DAO의 해외 규제 동향과 시사점 - 미국과 일본의 DAO 법 규제 동향을 중심으로 -

On a global scale, some states in the United States have already enacted legislation that recognizes DAOs as a form of organizational governance. In the US state of Wyoming, the DAO Act was approved in 2021, which allows DAOs using blockchain technology to register as limited liability companies (LLCs), providing a regulatory response to DAOs and allowing them to enjoy the benefits of limited liability by enabling them to be legally based contracts. The DAO Law defines the requirements for establishing a DAO, the registration procedures, the rights and obligations of members, and the grounds for dissolution, and in addition to the features of a general LLC, the articles of incorporation specify the identifiers of smart contracts directly used for the management, facilitation, and operation of the DAO, as well as the roles of algorithms and participants in the operation. In Japan, the "Priority Plan for the Realization of a Digital Society" approved by the Cabinet on June 7, 2022, mentions the clarification of the legal status of DAOs as one of the environmental measures to promote Web3.0, and the legal framework for "Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)" will be revised in line with the development of the distributed Internet, or Web3. On January 26, 2024, the Web3 project team of the Digital Society Promotion Headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party submitted a proposal on "DAO regulation," and the revision of the Cabinet Decree reflecting the DAO proposal was promulgated and implemented. In Korea, granting legal personality to DAOs not only makes it easier for counterparties to do business with them, but also makes it easier to distinguish between the business assets of DAOs and the personal assets of their members, and the issue of granting legal personality to DAOs themselves can be viewed positively as long as certain disclosure methods are in place, such as the Wyoming state law in the United States, which recognizes the status of an LLC and grants it separate legal personality. Giving DAOs the status of a legal entity is useful for various purposes, so it is necessary to consider establishing a system that recognizes corporatization. In order to proceed with the legalization of DAOs in Korea, it is necessary to carefully review all legal issues.