At Lawbox Design we are often contacted by companies who are breaking new ground and who need to know if what they are doing is even possible. These companies challenge us to look at regulation differently and need their legal advice to be robust. They also need us, as their lawyers, to take a risk-based approach and enable rather than block their goals.
Howl DAO and dApp
We recently worked with Envoys Labs/Moloch Systems on the launch of their Howl DAO and dApp. Envoys run several Proof-of-Stake Validator nodes for Cosmos blockchains, including Juno. The world of Decentralised Applications and Decentralised Autonomous Organisations is a complex one. Howl is innovative on two fronts: (1) the Howl dApp is a blockchain-powered microblogging and social media dApp (powered by Juno) where users can post as well as stake using Howl Tokens in support of each other; and (2) Howl dApp will ultimately be operated by the Howl DAO, which is an autonomous organisation operating in accordance with software code recorded on the blockchain (known as a smart contract system) rather than usual company structures, with certain further decisions taken in accordance with the voting of Howl Token holders.
Supporting our client
We were contacted to help support our client with the launch of Howl, in particular, to understand their liability and regulatory position. They had two very simple questions:
- Can we launch?
- What do we need to know?
The simplicity of those questions masked a complex backdrop of uncertainty around legislation and regulation. Working with our team of regulatory and tech lawyers, we were able to get to the heart of the matter quickly and provide advice that meant the answer to
the first question was what they needed to hear: “yes”.
We caught up with the CTO to find out what it was like working with us.
“I valued the clarity of communication. They did what we asked and kept us regularly updated. The liability in this area is not straightforward. Lawbox helped us structure everything from a liability perspective and did a good job of getting us to a position where we could act. There aren’t a lot of organisations in the UK working in this space, so legal advice is hard to come by. We would definitely recommend Lawbox to others. A job well done.”
If you’re a company breaking new ground and need help from a lawyer who thinks more like you do then please get in touch at onwards@lawboxlegal.com – we’d love to hear from you.