UNISWAP COMMUNITY VOTES BIG: ESTABLISH OFF-CHAIN LEGAL ENTITY TO PROTECT DECENTRALIZATION

16-09-2025
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Uniswap Community Vote: Create Off-Chain Legal Entity to Protect Decentralization
The Uniswap community, one of the world's largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, is holding a historic vote. The goal is to create a new legal entity in Wyoming, USA, to address one of the biggest challenges of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs): interacting with the real world. The move is expected to create an important layer of legal protection for governance participants, while preserving the protocol's core decentralization principle.

DUNI: Bridging Two Worlds
The proposed new legal entity is called "DUNI," short for "Uniswap DAO, Inc." According to the proposal, DUNI would be a purpose-built entity to "interact with the off-chain world." These activities include entering into contracts, hiring external service providers, and complying with legal and tax obligations.

This is a strategic and necessary move. Although DeFi protocols operate autonomously on the blockchain, they still need to interact with traditional financial and legal systems to scale and grow. However, this poses legal risks to community members who could be held liable for the actions of the DAO. The creation of DUNI would completely separate this risk from individuals, protecting them from the risk of liability or tax arising from decisions made by the Uniswap board.

Near-Absolute Consensus
The initial vote showed near-absolute consensus from the community. With the initial vote showing 100% support, the proposal was quickly moved to the final round of voting, which is scheduled to end on September 8. This impressive number shows that the Uniswap community is well aware of the importance of building a solid legal structure to protect the future of the protocol.

The proposal emphasizes that the establishment of the DUNI legal entity will not affect Uniswap's on-chain governance mechanism or its native token UNI. The protocol will continue to operate according to the rules encoded on the blockchain, while DUNI only serves as a legal "shell" to help ensure off-chain operations run smoothly and securely.

This is considered an important step in "reducing the risk of participating in Uniswap Governance without compromising decentralization." In this way, Uniswap not only protects its members, but also sets an important precedent for other DAOs in balancing the principle of decentralization with the need to interact with the traditional legal world. The success of this vote will open a new chapter for DAO governance, creating a more efficient and secure hybrid model for the entire DeFi industry.