“The CFTC relies upon a razor thin metaphysical distinction between the Ooki DAO and Ooki Protocol. According to the CFTC, the Ooki Protocol is software. In contrast, (per the CFTC) the Ooki DAO is ‘a group of users of the Ooki Protocol who (a) chose not to incorporate, and (b) both held and actually voted governance tokens to participate in the business of running the Ooki Protocol pursuant to specific, publicized governance protocols.’ The CFTC claims that it ‘is not a novel proposition’ that individuals who use the same software can be deemed members of an unincorporated association by virtue of that software use. Not only is this a novel proposition, it is unprecedented. It would likely surprise Microsoft Word users to learn that editing the same document as another person is enough to form an unincorporated association,” LeXpunK said.
