How a Wyoming DAO LLC Opens a Bank Account

Every bank sets its own account-opening requirements, and those come first. A DAO LLC can meet them with four documents.

• The articles of organization, as filed with the Wyoming Secretary of State. They carry the statement that the company is a decentralized autonomous organization, the statement of how the members manage it, and the publicly available identifier of its smart contract (W.S. §§ 17-31-104, 17-31-106).
• The operating agreement, which is effective as a statement of authority (W.S. § 17-31-115) and names who may sign for the company.
• A banking resolution approved by the company’s governance. It authorizes the account and states who signs the account documents and who gives instructions.
• A certificate of incumbency and authority, which states who holds signing authority and where an attestation can be verified.

A bank will ask who stands behind the company. The statute requires the company to have an answer: a DAO LLC is dissolved if it “is no longer under the control of at least one (1) natural person” (W.S. § 17-31-114(a)(v)). A company that keeps its control records in order can answer the bank’s question from them.

1. The members approve the banking resolution through the company’s governance, inside the Vaulnox SENTINEL Trusted Execution Environment.
2. SENTINEL issues an attestation of that decision.
3. Wyoming Execution Agents, as the company’s named authorized signer, signs the bank’s account agreement, resolution and signature documents upon that attestation.
4. The bank can enter the attestation ID on the Verify page and download the reliance package for its file.

The office has no standing or general authority over the account. Each document it signs, and each instruction it gives, rests on its own attestation. Where the bank has its own resolution or mandate form, the office signs that form on the same footing, with a rider that states the limits of its authority.

The fee is $500 per banking instrument.

A DAO LLC is still a new kind of customer for many banks, so expect questions. The articles, the operating agreement, the resolution and an attestation the bank can verify for itself are the answers.

If the company has not been formed yet, begin with Vaulnox, the office’s affiliate and the author of SENTINEL. The For DAO LLCs page explains where to start.