Tokenization should have changed the world. Through tokens, crypto creates accessible fundraising, community bootstrapping, value alignment, more available exit liquidity, and a user-owned internet. 

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But due to regulation by enforcement in the US and other countries, launching tokens has been prohibitively expensive and legally risky. Only founders willing and able to follow complicated and expensive offshoring practices have been able to participate, creating opaque foundations without the accountability structures critical for early stage companies. That, in turn, has meant that on top of the regulatory obstacles in the way of token launches, public trust has eroded, further minimizing adoption.

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However, shifting policy is creating a new mainstream market for tokens. Regulation and enforcement are loosening in the US, a trend expected to continue with SEC Safe Harbor and the CLARITY Act. But to  move forward and gain adoption, crypto must be something people can trust. In response to this need, there’s a growing progressive movement building credibility infrastructure to make crypto safe for mass adoption, without sacrificing its decentralized and transparent ideals. 

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In addition to the developing top down clarity, industry leaders have taken to building more robust standards for higher-quality companies in the space. For example, the Token Transparency Framework designed by Blockworks with Theia Research, Pantera, and L1D has created a disclosure and rating standard that gives investors confidence in tokenized companies. To further contribute to efforts to raise industry standards, one company is building a safe launch platform for tokenized companies. Using the TTF and expected disclosure requirements from Safe Harbor and the CLARITY Act, Decent Labs is launching tools to make raising through token launches easy and safe, so founders can finally tokenize US startups. 

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Enabling ‘Decent’ Crypto Companies

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Decent automates compliance from the bottom up, through adherence to the Token Transparency Framework, and from the top down, through expected regulatory requirements, at scale. We're aiming to create a compliant US ICO market that’s safer for everyone involved by helping founders navigate the regulatory landscape and helping investors protect their investments. 

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Decent is a US-based crypto company building a tokenization platform that enables US-based companies to launch tokens compliantly in order to raise capital, offer ownership to customers, and benefit from the now vast ecosystem of DeFI protocols.

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Our goal is to make tokenization available to every American startup and entrepreneur as a fundraising vehicle. By making crypto launches accessible for founders and unruggable for investors through better tokenization practices that prioritize transparency and investor protections, the token launch market becomes a safe and sustainable pathway to adoption.

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And today, on July 4th, we're announcing a new set of legal and smart contracts that make token launches safer for both founders and their investors:

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Legal + Smart Contracts = Safer Tokens

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The Decent Contract for Network Tokens (“The DCNT”) is a new investment standard that unifies legal and smart contracts to create investor protections. The specifications are configurable, so investors and founders can design funding release milestones that work best for their specific arrangements, and investors can be granted limited governance rights even before TGE to build resilience, tax optimization, and flexibility.

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Where the SAFE made it safe, tax efficient, and resilient to change to invest in early stage startups, the DCNT is designed to do the same for investing in early stage tokens. It bridges the gap between current investing standards like the SAFE + Token Warrant model or SAFT, and onchain assets. By automating compliance and securing assets with onchain as well as legal contracts, the DCNT creates a standard structure for investing in tokens that are safe enough to be delivered at scale in American markets.

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By extending the functionality of the SAFE + Token Warrant with onchain smart contracts, the DCNT prioritizes token value and creates onchain investor protections, providing a safe and efficient way to invest in web3. 

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A Legal Path to Tokenization in the US

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Tokens offer several benefits to founders, even of non-crypto startups: They lower the barrier to entry to fundraising, engage communities through ownership, and create liquid markets founders and investors can use to safely exit without crippling or selling a company. This liquidity makes smaller, previously uninvestable markets more viable, as the company doesn’t have to go public or get acquired for investors to take profits. They also open the door to decentralization where relevant, and create transparency by default as tokenized operations live onchain.

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With our software platform and the DCNT, Decent is building the tools needed to make tokenization viable and compliant for US companies. As regulations like the Market Structures Act and structures like the DUNA create legal clarity for tokenized companies in the US, Decent makes compliance with the evolving regulatory requirements safer for founders and investors alike.

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Our conviction is that as this safe harbor decreases incentive to offshore and their tools decrease cost to launch and operate tokenized startups in the US, the next wave of crypto will be “made in the USA” in ways that are transparent, safe, and accountable to legal structures.

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