I’ve seen a number of people touting the fact that Guard is a registered non-security based on the legal and governance model we have, but I have failed to find any public information on this. Is anyone able to point me to where this information might be located for Guard and the other small handful of tokens that have this designation based on what I’ve seen people posting on twitter and in the unofficial telegram group? I’d love to blast this info out to my network, but want to be able to cite sources for the information and not just take people at their “unofficial” word for it.
Cheers,
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Hi Mittens, while I’m not an SC member or anything official, I can tell you my thoughts after having researched this and knowing about business, etc.
I don’t think you will find anything using the specific language you are looking for “registered non-security” as that title doesn’t really exist other than by characteristics of not resembling or operating as a security.
Now there are benchmarks such as the Howey Test which are used to help regulatory bodies such as the SEC to identify “securities”.
So it’s essentially an “absence of” that makes something a security or not.
As for Guard being “registered” it is a legal entity. These details are found across the website and in the handbook and governance docs on this forum (under Help and Resources tab at the top if I recall…I can’t see it while typing a response).
The Guard Foundation is modeled after and uses(ed) the same attorneys and Administrators as Ape Coin DAO. (Which is one of the other “registered non-securities” referenced)
This can be confirmed by digging into the Ape Coin DAO documentation and AFP’s. Similarly this can be done with the other purported DAO’s.
So…while I don’t have a contract in hand (nor would I as I’m not in such a position for the Guard DAO) if one combs through the various documentations and does some sleuthing, then I think they would find the claims to be accurate and the “source reference” you seek.
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As a side note a simple search in the Cayman Island Registry shows both Guard and Ape Foundations…if someone wants more details, they would have to pay the fees on that website to gain access.
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Really appreciate the response, Jason! This is very helpful and just what I was looking for, thank you
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No problemo man!
You’ll just need to do some digging/sleuthing is all. Like I demonstrated with the registration info.
I glanced on Fenwick & West’s site but didn’t see a full listing of clients…I saw some big names (aka Cisco, Notion, J&J…) I don’t think Guard Foundation rises to those levels of notoritity nor does Guard FDN want that “fame” yet…so I’m not surprised that I didn’t see us listed on their “notable clients” scroll bar.
Similar with our Administrator (which is listed in Section 7 of our handbook) Webslinger is listed and when you go to their site https://www.webslinger.io/ they don’t disclose clients.
So at that point it’s a trust thing. We either trust that the SC listed the correct Administrator, or they didn’t…
Anyways…sounds like you have a grasp on what you need to do…you just need to connect the dots as best as you can from a “sourcing” aspect.
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Hello - thanks for seeking clarification on this topic.
It does appear that some DAO members are putting in effort to boost the awareness and uniqueness of the Guardian token and the Guard FND.
Hats off to them! GO GO GO!
The information that is public and available about the Guard FND and any applicable legal status is currently located on this Guard FND discourse channel.
Here is the link where folks can read up on the Guard FND and the governance structure: The Guard Foundation Governance Document
Here’s an excerpt from the governance document:
“Guard Foundation, a Cayman Islands foundation company (the “Foundation”) serves the Community (as defined below) by facilitating decentralized and community governance and be governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association (as amended from time to time) and Bylaws (as amended from time to time).”
So the facts are that the Guard FND is a registered legal entity in the Cayman Islands and has been determined via legal opinion to be a sufficiently decentralized.
I’m not aware of a running list of other projects and their legal status or registration status. So I can’t point you to a resource for that purpose.
What I can say is that process to achieve this status was/is not easy and that alone will prevent the vast majority of projects from ever achieving these types of accomplishments.
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Great reply Nick with additional supporting docs.
I didn’t recall those statements in the documentation even though I’ve read it numerous times 
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