MakerDAO is the decentralized autonomous organization behind the Maker Protocol and DAI, one of the most widely used decentralized stablecoins. Founded by Rune Christensen in 2014, it’s among the oldest DeFi projects and has maintained its position as a foundational piece of the Ethereum ecosystem through multiple market cycles.
The Maker Protocol lets users lock up collateral (initially only ETH, now dozens of assets) to mint DAI, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Unlike centralized stablecoins such as USDC or USDT, DAI maintains its peg through overcollateralization and automated liquidation mechanisms rather than bank reserves. This makes it censorship-resistant — no single entity can freeze or blacklist DAI holdings.
MakerDAO governance is handled by MKR token holders who vote on critical parameters like which collateral types to accept, stability fees (interest rates), and risk parameters. This governance process has managed billions of dollars in protocol decisions, making it one of the most active DAOs in crypto.
The protocol has evolved significantly over the years. Multi-Collateral DAI expanded accepted collateral beyond just ETH. Real World Assets (RWA) brought traditional financial instruments like US Treasury bonds into the collateral mix, generating substantial revenue for the protocol. At various points, Maker has been the highest-revenue DeFi protocol on Ethereum.
In 2023, Christensen proposed “Endgame,” a major restructuring plan that would reorganize MakerDAO into smaller, specialized units called SubDAOs. The plan also included rebranding DAI and MKR to new tokens. While controversial, this ongoing transformation reflects the challenges and ambitions of governing a multi-billion dollar decentralized protocol.
