The Marshall Islands entry into and engagement with the digital world of “decentralized autonomous organizations” (DAOs) took another step forward this week with the ceremonial presentation of a check to the RMI government by MIDAO representatives.
Bobby Muller and his nephew Damien Muller, representing the RMI corporation MIDAO, presented a ceremonial check for $100,000 to Finance Minister Brenson Wase Tuesday. The check presentation is another step in the development of the public-private partnership agreement between MIDAO and the RMI government.
Bobby is a director and founder of MIDAO, which was established earlier this year in the wake of Nitijela adopting legislation late last year allowing the registration of DAOs, which operate using blockchain technology. Damien is MIDAO’s first staff person.
MIDAO has an agreement with the RMI government for revenue-sharing, which in return gives MIDAO exclusivity to register DAOs as domestic entities in RMI.
Bobby said the agreement requires compliance measures that MIDAO must follow which include engaging third-party vendors to conduct “know your customer” analysis on prospective clients and performing automated and manual ongoing on-chain analysis of all digital wallets and smart contracts involved in the operation of the DAOs.
“This analysis will leverage industry-leading techniques to mitigate the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing, and other criminal activities,” said Bobby. “MIDAO will also operate a password-protected web portal that will be accessible to relevant government regulators.”
The portal will contain applicable data on MIDAO’s clientele, so that relevant government regulators can perform their own risk assessments.
The MIDAO-RMI agreement requires government representatives to be part of an Oversight Committee that will act as a governing body of the DAO operation.
“Irrespective of the agreement, the government will always maintain direct oversight over the process as all corporate registrations, and if applicable, foreign investment business license applications, will be processed through the appropriate government offices,” Bobby said.
The $100,000 is a one-time payment MIDAO has agreed to for the purpose of establishing the regulatory framework for digital assets which will not only facilitate MIDAO’s operation in the digital market space, but also potentially could lead to the establishment of a digital currency central bank in the future.
“It’s MIDAO’s understanding that the Offices of the Attorney General and the Banking Commissioner will be undertaking this exercise with assistance from leading global experts in the field,” he said.
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