Digital Assets & Crypto
Legal structure for teams building on-chain, from the first token design decision through DAO governance and treasury management. Azure Legal works with founders who need counsel that's actually fluent in how tokens, DeFi protocols, and DAOs work. These aren't questions we're encountering for the first time.
Most of the risk in this space comes from classification and disclosure decisions made before the code ever ships: how a token is marketed, who it's sold to, and what's said publicly about it. Those facts are hard to walk back after the fact. That's why token structuring and a legal-wrapper decision for a DAO work best as a design-stage conversation, ideally well before launch.
Who This Is For
- Founders designing a token, points system, or on-chain incentive from scratch
- DAOs choosing a legal wrapper for treasury and contributor payments
- DeFi or NFT teams preparing for an exchange listing or audit
What We Handle
- Legal-wrapper selection for a token or DAO project
- Token launch design & incentive/vesting structuring
- SAFT & private token sale structuring
- DeFi protocol counsel & smart contract terms
- DAO governance structure & voting mechanics
- Exchange listing & token buyback agreements
Common Agreements & Documents
- Token Classification Memo
- Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT)
- Smart Contract Terms & Audit Provisions
- Treasury Multisig & Governance Policy
- Exchange Listing Agreement
How We Work
Digital-assets matters are scoped and billed flat-fee per deliverable: a classification memo, a SAFT, a DAO governance policy. That matters here specifically because these questions tend to be genuinely novel, and hourly billing discourages exactly the kind of careful analysis this work needs. You work directly with the attorney doing the analysis, already fluent in the crypto-specific issues involved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is our token a security?
It depends on the facts: what the token actually does, how it's marketed, and whether holders have a reasonable expectation of profit from the efforts of others (the Howey framework, applied to the specific mechanics of your project). We won't give a one-line answer without reviewing the actual design and marketing plan, since a surface-level read is exactly what causes problems later.
Do you work with DAOs that don't have a legal wrapper yet?
Yes. That's one of the most common starting points. We'll walk through the wrapper options (a Wyoming DAO LLC, a foundation structure, a traditional LLC/multisig setup) against what the DAO actually needs to do: hold treasury, pay contributors, enter contracts.
Can you help before code is written, or only after?
Before is better. The facts that end up mattering most for classification and compliance (distribution mechanics, vesting, public statements at launch) get set at the design stage. They're far cheaper to get right the first time than to restructure after a token is already live and trading.
Structuring a token, DAO, or on-chain protocol? Book a 30-minute call to talk through where you are.
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