For the past twenty years, Web 2.0 has enabled a worldwide network of users to connect, collaborate and share content, facilitating international commercial relations. By bringing shared ownership and governance, Web 3.0 facilitates even more connections between people around the world and brings a new type of digital economy where users are empowered. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are one of the major products of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). As the main actors of the crypto economy, these new forms of social organizations are having a growing importance worldwide. However, creating, participating in or contracting with a DAO raises new legal questions that are still to be answered. This lecture explores the following questions:
- What is a DAO from a legal point of view?
- What is at stake in qualifying a DAO as a company?
- What is the law governing a DAO?