Wyoming
Wyoming wants to become the Delaware of DAOs with new crypto law for decentralized autonomous organizations
On Thursday, Wyoming’s Republican governor, Mark Gordon, signed into law the Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act, a landmark bill that establishes a framework for recognizing DAOs as legal entities.
Wyoming has long positioned itself as the friendliest state toward the crypto industry—not unlike Delaware’s attitude toward corporations—and the new law is the latest in a series of measures to attract blockchain firms to the Cowboy State. With support from a16z crypto, the legislation tackles one of the thorniest legal issues in the nascent sector: how to fit decentralized organizations into existing financial regulation.
In an exclusive interview with Fortune, state Sen. Chris Rothfuss, a Democrat and cochair of the Select Committee on Blockchain that sponsored the bill, said the measure reinforces Wyoming’s nation-leading approach to digital asset regulation as the federal government remains gridlocked.
“This DUNA legislation is just the most recent puzzle piece,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that we had the flexibility to figure out what the best practices and policies and use cases were in a legislature that was actually capable of being responsive and adaptive.”
The DAO problem
Decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, are a unique structure born from the blockchain industry. Rather than deploying a traditional corporate structure, with a board of directors responsible for investors’ fiduciary interests, DAOs are composed of community members who vote on how to manage an organization, generally through holding governance tokens that are native to the group.
The concept may seem esoteric, but there have been high-profile instances in the past few years, including ConstitutionDAO, where people banded together in an attempt to buy one of the last remaining copies of the U.S. Constitution.
The novel structure has also created legal headaches for both crypto acolytes and regulators, most notably in an enforcement action by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Ooki DAO, which the agency charged with operating an illegal trading platform. In an unprecedented step, the CFTC held every token holder liable for the actions of the organization and served its members via a help chat box on the organization’s website.
“It is possible that DAOs are just the worst of all worlds: Their tokens are similar enough to corporate shares to be subject to securities laws, but different enough to create unlimited liability for their holders,” Bloomberg’s Matt Levine wrote at the time.
As Rothfuss told Fortune, Wyoming has a history of creating new rules around corporate structures, including becoming the first state to adopt the limited liability corporation, or LLC. Among its crypto initiatives, Wyoming also created a digital asset-focused banking charter called the Special Purpose Depository Institution, which took on national prominence after one charter holder, the Caitlin Long-led Custodia Bank, sued the Federal Reserve over being denied a master account.
Wyoming attempted to address DAO supervision previously with a 2021 law that created an LLC structure for the decentralized organizations. In an interview with Fortune, a16z crypto general counsel Miles Jennings explained that the framework created potential complications under securities laws, because the membership interests in LLCs—tokens, in this case—are generally considered securities. Furthermore, the Corporate Transparency Act, passed by Congress in 2021, required LLCs to report ownership—an impossibility for DAOs, some of which have hundreds of thousands of members scattered across the world. The 2021 legislation ultimately failed to attract DAOs to Wyoming.
DUNA
Instead of structuring DAOs as LLCs, the new law uses the model of unincorporated nonprofit associations, which means its purpose is not to generate profits for its owners—although it can still generate revenue and compensate DAO members.
Jennings explained why the new structure is necessary: It gives DAOs legal existence, it enables them to contract with third parties and appear in court, and it enables them to pay taxes and have limited liability from the actions of other members.
The structure would not prevent regulatory enforcement if DAOs break the law. Instead, it would allow the DAO to hire legal counsel and appear in court, and it would mean that every voting member of the organization wouldn’t necessarily be liable for the DAO’s actions—like how Enron shareholders weren’t held liable for fraud.
Jennings described DUNA as a “boon” for the government, as it would bring DAOs into the existing tax framework and generate revenue. The law attempts to circumvent the pesky question of whether crypto tokens should be considered securities, with DAOs having no directors, officers, or mission to maximize profits. Still, Jennings admitted that the structure may not escape the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has attempted to establish oversight over the vast majority of crypto assets.
The biggest challenge for Wyoming may be convincing existing DAOs—many of which reflect the “degen” spirit of rebellion endemic to the crypto industry—to adopt the new structure. Jennings said a16z crypto plans to work with portfolio companies on doing so and make it a condition for future investments.
“Some within the industry think that if you don’t subject yourself to the regulatory regime of a given jurisdiction that you’re somehow not subject to it,” Jennings told Fortune. “By doing that, you’re actually subjecting yourself to all jurisdictions.”
“If you want to provide for yourself all the legal protections that exist, for ordinary businesses, this is a much better way to achieving that,” he added.
Welcome to Week 2 of the Wyoming High School outdoor track and field season. More teams will compete for the first time this year. The in-state track meets will be in Newcastle, Wheatland, Burlington, Pine Bluffs, Sheridan, and Rock Springs. A handful of schools will compete in either Colorado, Nebraska, or Utah.
2025 WYOPREPS OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SCHEDULE WEEK 2
Here is the Week 2 schedule. It is subject to change.
LAURA CHORD MEMORIAL at Newcastle HS – Arvada-Clearmont, Hulett, Moorcroft, Newcastle, Sundance, Upton; out-of-state schools = Custer, SD; Edgemont, SD; Hill City, SD; Lead-Deadwood, SD.
Girls Team Scores = Custer 193, Hill City 107, Upton 72.50, Newcastle 64.50, Moorcroft 49, Lead-Deadwood 42, Hulett 38.50, Edgemont 16, Arvada-Clearmont 13.50, Sundance 7.
Boys Team Scores = Custer 179.50, Newcastle 125, Hill City 104, Lead-Deadwood 63.50, Upton 49, Sundance 47, Hulett 33, Moorcroft 29.
WHEATLAND INVITATIONAL at Wheatland HS (moved up from Friday) – Douglas, Glenrock, H.E.M., Kaycee, Laramie, Wheatland.
Girls Team Scores = Laramie 212, Douglas 176.50, Glenrock 58.50, Wheatland 56.50, Kaycee 36.50, H.E.M. 22.
Boys Team Scores = Laramie 294, Douglas 98, Glenrock 86, Wheatland 58, Kaycee 29, H.E.M. 16.
Laramie girls won 8 events, while the Laramie boys captured 10 events.
BURLINGTON HS INVITATIONAL at Burlington HS – Burlington, Greybull, Lovell, Powell, Riverside, Rocky Mountain, Ten Sleep, Thermopolis, Tongue River, Western Heritage Lutheran Academy, Wind River, Worland, Wyoming Indian.
Waiting on the results…
PINE BLUFFS EARLY BIRD at Pine Bluffs HS – Burns, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Lusk, Pine Bluffs, Rock River, Southeast, Wright; out-of-state schools = Alliance, NE; Chadron, NE.
Girls Team Scores = Chadron 135, East 104.2, Central 97.7, Wright 80.2, Burns 75, Southeast 51.5, Alliance 40, Pine Bluffs 18.7, Lusk 12.7.
Boys Team Scores = East 250.5, Burns 95, Alliance 73, Chadron 49.5, Wright 49, Lusk 43, Pine Bluffs 42, Central 29.5, Southeast 19.5, Rock River 2.
SHERIDAN QUAD at Sheridan HS – Buffalo, Campbell County, Sheridan, Thunder Basin.
Girls Team Scores = Sheridan 186.50, Thunder Basin 184.50, Buffalo 93, Campbell County 62.50, Big Horn 40.50.
Ashley Rogge of Thunder Basin swept the 2 hurdle races and won the high jump.
Boys Team Scores = Sheridan 216, Thunder Basin 175.50, Campbell County 83, Buffalo 53.50, Big Horn 40.
Sheridan’s Chance Morris won the 100 & 200. Garrett Otto swept the 2 hurdle races. Campbell County’s Raynor Ranum won both throwing events.
Out-of-State events:
BINFIELD INVITE at Scottsbluff, NE – Lingle-Ft. Laramie, Torrington.
Torrington’s Brooklyn Ausmus swept the 100 & 200. Lingle’s Brody Roberts won the boys’ 200 & 400.
JOHN GANSER INVITE at Sidney, NE – Cheyenne South.
Sarah Hedlum won the D1 1600. Trey Downham won the D1 200 & 300 hurdles.
STRATA INVITATIONAL at Union HS in Roosevelt, UT – Big Piney.
Big Piney girls placed 3rd at 85.50 team points. The BP boys took 6th with 24 points. Micah Strong from BP won the girls’ 100 & 400 meters and 3rd in the 800 meters.
TIGER QUAD MEET at Rock Springs HS – Green River, Lander, Lyman, Rock Springs.
Out-of-State events:
ALPHA INVITATIONAL at Timpanogos HS in Orem, UT – Cokeville, Evanston, Mountain View.
BLUE & GOLD INVITATIONAL at Univ. of Northern Colo. in Greeley, CO – Douglas.
NIWOT INVITATIONAL at Niwot, CO – Cheyenne Central.
UVU HIGH SCHOOL INVITATIONAL at Utah Valley University in Orem, UT – Evanston, Star Valley.
Wind River Track Meet
Gallery Credit: Frank Gambino
CASPER, Wyo — The U.S. Justice Department announced the following sentences rendered in the District of Wyoming this week. The summaries from the U.S. Attorney’s Office are as follows:
Firearm Offenses
Jeffrey Cletus Geist, 58, of Gillette, Wyoming, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, with three years of supervised release to follow for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, on March 12, 2024, the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office stopped Geist on his motorcycle for a traffic violation. A canine was deployed on the exterior of the motorcycle and immediately alerted to the presence of narcotics. Deputies located three bags of methamphetamine and a 9mm handgun.
“Geist is a previously convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm,” the release said. Geist was indicted on Sept.18, 2024 and pleaded guilty on Dec. 18, 2024. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl imposed the sentence on March 11 in Casper.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office investigated the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christyne Martens prosecuted the case.
Joshua Roye Dunn, 36, of Sheridan, Wyoming, was sentenced to 36 months of supervised probation for being in possession of an unregistered firearm. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sheridan Police Department investigated the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Hammer prosecuted the case. Dunn was indicted on July 18, 2024, pleaded guilty on Dec. 13, 2024, and Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl imposed the sentence on March 26 in Cheyenne.
Drug Trafficking and Illegal Reentry of a Previously Deported Alien
Cesar Antancio Torres-Cazares, 36, of La Piedad, Michoacan, Mexico, was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment with three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and time served for illegal reentry into the United States. He will be deported following his imprisonment.
According to court documents, in November 2023, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began investigating a cocaine drug trafficking organization in the Jackson, Wyoming, area. Agents conducted a controlled buy from Torres-Cazares, which led agents to his residence, where they found large quantities of cocaine and proof of distribution. After he was arrested, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was contacted because Torres-Cazares is not a U.S. citizen, had previously been removed from the U.S., and had not applied for permission to reenter.
DCI and ICE investigated the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth Griswold and Cameron J. Cook prosecuted the cases. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson imposed the sentence on March 26 in Cheyenne.
Public Land Violations
Douglas Wolfley, 49 of Fairview, Wyoming, was sentenced to a 10-day term of incarceration with credit for 2 days served after pleading guilty to driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in Yellowstone National Park, his third DUI conviction in 10 years. He also pleaded guilty to possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
In addition to the term of incarceration, Wolfley was placed on 3 years of unsupervised probation, terms of which include a ban from Yellowstone National Park during that period and was ordered to pay $3,050 in fines and court costs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Calmes prosecuted the case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Hambrick imposed the sentence on March 18, 2025.
Angela Flaherty, 44, of Seattle, Washington was sentenced to a 7-day term of incarceration after pleading guilty to violating 36 CFR 7.13(j), which requires all foot travel in thermal areas of Yellowstone National Park be confined to marked trails or boardwalks.
“Ms. Flaherty left the boardwalk and viewing area surrounding Old Faithful geyser and walked approximately 10 feet onto the cone of Old Faithful. Some of her conduct was captured on video by another park visitor,” the release said.
In addition to the term of incarceration, Flaherty was ordered to pay $40 in mandatory court costs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Calmes prosecuted the case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Hambrick imposed the sentence on March 19, 2025.
Yiyang Shen, 25 of Doraville, Georgia was sentenced to a 7-day term of incarceration and five years of unsupervised probation, the terms of which include a ban from Yellowstone National Park, after he drove off the designated roadway and parked his vehicle in a thermal area in Yellowstone. He was charged with operating a motor vehicle in a prohibited area in a manner that caused damage to park resources and foot travel in a thermal area not confined to any designated and marked trail or boardwalk. In addition to the terms of incarceration and probation.
Shen is ordered to pay $1,050 in fines and court costs. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Hambrick imposed the sentence on March 12, 2025.
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