Read the full letter here.

As DAOs reshape how communities fund, govern, and build together online, one thing remains stubbornly offline: clear legal pathways. Today, most DAOs operate in a gray zone; unable to sign contracts, pay taxes, or protect contributors without compromising decentralization or risking personal liability. It's time for that to change.

To address this, the Uniswap Foundation has proposed that Uniswap Governance, one of the largest and most active DAOs in the world, adopt a new legal framework known as the Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (DUNA). The DUNA provides legal recognition for DAOs without compromising their decentralized nature. And it enables DAOs to operate within the U.S. legal system: managing treasuries, engaging in contractual relationships, and complying with tax laws, while protecting individual token holders from unlimited liability.

This proposal represents a major milestone for Uniswap Governance and the broader DAO ecosystem. But it’s only the beginning. Today, we, along with our co-signers, are calling on the U.S. Treasury and IRS to provide clearer, more accessible legal pathways for DAOs to repatriate and domesticate within the U.S. in order to strengthen and protect these technological advancements. This call is consistent with the President’s Working Group Report on Digital Assets, which explicitly called for Treasury and IRS to work with non-profits supporting the development of blockchain technologies to domicile in the U.S. and for Treasury and the IRS to study ways to incentivize their repatriation and domestication.

This letter urges Treasury and the IRS to recognize and support efforts like the DUNA, engage directly with DAO communities pioneering new models of compliance, and establish safe harbors and guidance that aligns legal clarity with the realities of onchain governance. With thoughtful collaboration, the U.S. can shape a future where decentralized technologies thrive within a responsible legal framework.

We are grateful to have the support of our co-signers: a16z crypto, Agora, Blockchain Association, Blockchain Capital, Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), Decentralized Research Center, Defi Education Fund, dYdX Foundation, FinTech Collective, Gas Network, Haun Ventures, Morpho, Multicoin Capital, OP Labs PBC, Optimism Foundation, Polygon, Scroll, Solana Policy Institute, Tally, The Digital Chamber, and ZKsync Association.

Resources:

• Read the full letter
• Read the proposal
• Learn more about DUNI