LLC) from July 1.

Wyoming’s Secretary of State, Edward Buchanan, praised the state’s continued work as a recognised leader of technology.

“Wyoming has a reputation for being on the leading edge of business technology, beginning in 1977 with the recognition of LLCs,” he said.

“We are proud to continue this innovation by offering legal protections to Decentralized Autonomous Organizations.”

The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG), representing 165 of the largest merchants in the United States, also expressed its support of the DAO filing.

John Drechny, CEO of the MAG, said: “With the announcement of the American CryptoFed becoming the first Decentralized Autonomous Organization in Wyoming, we can see a path in which merchants will have more choices for payment acceptance.

“Wyoming is leading the way to create legal certainty in the crypto space, and the American CryptoFed DAO is focused on delivering a fee-free payment choice for merchants.”

Marian Orr also highlighted the benefits for merchants when using the DAO.

“Our digital currency enables municipalities, merchants and consumers to engage in digital transactions without the cost of processing fees,” she said.

Wyoming has been at the forefront of crypto adoption in the US since 2019 when it announced two bills that focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. One of the bills allowed for the regulation and recognition of cryptocurrencies as money in Wyoming, which has since paved the way for a focus on the utility of tokens and now the introduction of a DAO.

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis is also pushing for greater crypto adoption in the US. Lummis recently encouraged US citizens to buy and hold Bitcoin (BTC) as retirement savings to hedge against inflation of the dollar.

Lummis also invited crypto miners to the state via Twitter, saying “We WANT you in Wyoming” and defended Bitcoin’s carbon footprint in a recent interview focusing on more affordable energy and the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.