Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: A Conversation With MakerDAO’s Rune Christensen

The following is an interview we recently had with Rune Christensen, founder of MakerDAO

What's your background? How did you get involved in crypto/blockchain?

RC: After finishing my education I started a small business in China, and then discovered bitcoin in 2011, and around 2014 got into more advanced blockchain technology. 

What value does MakerDAO bring to users? 

RC: MakerDAO creates a fully decentralized stablecoin, Dai. It combines the best of blockchain and bitcoin (decentralization and transparency) with the best of traditional finance (stability). To back Dai in a decentralized manner without relying on a single counterparty, MakerDAO also enables a p2p collateralized lending platform that anyone can use on the same terms. 

What are the most common misconceptions you hear about DAOs? 

RC: That they don’t interact with the real world, or with legal systems. In almost all cases DAOs are always going to need to consider real world law and counterparties. Perhaps the strongest example is that of website domains. Almost all DAOs rely on website domains to give their users secure access to their services. Website domains are centralized, legal assets that unavoidably create a point of interaction with the real world and legal systems.

What’s next for DAOs in 2021?

RC: I think the amount of successful DAOs and community governance will continue to grow exponentially over the course of 2021. I also think that existing successful DAOs will begin to copy ideas from each other more, in order to improve and round out their governance processes.