Glossary
Foundation
An ownerless legal entity used to hold a protocol's treasury and governance functions separately from the company that builds it.
The foundation-and-devco split separates the protocol's assets and decision-making from the operating business, which supports decentralisation claims and insulates each side from the other's liabilities.
It only works if it is real. Where the same people control both sides in practice, tax authorities and regulators look through the structure, and substance requirements exist precisely to test that.
By jurisdiction
Where the meaning changes.
| Jurisdiction | What differs |
|---|---|
| Cayman Islands | Foundation company — the most common vehicle for token projects. |
| Switzerland | Onshore foundation with genuine substance and correspondingly higher cost. |
Where this comes up
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