Can Maker’s Rune Christensen Fix the Sad State of DAO Governance? - Ep. 534

The height of the last bull run was when MakerDAO cofounder Rune Christensen felt most disillusioned by DeFi and DAOs. “I didn’t even see how Maker was going to survive,” Christensen tells Laura Shin in the latest episode of Unchained. Now Christensen is leading an effort to help DAOs escape their trough of disillusionment. He says the ambitious “Endgame Plan” for MakerDAO seeks to overcome “the central issue of voter apathy.” Will it work or are DAOs doomed to fail?
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Show highlights:

the disillusionment that comes with the growth of DAOs and the need for a new approach

Rune’s insights into the challenges that most DAOs face

how Maker plans to implement alignment engineering through tools, gamification, and incentives

what each phase of Maker’s “Endgame Plan” seeks to accomplish

the strategy behind Maker’s rebranding, including the launch of new tokens while maintaining MKR and DAI

the importance of governance boundaries in ensuring that participants follow the rules and contribute constructively

the goal to reach a state of ossification and certainty, similar to Bitcoin

the challenges of renaming tokens and the decision to keep the original brands

why Rune believes that Phase 2 of the Endgame Plan will change the industry

how SubDAOs will work to align incentives, improve the organization, and avoid ponzi schemes

what Maker’s “Atlas” is and how it intends to set boundaries

how Maker plans to use artificial intelligence

the role of delegates in the DAO and how users choose them

the difference between “dovish” and “hawkish” governance

what the motivation was for launching the Spark lending protocol

why the DAI Savings Rate (DSR) is not offered to American investors and Rune’s take on DeFi regulation

why South Korea and Japan are the best crypto environments in the world, according to Rune

whether Maker should be doing more to mitigate the influence of “whales,” given that Rune owns about 10% of the MKR supply

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Guest:

Rune Christensen, Cofounder of MakerDAO

Previous appearances on Unchained:

Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 1: How to Keep a Crypto-Collateralized Stablecoin Afloat

Rune Christensen of MakerDAO Part 2: How Dai Stayed at $1 While ETH Crashed From $1,400 to $85

The Chopping Block: How to Manage MakerDAO, With Hasu and Rune

Rune Christensen of MakerDao on Its $15 Million From Andreessen Horowitz

Why It's so Hard to Keep Stablecoins Stable

Links

Unchained:

MakerDAO: The DeFi Protocol That Lets You Be Your Own Banker

MakerDAO’s Spark Protocol Blocks VPN Users

MakerDAO to Raise DAI Yield Amid Lower Demand for Stablecoin

Maker Founder Proposes Changing DAI Savings Rate to 5%

The Defiant: Christensen Drops Radical Plan to Remake MakerDAO and Address 'Fundamental Problems',

Christensen’s Twitter thread explaining Endgame

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