DeFi developers face personal liability under US law after CFTC v. Ooki DAO. Learn the federal and state theories of liability protocol builders must understand in 2026.
Liability never attaches to bytecode — it attaches to whoever holds control, and US enforcers have four distinct theories for finding them. This follow-up analysis maps DeFi’s five-layer liability stack against CFTC v. Ooki DAO, Van Loon v. Treasury, SEC v. Rari Capital, and the general partnership rulings in Sarcuni v. bZx DAO and Samuels v. Lido DAO. Includes a layer-by-layer risk assessment and seven concrete mitigations for protocol builders.
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