MakerDAO

MakerDAO, founded in 2014 by Danish entrepreneur Rune Christensen, is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) on the Ethereum blockchain. Christensen, with a background in economics, envisioned a decentralized stablecoin, leading to the creation of MakerDAO.

The project's primary offering is the Dai stablecoin, which is soft-pegged to the U.S. dollar. Users can generate Dai by locking collateral, such as Ethereum, into a smart contract, creating a decentralized and permissionless lending system. This allows users to access liquidity without selling their crypto assets.

The Maker Protocol, the smart contract that powers Dai, is governed by the holders of its governance token, MKR. MKR holders can vote on changes to the protocol, including stability fees and collateral types, giving them a direct say in the system's operation. The business model is based on the stability fees paid by users when they close their collateralized debt positions, which are used to buy back and burn MKR tokens, reducing the total supply and potentially increasing their value.

Keywords: Decentralized Finance, DeFi, Stablecoin, DAO, Ethereum, Blockchain, Smart Contracts, Cryptocurrency, Lending, Governance