49: DAO Law, Insights from a DAO Lawyer (Not Advice)

MUNG Legal is the First Dedicated Blockchain Law Firm in Hong Kong founded in 2018. Their niche legal advisory lies in the sector of Blockchain, Cloud, AI and Data Technology, Biotechnology & Life Sciences, Art Auction, Art Frauds, and Art Tech, which includes NFT. MUNG has proven itself to be a valuable partner with tech, biotech and art tech entrepreneurs where they could grow from strength to strength with quality and strategic legal advice.

Monin Ung is an international lawyer who has practiced for over 20 years at magic circles and international firms. She is qualified in England and Wales as a Barrister, an advocate and solicitor in Singapore as well as a solicitor in Hong Kong. Having spent all her career at prestigious international firms, Monin has been well trained and seeded in diverse practice areas of corporate finance, initial public listings, private equity, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, trade disputes, patent litigation and intellectual property litigation. In 2018, she returned to Hong Kong to launch MUNG, a legal practice which thrives to make a difference, relevant to the future and impactful. Monin is also the Founder of Women in DAO, a space where she finds vibrancy and expressions.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• 0:42 Eric tells the listeners about the topic and intent of this episode.
• 3:41 The life cycle of a DAO is presented in a much simpler way.
• 8:13 Monin presents an example of what can happen if things go wrong within the DAO, who would they sue.
• 9:24 There is a recent case in the US where the SEC sued a DAO and they won the case because no one in the DAO wanted to appear in court.
• 10:45 The discussion shifts to DAO governance laws.
• 11:15 There is always an entity or entities behind the DAOs that are controlled by certain individuals, which goes against the goal of decentralization.
• 12:30 According to Monin, there are over 200,000 DAOs today in the world but none of them are fully decentralized. She also talks about why a DAO will lose its favor and drive if it becomes fully decentralized.
• 13:28 One of Monin’s recommendations is that all DAOs must have a DAO constitution.
• 17:37 Having regular financial reporting of DAO core team members is another recommendation from Monin.
• 19:00 Monin shares her opinion on why a DAO should disclose their finances to the public.
• 22:50 From the 50 DAOs that Monin has advised in the past, most of the people who came up with the idea of their DAOs want to disassociate themselves and not become the ones running the DAO. These DAOs also need a legal entity to help them sign contracts, insurance, and do banking transactions.
• 26:17 Monin provides an example where the SEC sent a summons into a DAO discord inbox without knowing who it is because they can’t find a live person.
• 27:50 When a summon is served, even if it is in discord, the SEC can say that it has been successfully served. According to Monin, in law it is acceptable.
• 32:11 Finding a person in the DAO who is ready to take on all the responsibility is another huge issue.
• 33:28 Eric shares his experience of purchasing a token from Constitution DAO and the other groups of people that also made a purchase during that time.
• 37:50 Monin gives her view on DAO memberships.
• 40:27 For investment type opportunities for DAOs, Monin provides her view and example.
• 44:29 Key questions that every DAO needs to ask themselves.
• 47:32 For Monin, a singular-purpose DAO would be the most successful.
• 50:20 Monin talks about helping enrich the DAO space and letting it flourish by piloting a certain DAO for six months.
• 54:19 Emphasizing the importance of transparency in a DAO.
• 57:30 Eric discusses his biggest takeaway from this episode.
• 59:48 Monin shares the sure way to be successful in the DAO space.

Key Points from this Interview:

1. “There are over two hundred thousand DAOs in the world, big and small, different size, different and very interesting spectrum of business ideas and creative ideas, but I can say for sure, all these DAO, none is 100% fully decentralized.”
2. “I have a say as a token holder. I want to scrutinize and govern you and call any bad behavior. So don’t give me shit, I want to see every DAO fully reporting their financials. This is my call for governance.”

Resources Mentioned: