The Uniswap Foundation has proposed a new legal and governance structure under Wyoming law — a Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (DUNA) named DUNI — designed to provide legal clarity, liability protections, and operational capabilities for Uniswap Governance, laying the groundwork for future initiatives such as the long-discussed fee switch.

The fee switch allows Uniswap governance to divert a part of liquidity provider (LP) fees to the protocol treasury.

The proposed structure is designed to provide legal clarity and bolster liability protections for Uniswap Governance participants, enabling governance to conduct off-chain activities such as tax compliance and legal defense, potentially including routing a portion of swap fees to the treasury in the future.

If the proposal passes, the Treasury will send $16.5 million worth of Uniswap’s native token UNI to a DUNI-owned wallet to prefund a legal defense budget and a tax compliance budget.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

UNI rallied 9% to an intraday high of $11.86 shortly after the proposal was published, before settling under $11.16 late on Monday. 

“As the DAO evolves, so too must the legal and regulatory frameworks that support it,” said the Uniswap Foundation on X.

“We’re excited for Governance’s next era: one that’s defined by greater autonomy, recognition, and sustainability.”