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.
A pair of bills signed into law last week aim to build out a more comprehensive system of literacy education across Wyoming’s public schools.
One mandates evidence-based practices and requires regular screenings for dyslexia, while the other enables the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to hire a dedicated literacy professional to oversee statewide compliance.
Gov. Mark Gordon’s signing of both bills on Friday was the latest accomplishment of an ongoing push for improved literacy standards. That push has been spearheaded by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.
“Wyoming is not going to let a single child fall through the cracks,” Degenfelder said during a public bill signing last week. “We are not going to fall behind when it comes to ensuring that our children can read at grade level.”
The primary bill, Senate File 59, establishes a statewide K-12 program for teaching students to read that is built on “evidence based language and literacy instruction, assessment, intervention and professional development that supports educators, engages families and promotes literacy proficiency for all Wyoming students.”
The bill defines evidence-based strategies as those that conform to the science of reading, a term that will be defined and updated by Degenfelder’s office. Nationwide, it generally means putting academic research into practice in classrooms. SF 59 specifically prohibits the exclusive use of “three-cueing” — a strategy once widely employed to teach reading but which education experts now say is outdated and less effective than other strategies.
It also requires annual dyslexia screeners for students below the third grade, and testing for reading difficulties for all students.
The screeners are used to identify the severity of reading difficulties in order to direct “tiered” support that offers the most intensive interventions to the students most in need, while still providing “evidence based” language instruction to all students.
Each school district must formulate an individualized reading plan “for each student identified as having reading difficulties or at risk for poor reading outcomes.”
Districts must now report to the state annually regarding their literacy-related work. Any district where 60% or more of the students are struggling will be required to implement “summer literacy camps or extended supports, including after school support and tutoring.”
The bill also requires literacy related professional development for teachers and specialists “appropriate to their role and level of responsibility” related to literacy education.
SF 59 was backed by dyslexia advocates and literacy specialists.
Senate File 14, the other literacy bill signed into law Friday, appropriates $120,000 annually for the next two years for a full-time position at WDE “to assist school districts in implementing a reading assessment and intervention program and language and literacy programs.”
Both bills go into effect July 1.
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference announced the Cowboys’ 2026 football schedule Monday, a slate that opens with the Border War and concludes with back-to-back home games in Laramie.
Wyoming opens the season Sept. 5 on the road against Colorado State in the 118th edition of the Border War. The Cowboys then host Northern Colorado on Sept. 12 in the home opener before traveling to Central Michigan on Sept. 19.
The Cowboys begin Mountain West play Sept. 26 at home against Hawaii in a matchup for the Paniolo Trophy. Wyoming then faces back-to-back road games at North Dakota State on Oct. 3 and San Jose State on Oct. 10.
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Wyoming returns to War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17 to host conference newcomer Northern Illinois before facing Air Force at home on Oct. 24. The Cowboys will have an open week on Oct. 31.
The Cowboys open November with road games at UNLV on Nov. 7 and at UTEP on Nov. 14, marking Wyoming’s first meeting with the Miners as members of the Mountain West. Wyoming closes conference play by hosting New Mexico on Nov. 21 and wraps up the regular season with a nonconference game against UConn on Nov. 28 in Laramie.
Each Mountain West team will play four home and four road conference games during the 13-week season, which will conclude with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages. The championship game date will be announced later.
With the conference schedule set, Mountain West television partners CBS Sports, FOX Sports, and The CW will begin selecting broadcast games, which could include moving some contests to non-Saturday dates. Network assignments and kickoff times will be announced at a later date.
Season ticket renewals for the 2026 Wyoming football season are now available. Fans can renew their tickets online by visiting gowyo.com/tickets and logging into their account.
The 2026 Wyoming prep girls’ basketball season is nearly done. Two state champions were crowned in Classes 1A and 2A last Saturday. Southeast won the 1A title for the third consecutive season, and Sundance won the 2A title for the first time in eight years. Class 3A and 4A held their regional tournaments, which qualified teams for the state tournament later this week in Casper.
WYOPREPS WEEK 12 GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDINGS 2026
These are the girls’ basketball team records for all games played through March 7, 2026. For all but 16 teams, this is the final record of the season. Those squads will play in the 3A-4A state tournament starting on Thursday in Casper.
1A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Burlington 24-5, 8-0
Riverside 14-10, 6-2
Dubois 11-10, 4-4
St. Stephens 3-16, 1-7
Meeteetse 1-20, 1-7
1A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cokeville 23-4, 10-0
Little Snake River 23-4, 8-2
Farson-Eden 16-12, 5-5
Saratoga 13-11, 5-5
Ft. Washakie 8-13, 2-8
Encampment 3-19, 0-10
1A Northeast: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Upton 16-7, 10-0
Kaycee 13-12, 7-3
Hulett 12-13, 7-3
Arvada-Clearmont 9-12, 4-6
Casper Christian 4-13, 2-8
Midwest 1-16, 0-10
1A Southeast: (Overall Record, followed by Reg. Season Points)
Southeast 24-5, 40 points
Lingle-Ft. Laramie 17-11, 31 points
Lusk 15-13, 26 points
H.E.M. 13-11, 24 points
Rock River 6-14, 12 points
Guernsey-Sunrise 2-18, 4 points
2A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Thermopolis 16-13, 5-1
Greybull 16-15, 4-2
Rocky Mountain 9-17, 2-4
Shoshoni 11-18, 1-5
2A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Wyoming Indian 23-7, 6-0
Big Piney 8-16, 4-2
Kemmerer 2-21, 1-5
Wind River 2-23, 1-5
2A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Sundance 23-4, 5-0
Big Horn 21-6, 4-1
Tongue River 18-11, 3-2
Pine Bluffs 17-12, 2-3
Moorcroft 7-18, 1-4
Wright 3-23, 0-5
Read More Girls Basketball News from WyoPreps
WyoPreps 1A-2A Girls State Basketball Scoreboard 2026
WyoPreps 3A-4A Girls Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Final Basketball Poll 2026
WyoPreps 1A-2A Girls Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Poll 2-25-26
WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Poll 2-18-26
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WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-11-26
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WyoPreps Girls Basketball Week 7 Scores 2026
Nominate A Basketball Player for the WyoPreps Athlete of the Week Honor
3A West: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cody 24-0, 10-0
Lander 21-4, 9-1
Pinedale 20-5, 7-3
Powell 16-9, 6-4
Lovell 16-10, 4-6
Worland 9-16, 2-8
Lyman 10-11, 2-8
Mountain View 4-19, 0-10
3A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Wheatland 22-4, 10-0
Buffalo 13-11, 8-2
Douglas 14-11, 6-4
Burns 16-13, 5-5
Torrington 10-11, 5-5
Glenrock 12-13, 3-7
Newcastle 1-22, 1-9
Rawlins 2-21, 0-10
4A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Green River 23-2, 6-0
Natrona County 9-16, 4-2
Kelly Walsh 8-15, 2-4
Rock Springs 5-20, 0-6
4A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Star Valley 16-7, 5-1
Evanston 16-10, 5-1
Riverton 7-19, 1-5
Jackson 3-19, 1-5
4A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cheyenne East 21-3, 11-1
Cheyenne Central 16-9, 10-2
Sheridan 14-10, 7-5
Thunder Basin 14-10, 6-6
Laramie 12-11, 6-6
Campbell County 1-19, 1-10
Cheyenne South 1-21, 0-11
*The second Campbell County-Cheyenne South girls’ game was canceled.
Wyoming 3A Boys Swimming & Diving State Championships 2026
Photos from the 3A Boys State Swim Meet
Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Marcello Monterastelli Photography & Jared Newland, WHSAA
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