Hey there!

We are Borderless, pioneering Parallel Entity's social implementation

The Borderless team is here with some exciting news.

We've just hit a major milestone that we can't wait to share with you!

As you may know since April 2024,
DAO LLCs have become one of the legal business structure options in Japan!

More details here ↓

Introducing the DAO LLC, a New Corporate Entity Type in Japan

Introducing the DAO LLC, a New Corporate Entity Type in JapanIntroductionHello! This is the first blog post from Borderless.company, a RWA platform currently being developed by Overlay AG. Using the Borderless platform, you can start a company, tokenize your equity, legally sell equity and other tokens to investors, conduct on-chain governance, and distribute dividends or other tokens to token holders.

https://blog.borderless.company

In short:

- 🚀 Successfully completed Japan's first pilot LLC-DAO fundraising through Borderless integration

- ⚡️ Reduced traditional LLC membership process time from weeks to just 10 minutes

- 💰 Achieved 90% cost reduction in membership management

- 🤝 Partnered with KabaDAO, a coffee grounds recycling project in Fukuoka

- 🌐 Developed by Overlay AG in Switzerland's Crypto Valley

Working with KabaDAO, a coffee grounds recycling project in Fukuoka, Japan.
We've managed to slash the traditional LLC membership process costs and time by a whopping 90%! 

Here's what we automated:

• Contract signing

• Identity verification

• Capital contribution and proof

• Member registry updates

• Digital membership rights distribution

And the best part? The entire process takes just 10 minutes instead of the usual weeks! 🚀

KabaDAO is a fantastic project born out of the "FUKUOKA DAO CAMP" (a Web3 incubation program by Fukuoka City and Fracton Ventures). They're revolutionizing how we think about coffee waste management.

Here's what one of their new members who participated self-public offering had to say:

"As a coffee enthusiast, I discovered KabaDAO at SCAJ2024. With coffee prices soaring, being part of a decision-making process for a coffee grounds recycling ecosystem adds a whole new dimension to my coffee passion!" — Business Owner, 66, Nagoya

Borderless is a "Parallel Entity" launching kit.

A Parallel Entity refers to an organization that simultaneously maintains its existence both as a legal entity and as an on-chain entity.

It is a blockchain-based organization that can be operated and executed under the same organizational rules as those governing legal entities (such as articles of incorporation and internal regulations).

A typical company that has a share like stock and membership could use this scheme to bring their shares onto the blockchain and unlock the opportunity to onboard millions of potential shareholders.

Capital raising at ICO speed, unleashing DAO's collaborative power.

We give companies their gateway to the Ethereum---their bridge to the world.

Our platform lets organizations:

• Set up an on-chain entity just to import companies' Articles of Incorporation and other internal rules such as operating agreements.

• Tokenize companies' shares and rights.

• Self-public offering with tokenized share.

...all through a simple website integration! 

We're developed by Overlay AG, based in Switzerland's Crypto Valley (Zug).

Our mission? Bridging the gap between traditional legal structures and cutting-edge blockchain technology to create the future of company management.

This successful pilot isn't just about streamlining processes - it's about democratizing access to DAO structures and making them work in the real world. We're turning complex legal and technical requirements into something as simple as a few clicks.

Whether you're running a community project, a business, or just curious about the future of organizational structures, we'd love to hear from you!

🌐 Website: https://www.borderless.company  

🐦 Twitter: @BorderlessDAO

*This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice😊

Introducing the DAO LLC, a New Corporate Entity Type in Japan

Hello! This is the first blog post from Borderless.company, a RWA platform currently being developed by Overlay AG. Using the Borderless platform, you can start a company, tokenize your equity, legally sell equity and other tokens to investors, conduct on-chain governance, and distribute dividends or other tokens to token holders. Currently, we are focusing first on starting a DAO LLC entity in Japan, but we will be soon expanding to other entity types in additional crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

Borderless is currently under development and we will be announcing our first customer case study by the end of Q2 2024. In order to understand what can be done with Borderless, it would be helpful to understand the new DAO LLC entity type in Japan, which just became legal in April 2024…

Disclaimer: This post has not been checked by a lawyer. We have done our best to check this information but there may be some minor errors; please be aware.

Wikipedia defines a DAO as:

An organization managed in whole or in part by decentralized computer program, with voting and finances handled through a blockchain. In general terms, DAOs are member-owned communities without centralized leadership. The precise legal status of this type of business organization is unclear.

This legal status issue is now being solved in Japan. The blockchain industry has forever been seeking ways to fundraise by selling legally compliant tokens, as well as a method to connect blockchain-native DAOs to the legacy legal and financial systems. Some front running jurisdictions have experimented with new laws enabling these types of activities. For example, Switzerland’s DLT Law enables the legal offering of equity tokens and certain kinds of corporate actions to be conducted via blockchain. Similarly, in America, the State of Wyoming has also legalized a kind of DAO LLC. Starting April 22, 2024, Japan is joining the game by legalizing a new corporate entity type, ”合同会社型DAO”, Goudou-gaisha-gata DAO, which can be translated as LLC-type DAO. There is little English information available presently on this topic, but a few more details about the changes to the law, specifically how tokenized LLC membership rights are now treated differently can be found in this article, LLC-type DAOs are coming to Japan.

Japan’s DAO LLC legislation has been a year and a half in the making, which is actually quite fast. A DAO of its own, the Rulemakers DAO (RMD), was instrumental in working with the LDP (Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party) to enact this legislation. The RMD seeks to change the rules of Japan to adapt with the times and bring new prosperity. RMD coordinates through a Discord forum of around 500 members, many of whom are lawyers, seeking to “change the rules and make Japan a ‘great country’ again.” RMD also was instrumental in the recent passing of Japan’s new Digital Nomad working visa, which enables certain individuals to stay and work in Japan for up to 6 months. On April 1, some members of RMD established a new organization, the Japan DAO Association (JDA) to formalize their activities.

Registering a DAO LLC means your DAO has a real legal presence, so it can open bank accounts, own and manage assets (including IP, real estate, and securities), sell tokenized equity (and other tokens), distribute dividends to token holders, conduct governance on-chain, and much more, all while receiving the same limited liability of an LLC or corporation entity. There are still some limitations, described below, but overall this a monumental step forward.

Although we broadly refer to all of these as LLC DAOs, we envision four main kinds of organizations operating as DAOs.

1. Voluntary organization type DAO

   Operate the DAO as a voluntary organization without corporate status.

2. NPO corporation type DAO

   Operate the DAO as an NPO corporation, for certification process of receiving a future ta deduction

3. LLC type DAO

   Operate the DAO as a for-profit corporation with the understanding that there are restrictions on the distribution of dividends

4. For profit-type DAO (future use case)

   Operate the DAO as a for-profit corporation with no restrictions on the distribution of dividends

Of these four types of DAOs, the first three are made possible with this new legislation.

Here is a good reference about USA LLC officer titles. In summary, in the USA, owners of a LLC are called members. By default, all members of an LLC play an active role in the management of the company and have the authority to execute legal matters on behalf of the company. However, in a member-managed LLC, the execution rights may be delegated to a third-party manager or a specific member or group of members who are known as managing members.

In a Japanese DAO LLC, all investors are considered employees and vice versa. (These employees would be called members in the USA, i.e. everyone is a member.) This means all employees also have ownership rights. Employees are divided into executive employees and regular employees. Both of these employee types receive a unique token, discussed below. Since all employees are members (i.e. equity owners), we can just call everyone employees.

Let’s start by discussing the kinds of tokens Japanese LLC DAO members are given. As mentioned previously, in a LLC DAO, LLC DAO members are divided into executive employees and regular employees. Each type gets a certain kind of membership token which is called an employee rights token. Executive employees and regular employees have different regulations on the scope of activities and revenue distribution.

Executive Employees of a LLC DAO: Executive employee rights token

• Scope of activities: Investment, participation in decision-making, engaging in all or part of the work, execute legal matters on behalf of the company

• Expected role: early adopter, community manager, etc.

• Revenue distribution: It is possible to distribute revenue beyond the amount of the original amount of investment, and capital gains can be made by selling shares on the secondary market, however the tokens cannot be transferred to non-executive employees

• Basically, it respects voting by employees with the right to instigate a veto as a stopper when the DAO tries to commit illegal or immoral acts

Regular Employees of a LLC DAO: Employee rights token

• Scope of activities: Investment, participation in voting to make decisions, and engaging in activities to contribute to the community

• Expected role: Investor, bill to vote, execution of tasks within the DAO

• Revenue distribution: Revenue distribution is possible but only up to the original amount of investment, and capital gains can be made through reselling of tokens on the secondary market

Non-Employee Community Members: “Additional Tokens“ (e.g. Rewards Tokens)

• This additional token type functions as a reward for contributions, and can be given utilities and governance rights. It is expected to be optionally issued at a later time (see additional details below.)

• NFTs currently used for token gated access to communities could be transitioned to this kind of token instead.

• Can be given out in return for the execution of duties, usage of the platform, or bought and sold.

• Can be issued or sold to employees and non-employees, including community members, and other stakeholders.

Someone in Japan wanting to join the DAO could purchase an employee rights token and also be issued multiple classes of additional tokens (rewards tokens) at the same time. These tokens can function as vouchers which can be redeemed for certain things, or resold.

Note: The additional token may be not used as a means to distribute revenue, thus getting around the restriction of employee rights tokens, whereby only an amount equal to the original investment can be distributed as revenue.

1. By using an LLC DAO entity, your group can fundraise startup capital by selling employee rights tokens to investors in Japan. This is essentially selling tokenized equity. All investors become employees (members.) Then you can immediately begin conducting decentralized on-chain governance. Employee rights token holders will have decision-making rights regarding how the funds raised are used.

2. Utilize the funds raised to grow assets and grow the business as a DAO.

3. After issuing executive employee rights tokens, you can also issue additional tokens. Additional tokens are other crypto assets (utility tokens, protocol governance tokens, etc.) and NFTs. You can raise additional capital by selling these tokens in an IEO. In addition to conducting an IEO, they can be distributed to contributors using methods such as airdrops, and holders of a certain quantity of these tokens can be given decision-making authority in governance decisions regarding the relevant tokens, for instance for protocol governance.

4. Conduct an IEO to list the additional tokens on Japanese centralized exchanges to raise further funds and realize capital gains. Later, list on overseas exchanges and expand overseas. (Note: when selling additional tokens, additional disclosures are required. These additional disclosures are also required to conduct an IEO on a Japanese exchange, so it is useful to conduct a domestic IEO before selling the tokens overseas.)

Advantages of having clear corporate status:

• Members have limited liability

• Entity can be the subject of assets (intellectual property, securities, real estate) and contract rights and obligations, can issue tokens and open bank accounts

• Can solve problems in accordance with the law

• Assets and treasury can be distributed upon dissolution

The good news

• Crypto assets are not categorized as securities in Japan, so it is possible to start an investment type DAO (i.e. a DAO that raises funds to invest in other [crypto] assets).

• In general, there is no cap on the amount of funds raised from selling tokens. However, in the case of an investment type DAO, there are certain restrictions and additional disclosures may be required (e.g. if over 100 million yen is raised, or the number of investors exceeds 500.)

• DAOs can issue many kinds of additional tokens without restrictions (but this cannot be used as a method to distribute dividends without limitation; see the next point).

The bad news

• For non-executive employees, dividends can only be paid up to the original investment amount. (This may be changed in the future.)

• Executive employee rights tokens cannot be traded.

• Non-executive employee rights tokens can only be transferred between other employees. Secondary marketplaces for this are coming soon.

• All employee rights token holders must reside in Japan and are subject to KYC. However, this information is not publicly visible.

• Stablecoins (including both USD and JPY) are not yet available in Japan (however, this should change soon.)

Use of DAO LLC by Overseas Groups

Unfortunately, the owners/members/employees (i.e. both types of employee rights token holders) of a DAO LLC must reside in Japan, and their addresses must be recorded with the government. This limits the usefulness to overseas groups.

However, there are some use cases which might be helpful for foreign groups. For instance, a Japanese DAO LLC with an in-country management team could be incorporated as a subsidiary of a group or company external to Japan. This mechanism could be used for DAO based treasury measurement for an overseas project. This would enable the treasury to be a legal entity with a corporate bank account in Japan.

Borderless.company is an RWA platform being developed by the Swiss corporation Overlay AG for tokenizing a company and operating it on-chain. Overlay is made up of a core group of engineers, entrepreneurs, and long term blockchain and DAO proponents.

Using Borderless, one can easily start a DAO LLC, sell equity tokens, distribute dividends, and conduct governance using a choice of blockchains. Initially the Borderless platform is targeting the incorporation of Japanese DAO LLC entities, but our roadmap is to add support for additional favorable jurisdictions next.

Our aim is to standardize the share tokenization process around the world, intricately intertwining physical and digital, law and technology, enabling businesses everywhere to utilize this next generation of company models.

The Borderless platform is currently under development and targeting a soft launch at the end of June. If you’re interested in being an early adopter of the Borderless platform, please reach out to us!

「会社とステークホルダーをゼロ距離に」

どうも、みなさん初めまして！BorderlessのTakashiと言います。

我々は、2016年よりDAO(Decentralized Autonomous Organization)の社会実装を掲げて、ツール開発を中心に様々な活動を国内外問わずして参りました。今回は、日本で本日2024/04/22より設立できるようになった合同会社型DAOについて我々の視点から解説をして参ります！

目次
・合同会社型DAOとは？
・この記事の目的
・この記事の要約
・合同会社型DAOの概要
・既存法人格とのモデル比較
・実際の設立フロー
・合同会社型DAOを活用する上での注意事項と懸念点
・最後に
・Borderless.companyについて

🏃 ５分あればサラッと流し読みできる文量にしています。🏃

合同会社型DAOは、2024年4月22日より日本国内で設立できるようになった新しい会社のモデルです。

日本国内で新しい法人モデルが設立できるようになったのは、2006年の新会社法により設立できるようになった合同会社以来実に18年ぶりです。

【こんな方に向けて書いています】
この記事は、合同会社型DAOに興味のある、会社経営者や、会社/事業の立ち上げ経験のある方、及び知識を有する方に向けての記事になります。

【こんなことを書いています】
合同会社型DAOを既存の法人格である株式会社や合同会社と比較しながら、優位性、設立〜運用にあたっての基本知識、設立フロー、注意点や懸念点について共有していきます。

🚨 本記事は、法律、税務、投資その他のいかなるアドバイスを行う目的では書いておりません。そのため文中の法律に関する個別具体の記述内容は、改めて身近な弁護士にご確認することを推奨いたします。

• 合同会社型DAOは、日本国内実に18年ぶりの新法人格。

• ブロックチェーンと呼ばれる技術を、会社運用の土台に組み込むことで、合同会社のメリットを引き継いだ上で、法人格としての信頼性の向上や資金調達の幅を広げる可能性を秘めている。

• 実運用にあたっての前提知識が、技術面、法規制面などからかなりの量必要となるが、莫大なインパクトを秘めた法人格である。

• まだ前例がないため、効果的な運用方法の模索はこれから。

• Borderlessは、2016年より国内外問わずDAO領域で活動してきた日本一のパイオニア集団なので、お困りごとはBorderlessにお任せください。

2024年2月1日に金融庁から「金融商品取引法第二条に規定する定義に関する内閣府令の一部を改正する内閣府令（案）等の公表について」が発表されました。

https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r5/shouken/20240201/20240201.html

詳細は省きますが、こちらの内閣府令により、合同会社が社員権をデジタル化し、このデジタル社員権を使ったインターネット上での社員募集ができるようになりました。

合同会社では、出資者＝社員になるので、この仕組みを活用すれば実質的に、インターネット上で資金調達が行えるようになります。

合同会社型DAOは、株式会社と合同会社の良いところどりをしているような会社形態です。以下の比較図をご覧ください。

上の図を整理すると、

• 合同会社では、会社の経営権と所有権を出資者が同時に持つことができる。

• 定款作成の自由度が高く、設立にかかる費用も安く抑えられるため、小規模な事業を立ち上げる際に選択しやすい会社形態。

• 株式会社と比較したときに、第三者による監視が行われない等の理由で、信頼性に劣ったり、資金調達の幅が狭く上場も目指せなかったり、速度を持って大規模な事業を起こすは難しいところがある。

• 合同会社型DAOでは、ブロックチェーンと呼ばれる技術を、会社運用の土台に組み込むことで、合同会社のメリットを引き継いだ上で、法人格としての信頼性の向上や資金調達の幅を広げる可能性を秘めている。

では、上記の内容に基づいて具体的に合同会社型DAOが、従来の合同会社と比べてどのようなメリットがあるのかを説明していきます。

それは、合同会社を株式会社と比較したときに、デメリットとされていた社会的な信頼性の問題と資金調達の制約の2点が、ブロックチェーンを活用することで大幅に是正されるということです。

上記のメリットを実現しているロジックの簡単な説明としては、

• 意思決定プロセスが、ブロックチェーン上に記録されることで、第三者による検閲が可能になる。
  ➡️ 組織内部の不正に対する抑制が可能。
  ➡️ 社会的信頼性の向上。

• 社員権がトークン化されることで、インターネット上で出資が出来る場が創出される。➡️ 24時間365日、継続的な資金調達が可能になる。
  ➡️ IPOなしでも大規模な事業展開が可能になり、資金調達の幅も広がる。

となります。次に実際の設立フローについて見ていきます。

合同会社型DAOの運用を考えるにあたって、どのような流れになるのかを説明していきます。

ちなみに、プロジェクトによっては既にコミュニティーや、ホワイトペーパーができている場合もありますので必ずしも以下の流れにはなりませんということをご了承ください。

以下は、一般的に事業アイデアの想起段階である0→1フェーズのプロジェクトの一般的な流れとなります。

かなりのボリュームがありますが今回は特記すべきポイントを一つだけ紹介します、

それは、合同会社型DAO運用の全ての根幹となる、会社運用ルールの策定が最も重要かつ、難易度の高いプロセスになるということです。

なぜかというと、ここで策定される運用ルールが、組織運用の在り方そのものを定義し、この定義をもとに、ブロックチェーンやスマートコントラクトと呼ばれる組織をオンラインで運用するための技術と接続されるためです。

今回は運用ルールを定義するための項目が、どのようなものなのかを簡単に紹介します。

・定款
・総会規約
・トークン規約
・運営規約

組織の事業目的や、各ステークホルダーの権限、決め事のルール、利益配当など、組織を俯瞰した全体像を記載します。

こちらに関しては、合同会社型DAOの健全な発展を推進する自主規制団体である 日本DAO協会様 より、定款のテンプレートが公開されてますのでそちらをご参照ください。

弊社メンバーも、日本DAO協会の活動に参加していますので別途お気軽にご質問ください。

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15g0XHRS5B8GLtVGAFltbWBmmVxFzdDQN/edit

社員総会を通じて、組織がどのようなルールに則り、決め事を取り交わすのかを決めます。

例
・どのような議題が組織として立案されるか？
・誰が提案権と議決権を有するか？
・決議に至る定足数と表決数？

合同会社DAOで実際に発行される社員権トークンや、その他のトークンに関する詳細な内容を決めます。

例
・トークンの名称や定義は何か？
・トークンホルダーの権利は何か？
・譲渡に際するルールは何か？

合同会社型DAOの運営の仕方についての詳細を決めます。

例
・組織に所属するステークホルダーの種類はどのようなものか？
・業務執行社員の選任方法は何か？
・財務にまつわる管理方法は何か？

これらの、定款、総会規約、トークン規約、運用規約、細部に渡るルールが、会社とブロックチェーンを接続し、運用されていくための土台となります。

Borderlessでは、この複雑なプロセスも順序立てて、策定していけるようサポートもしております。

合同会社型DAOを活用した、事業を行うにあたって気をつけるべき観点を共有していきます。

勧誘行為に関して
社員権トークンを使った出資の勧誘行為は、行っても良い人が制限されている。

開示規制に関して
社員権トークンを使った調達行為において、基本的に出資総額および出資人数に制限はないものの、特定の場合においては、開示規制に準じて、有価証券届出書、目論見書、有価証券報告書、有価証券通知書のいづれかを届出しなければならない。

会社法に関して
業務執行社員トークンに出資をする、出資者の住所、氏名を登記簿に載せる必要があり、出資したトークンの移転を行えないよう、技術的な制約措置をとる必要がある。

社員権トークンに出資をする、出資者の住所、氏名、ウォレットアドレスを社員名簿に記載する必要がある。

配当に関して
業務執行社員トークンの出資者への配当制限はないが、非業務執行社員トークンの出資者は、出資した金額以上の配当を受け取れないように制約措置をとる必要がある。また、社員優待以外の配当の場合は、法人としての利益剰余金の範囲内でしか配当ができない。

トークンに関して社員権トークン以外のトークンを発行する場合に、そのトークンが暗号資産に該当してしまう可能性があり、別途、業規制要件が課されるため要注意です。

実運用にあたっての前提知識が、技術面、法規制面などからかなりの量必要となりますが、莫大なインパクトを秘めた法人格であることは間違いありません。

しかし、世界的に見ても活用前例がないため、効果的な運用方法の模索はこれからとなっています。

ファーストムーバーとして、とりあえず手を動かすか、しばらく様子を見て、活用を検討するのかはみなさんの判断次第ではありますが、まずは身の回りの知見を持った人に相談をしてみましょう。我々、Borderlessもその一人です。

今回の合同会社型DAOは、名称に“DAO”という言葉が使われていることもあり、DAOに詳しい人が見ると、納得のいかない表現になってしまっている場合もあるかと思います。

我々Borderlessは、

“DAOが法人化できるようになった”のではなく、

あくまでも“合同会社の枠組みの中で、DAOに近しい組織運営が可能になる府令改正が行われた’’

がミスリードを生まない解釈だと捉えており、トークン式会社という表現をあえてチーム内では使っています。

とは言え、DAOに関する知識も参考程度にあったほうが、より合同会社型DAOに対する解像度が上がるのは間違いありませんので、良ければDAOに関する解説スライドもこちらよりご覧ください！

https://speakerdeck.com/borderless/what-is-dao

親愛なる Fracton Ventures さんの言葉を借りて、

”We Can DAO It!!”

Borderlessチーム一同、引き続き合同会社型DAOのエコシステム拡大に向けていきます！！

⏩ 次回は、実際のユースケースを踏まえて合同会社型DAOの具体的な始め方、どのような事業がこの法人格に向いているのかについて共有していければと思います。

Borderless.company は、スイス法人のOverlay AGによって開発提供される、会社のシェアやエクイティをトークン化し流通させる為の基盤サービスです。法律と技術、リアルとオンラインが複雑に絡み合う、シェアのトークン化プロセスを世界中で標準化し、次世代の会社モデルを活用する事業者のサポートを世界各国で行って参ります。

東インド会社以来の、組織イノベーションを、我々Borderlessと共に社会実装していきましょう。

【会社リンク】
Website

https://borderless.company/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/borderlessjpn