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title, date, draft, description, status, tags, external_url, image, banner, author
| title | date | draft | description | status | tags | external_url | image | banner | author | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MakerDAO/ SKY | 2026-04-14 | false | A decentralized stablecoin project which transitioned to full DAO governance, after dissolving its founding organization in 2021. | ongoing |
|
https://sky.money/ | /img/logos/makerdao.png | /img/banners/makerdao.png |
Summary
MakerDAO is best known for creating the decentralized DAI stablecoin.It introduced the MKR governance token and dissolved its Foundation in 2021 to achieve full community governance. However, founder Rune Christensen returned in 2024 to push the "Endgame Plan," recentralizing before re-decentralizing into sub-DAOs. The case shows how E2C is rarely linear: projects may oscillate between centralization and decentralization based on efficiency needs.
Motivation and Readiness
The main motivation for MakerDAO’s E2C was to increase decentralization of the protocol and ecosystem. MakerDAO has always differentiated DAI as a decentralized stable coin, as opposed to centrally controlled competitors such as USDT (controlled by Tether Ltd.) or USDC (controlled by Circle, a publicly traded company). Decentralization here meant that rules on collateral backing the stable coin would be algorithmic and that decisions on how to change these rules would not be controlled by any single entity. Decentralization thereby also contributes towards DAI’s censorship resistance, i.e. making it harder to seize or freeze when held in non-custodial accounts. Consequently, dissolving the Maker Foundation and handing full control to the community has always been part of Maker’s vision and strategy.
By 2019, MakerDAO was well established in the broader blockchain industry, focussing on a clear use case (issuance of DAI) and with the protocol having been stress tested by various market shocks. As such, MakerDAO transitioned at a relatively mature stage of the project.
Process and Tensions
A core tension of the MakerDAO transition process is balancing decentralization with organizational and economic efficiency. After the dissolution of the Foundation Maker founder Rune Christensen became relatively absent from the project which was then operationally stewarded by Core Units based on decisions made by MKR token holders.
However, a little under two years later, Rune returned to propose ‘The Endgame Plan’. This plan problematized the level of complexity of MakerDAO, with increasing voter apathy from MKR token holders, who didn’t feel like their voice in the project mattered anymore and had become disgruntled as to how much revenue Core Units were consuming. The Endgame Plan proposed to re-structure MakerDAO into a more minimalist ‘core DAO’, narrowly focused on core protocol functions. Autonomous sub-DAOs would then replace many Core Units to focus on smaller moonshot projects which the community had started incubating within MakerDAO. The plan was adopted via token governance and has resulted in a significant restructuring of the project and its recent rebrand to SKY (where DAI tokens became USDS and MKR tokens became SKY tokens).
Another centralizing force in MakerDAO is the issue of remaining OFAC compliant. To maintain compliance (i.e. being able to exclude actors blacklisted by OFAC from transacting within the system), usually a centralized entity is required. Yet, MakerDAO does not have a centralized entity to enforce requirements. To comply, the Endgame plan introduced an emergency kill-switch and the concept of a legal defense fund for the protocol. This requirement highlights external pressures shaping the E2C strategy of a project.
Results
Throughout the various iterations of its ongoing E2C, the project is clearly progressing on its goal of making DAI more decentralized. Nevertheless, the Maker ecosystem continues to grapple with the tension of balancing decentralization and efficiency as evidenced by the ongoing implementation of the Endgame plan. As part of this transition the community has adopted a provisional constitution and the SKY Atlas. The Atlas is an evolving set of foundational rules which the community anticipates will become unchangeable over time/ as they become perfected.