Does the legal status of a DAO affect its ability to operate in different countries or regions?
Select jurisdiction
Germany
Regarding the legal status of a given DAO, in different countries different laws may
apply. From a civil law perspective, these differences may have significant implications. E. g.
a DAO which qualifies as a civil law partnership (Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts – GbR)
and hence as a legal entity under German Law, in another countries, on the contrary, may
not be subject to rights and obligations at all. As a consequence, the DAO needs to comply with several different legal requirements, which can lead to legal and practical issues. As regarding the European Union market, in several fields European laws apply, some relevant rules may not differ significantly. However, the differences depend mainly on the extent of the harmonization in the given field, in particular whether the rules are based on a directive or on a regulation. In any case, as long as the legal systems are not fully harmonized, there may still be different laws in place.
In current German legal practice, regional differences do not play a significant role for DAOs. Though there might be minor differences, the major rules relevant for DAOs are mainly based on federal law.
