Rune Christensen is the co-founder of MakerDAO, one of the foundational protocols in decentralized finance and the creator of the DAI stablecoin.
MakerDAO
Christensen founded MakerDAO in 2014, making it one of the oldest DeFi protocols. MakerDAO enables users to lock collateral (originally only ETH, later expanded to many assets) in smart contract vaults to mint DAI, a decentralized stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. The system uses automated liquidation mechanisms and governance to maintain DAI’s peg.
DAI became one of the most widely used stablecoins in DeFi, serving as a building block for lending, trading, and yield farming across the ecosystem. MakerDAO was also one of the first major DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) to operate with on-chain governance, where MKR token holders vote on protocol parameters.
Endgame and Sky
In 2022, Christensen proposed the “Endgame Plan,” a comprehensive restructuring of MakerDAO into a system of smaller, specialized “SubDAOs.” In 2024, MakerDAO rebranded to Sky, with DAI becoming USDS and MKR becoming SKY. The restructuring aimed to improve decentralization, resilience, and growth.
Background
Christensen is from Denmark and studied biochemistry and international business at the Copenhagen Business School before focusing full-time on MakerDAO. He has been a vocal advocate for decentralized stablecoins as an alternative to centralized options like USDT and USDC.