Uniswap, the largest decentralised exchange on Ethereum, could soon divert a portion of its fees towards the Uniswap DAO.
An affiliated nonprofit, the Uniswap Foundation, asked the digital cooperative on Monday to register in Wyoming as a so-called DUNA — a Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association.
In March 2024, Wyoming lawmakers passed the DUNA Act, allowing DAOs to create legally-recognized entities in the state.
Incorporation would protect members of the Uniswap DAO from legal or tax liability, a prerequisite to activating Uniswap’s so-called fee switch, according to the Foundation.
“Uniswap Governance will be one of the first and certainly the largest DAO to take this step,” Devin Walsh, the Foundation’s executive director, wrote on X.
“We see it as an opportunity to create clarity and further empower Uniswap decentralized governance – opening up participation to more tokenholders, and the ability to consider meaningful proposals in the future (yes, this includes the fee switch).”
The Uniswap token, UNI, jumped almost 6% after the Foundation published its proposal on the Uniswap DAO governance forum.
The Foundation even suggested a name for Uniswap’s DUNA: DUNI.
DUNI would “preserve Uniswap’s decentralized governance structure while enabling engagement with the offchain world (e.g., entering into contracts, retaining service providers, and fulfilling any potential regulatory and tax responsibilities),” according to the proposal.
“Importantly, establishing Uniswap Governance as a DUNA would bolster critical limited liability protections for governance participants.”
Approval would establish the Foundation as DUNI’s so-called ministerial agent capable of executing documents, submitting filings, and appointing third-party service providers such as lawyers, auditors, and tax administrators.
It would also approve Wyoming-based firm Cowrie as a DUNI administrator charged with preparing tax returns and drafting quarterly financial statements. Cowrie founder David Kerr was “instrumental” in writing Wyoming’s DUNA law, according to the Foundation.
Finally, the proposal would set aside $16.5 million in UNI for legal defence and tax compliance, and $75,000 worth of UNI for Cowrie’s services through the filing of tax returns for 2026.
The Foundation said it intends to engage the Internal Revenue Service to determine whether the cooperative owes any back taxes.
“It is expected that all tax obligations for prior years will be under $10 million,” the Foundation wrote.
An initial vote could come as early as August 18, according to the Foundation.
